I shake my head. “Pretty confident in yourself, huh?”
“You’ve seen me play,” he responds, as if his game speaks for itself.
I shrug in response, facing the windshield and not giving him the satisfaction of agreeing with him that yes, he’s impressive. Yes, even if I have no clue what he actually does, even a novice like me can tell he’s a beast out there. Yes, it’s all kinds of hot.
Wait. I shouldn’t be thinking about TJ and how attractive I find him. We’refriends.
“Will you watch this weekend?”
Something in his tone catches my attention. I expected continued cockiness, but instead, there’s a vulnerability there, and when I side-eye him, I see it in the stiffness of his posture, the way he’s leaning toward me, jutting his chin out like he reallyhopes I say yes. This is a different side to the overly confident, more-swagger-in-his-pinky-toe-than-I-have-in-my-entire-body man who was teasing me a minute ago.
This TJ feels more real—and my entire body melts.
“Of course I will. What are friends for?”
He relaxes in his seat and smiles back at me.
“Speaking of that. Do you need me to take care of anything for you while you’re gone?” I ask.
He opens his mouth, but words don’t come out. He blinks at me a couple times.
“Is that a weird question?” I reach up to pull my hair into a tail, twisting the end around and swirling it into a bun to give myself something to focus on. “I’m sure you have people, closer friends or whatever, who help you out when you go away,” I prattle on. “I was thinking with your house and your chickens and whatever. If there’s anything I can do—”
TJ presses a hand on my knee, and I stop speaking, staring at the point of contact between his palm and my jeans. I bring my gaze up to meet his, but his expression is unreadable. I shift in my seat, and his hand falls away. I tell myself not to be a total cliché and miss the contact immediately, but here we are.
Come back, I think before I can stop myself.
Dang it.
“That’s really nice of you to offer, Lu.” His voice is ten shades of gravely, and I have to stave off a shiver at his use of my nickname.
“Of course. Whatever you need, let me know.”
“Itissupposed to be pretty cold this weekend. Especially Sunday. If you could check on the chickens and make sure their water hasn’t frozen, that would be great. I’d ask my grandparents, but I worry about them coming out in the cold, and I guess my neighbor could maybe check things out, but as a die-hard River Foxes fan, he usually tailgates at the stadiumeven for away games, and yeah.”
TJ cuts himself off, and I don’t think he realizes how much more at ease in my own skin he’s making me feel. I wouldn’t have pegged him as a rambler, but it’s a comfort to know he doesn’t always have the exact words ready to go either.
I smile. “I’m happy to help.”
Chapter 20
TJ
TJ
Putting the key to my house here for you.
Isnap a picture of myself, pointing to the corner of my backdoor welcome mat, and send it to Lucy. I make the quick drive to the stadium, where I’m getting on the team bus so we can head to the airport. We fly out to Buffalo for our game in a few hours.
By the time I park and check my phone, I’ve got a message waiting for me.
Lucy:
Sounds good. You sure that’s safe?
I smile as I walk through the player lot.
TJ
