Amber “Diabolical” Taylor.
The sole reason I hated going into public in Seddledowne.
My chest tightened and my hands curled into fists. I forced myself to take normal breaths. The last thing I needed was for Christy to notice the panic attack I was about to have. Why had I let my parents talk me into coming? I was so stupid to think this was safe.
I sat on the edge of my seat, head tucked, ready to bolt the second the game was over.
I semi-focused on the last set but my eyes kept drifting, trying to see if she’d spotted me.
Seddledowne left it all on the court. When the last serve was tossed on the third set and we’d finally won the game, I exhaled.
“Good work, Coach Dupree.” Christy held out her hand for a shake. I hesitated, knowing what any kind of contact was going to do to my insides. I’d let her touch me once before and I’d been regretting it ever since. But how can you not shake someone’s hand after you’ve been in the trenches together? So I slid my palm against hers and squeezed, hating her a little for the tug it put in my gut.
Her eyes were hopeful. “Any chance you can hang around for the varsity game?”
I glimpsed back at Amber. But she was standing there, eyes narrowed, practically licking her lips, fangs bared. I torpedoed a glare right back but it was all show. In actuality, my neck caught fire and I felt a little dizzy. A grown man wigging out at the sight of his childhood plague.
I wanted to stay, desperately. Wanted to help Christy and these girls win.
But I couldn’t. I didn’t have a choice.
I turned my back to the stands and gave Christy a sad smile. “I can’t. I’m really sorry, I promised Silas I’d help him finish his bathrooms at the gym. Varsity should go a lot smoother.” It was a lie. I’d promised Silas no such thing. He hadn’t even asked. In fact, last minute, he’d called a plumber who was there right now.
Christy’s face fell and her cheeks flushed again. “Okay. Well. Thanks for the help.” Her words were gracious but her expression was skeptical. But I wasn’t going to stand there chatting her up, putting a target on her back by association. I had to go.
Now.
“Hey.” Christy stepped closer and put a hand on my arm. “Is everything okay?”
But her hand was like fire now that Amber was watching.
I knocked it off, turned, and jogged from the room. And I didn’t exhale until I was outside, in my car, pulling onto the road. I jammed a finger between my neck and the collar of my shirt, trying to get some air.
Every time I came back home, I got my hopes up. This time worse than before with Jedd shoving the D.A. job my way. I’d hoped more than ever that maybe it was time. Maybe I could finally come home for good. I played it off like I was a city boy now. Like I’d outgrown this place.
In truth, Seddledowne was the only place I’d ever wanted to be.
But Amber Taylor was always right there to make sure I knew I could never come back.
six
CHRISTY
Two weeks after that first game, I couldn’t sleep. I hadn’t slept well for months. Ever since the night Silas had told me he’d be living with Lemon for three months. The Upward Dog had its grand opening the Friday evening before. I’d slipped in early Saturday morning—when Silas had told me with a wink that neither he nor Lemon would be there—and signed up for a gym pass. And now, I was glad I had. I needed to get some of my anxiety out.
I looked around one more time to make sure there were no creepy men that might sneak up on me—even though I’d been here for forty-five minutes and checked three times already. At eleven thirty p.m., the reception desk by the sliding doors was unmanned and the massive gym was empty except for me and a fellow female gym rat, who was covered in tattoos and had half of her head shaved. She looked buff enough—and tough enough—that she could likely take any perv that walked in here. But as a petite woman, barely five foot three, I could never be too careful.
I straddled the weight bench, looking down at my phone, trying to wrap my head around the fact that Holden’s bioinformation on Facebook had changed. He’d taken down his job at Caldwell, Caldwell, Sipsby, and Anderson. Silas had told me his job there ended but he hadn’t said why. The question was, what was he going to do next? Was he moving back to Seddledowne? I scolded myself at how happy that possibility made me.
I tapped on his photos and scrolled until I came to my favorite. Yes, I had a favorite. Shirtless, and muddy from head to toe, Holden stood at the finish of an obstacle course race with a medal around his neck, along with three of his buddies. Were his cut chest, arms, and shoulders nice to look at? Yes. And what I wouldn’t give to run my hands all over them. Again. But that wasn’t my favorite part. It was the perfection of his dimple, the twinkle in his eyes, the tough, cocky grin that screamed,I am unstoppable.
I let out a twitterpated sigh.
Then rolled my eyes at myself.
The other reason it was my favorite was because it was one of the only photos of him without a woman in it. Holden was nothing but a heartbreak waiting to happen. He’d broken it a little when he’d left after the JV game on Monday. And my mangled, barely beating heart did not have it in her for another big one so soon. And I was pretty sure if I let myself fall for him, it would be harder than I’d ever fallen before.
And to prove Holden’s chronic playboy behavior, there were over five hundred pictures of him with different women, at bars, baseball games, backpacking, boat rides, the beach. And that was only the B’s. The craziest part was, the majority of the pictures were there because he’d been tagged by the women. He wasn’t posting them like bragging rights.Theywere. Like he was some unattainable movie star they wanted at least the tiniest connection to. Was he that hard to pin down? The plethora of pictures said yes.
