“Tina!”
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a slight twitch of Taryn’s lips at her mom’s scandalized tone.
“Can’t waste perfectly delicious hot fudge.” Tina’s matter-of-fact tone didn’t hold a single note of apology.
Tina cracked me up.
I took two sopapillas and automatically offered two more to Taryn. When the sauce came to me, I spooned butterscotch and raspberry onto my plate before passing the bowls on to T. As anticipated, she swirled hot caramel and hot fudge onto her deep-fried dessert before taking a dainty bite of the hot-fudge-covered one.
Sweat beaded on my forehead as I studiously kept my focus on my own plate to stop myself from doing something I desperately wanted to do—like lick delicious dessert remnants from the roses of Taryn’s plump lips. A move like that would definitely earn me a slap in the face and would likely get me kicked out of the Hamilton house for eternity.
After suffering through listening to Taryn’s moans of delight while she enjoyed her favorite dessert, I headed back out onto the front deck with her while the rest of the family gathered in the kitchen to clean up dinner. We’d offered to help, but since T had already taken care of the dinner dishes, Mrs.Hamilton sent us outside to “catch up.”
We’d barely sat down with our iced teas when I asked the question I couldn’t hold back anymore.
“Did you and that Aaron guy get back together? Is that why you haven’t been home all spring?”
Several rapid blinks met my question before she scrunched her brows together. “What are you talking about?”
“You heard me. Your mom’s upset because you haven’t been home since Easter. When she mentioned it, you made some lame excuse about needing to work. I want the truth.”
?Chapter Three
?Taryn
“You have somenerve, Danny Chambers.” I rounded on him. “You’ve been back in town for all of five minutes after being away forfour years, and you think you have a right to tell me off for not coming home for two months?” I stood and stomped to the end of the deck. “Not that it’s any of your business, but the truth is—”
A loud diesel truck drove past the house, forcing me to pause and think about my response. My experiences with Aaron Jones, my ex-boyfriend, were humiliating enough without me having to explain them to the one person on the planet who would never in a million years be able to relate.
“The truth is none of your business. I didn’t lie at dinner. I’ve been putting in as many hours at the coffee shop as I can.” Crossing my arms over my chest, I said, “Plus, I’m taking a class this summer—something Mom conveniently forgets when she’s badgering me about being here every weekend.” I raspberried out a breath. “She doesn’t bother Tally about not being home all the time, and Tally lives here in town, not two hours away.”
He ran a hand over his head, messing up his hair. From the length, it was obvious he’d pushed military limits, probably because he knew he was discharging and thought he’d get away with it—which he had. He stood and wandered over to lean against the railing beside me. “Sorry.” Blowing out a breath, he said, “You’re right. It’s none of my business. But it’s not like you to stay away from home for three months running.”
“I’m not back together with Aaron,” I said quietly. “In fact, he started dating someone else the week after he walked out on me.”
A muscle in Danny’s jaw ticked, but all he said was, “Told you he was a douche canoe.”
Closing my eyes, I blew out a sigh. “Trust me. I was the problem, not him.”
The reminder of what happened between Aaron and me heated my cheeks. Not wanting Danny to see—or to ask about it—I returned to my chair and hid behind a sip of iced tea. Having witnessed his delight in dating all the girls yet settling with none, no doubt he’d consider me a total freak if he knew the truth about me.
“So you’re serious about playing for the Wildcats, huh?”
A weird expression crossed his features as he returned to the chair on the other side of the table from mine. Yet all he said was, “Yeah.” For a long second, he stared at me, and then he picked up his own glass, sipped, and put it down. “I don’t know how I’m going to transition into civilian life since I’ve never really lived it. But I think playing football, being part of the team, will help me figure it out.”
“Have the camaraderie of the military without the restrictions, huh?”
“Exactly.” A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Funny how even after all our time apart you still have an uncanny ability to figure me out.”
I waved a hand in his direction. “You’re kinda easy to read.”
It helped that I knew how much Danny despised his military upbringing: how much he resented his dad for dragging him all around the country, chasing promotions that had stopped coming years before he retired: how much he wanted to earn a football scholarship and keep playing the game he loved more than anything else. But he’d had to opt for enlisting in the military because all that moving around meant he didn’t have the grades or the stats for that scholarship and no money to pay for tuition otherwise.
That hot August day four years ago when he’d left to start his military tour was the second worst day of my life. The worst, of course, came the day Aaron walked out on me after exposing me for the freakshow I was. Probably the nicest thing Danny ever did for me—even though it hurt like hell at the time (and still did if I was being totally honest) was to friend-zone me. After what happened with Aaron, I realized that if Danny and I had ever dated, especially with what I knew about his experiences with girls, we would have never been friends when it was over. As much as it hurt to admit it every time I saw him, being Danny’s best friend was a blessing. It meant I could have him in my life. Though I had to smile and pretend to be happy about every girl he dated even while a little part of me died.
“Easy to read, my ass.” He scowled, and I cracked up.
A smile tugged at my lips. “You so are.”
