“I was just . . . checking on you guys,” I whispered. “You were gone for a while.”
Mara stuck out her bottom lip and looked up at me through her lashes. “This is an awful lot of work for somebody who doesn’t like hockey moms.”
“I don’t like anybody,” I said, my voice huskier than I intended it to be.
Mara was pressed into the doorframe, and my hand was somehow on the wall next to her head. She combed over her lower lip with her teeth, those blue eyes softly meeting mine. “I think you might be a liar, Jack Leroy.”
I hadn’t kissed anybody since the last time I had sex, and that was, what, right after Sydney and I moved away from each other last fall? Mara was just right here and her lips looked so soft and red and her eyes were so bright and I bet her waist would feel good under my hands. Her gaze flickered to my lips. Hers were parted and mine were parted and I swear I could see every atom in the air between us, frantically moving with our breath.
A voice called from downstairs.
“Hey, Leroy? Alice needs a Band-Aid.”
I jolted away from Mara, dusting off my clothes like that would make a difference somehow. “Be right there!”
And at that, a cry came from inside the bedroom. Mara squeezed her eyes shut. “Left my cane in there anyway.”
She swung the door open and disappeared into the darkness inside.
“Jack?” Sorrento’s voice rang out again.
I adjusted my pants. “Coming! Jeez.”
TWELVE
MARA
OCTOBER
“And you haven’t heardfrom him since?”
Gabi and I sat in the bleachers at Aspen’s hockey practice. She bounced Hazel in her lap, making faces at her to keep her entertained. Sometimes she came to hang out with me during normal parenting things. Otherwise, we didn’t get enough time together.
We were unpacking Harper’s birthday party and the almost kiss between me and Jack, all while enjoying the final days of Aspen’s short hockey career.
The rest of October’s practices were paid for, and I hadn’t broken the news to Aspen that he’d be quitting at the end of the month. I thought I’d just stop taking him and see if he noticed it was missing. He probably didn’t even like it as much as I feared he did, so he wouldn’t miss it.
“Not a peep,” I said. “But it’s only been what, three days?”
“What is this, the forties? Did you put him in your little black book?” Gabi cracked. “Are you still following the three day rule? No contact for three days after you see him?”
I laughed and Jack’s head flicked my way, catching my eye with a scowl before snapping back to the ice. “Ball’s in his court. You see how he’s acting down there.”
“He’s acting like he’s not into hockey moms,” she said, covering her mouth like she was scandalized.
A woman a row in front of us cracked up. “We are a special breed, aren’t we?”
At our collective laughter, Jack’s jaw feathered as he looked down at the floor, pretending to stretch his neck.
Rome jostled Jack where they stood together. The kids gathered at the bench for the coach to tell them something, and Jack finally turned, taking the steps two at a time to get to me. It was a boyish move, but he had such a stern face that it was like watching Frankenstein run.
“Hi,” I said. “You look grumpy.”
“Syd scared our nanny again,” he gritted out. “I just found out about it.”
“Again?” Gabi asked. “Who is terrorizing your nanny?”
Jack’s eyes shot to her and he gave his grimace smile. “Who are you?”
