“So you have time to hang out tonight.”
I stopped moving and faced him. “Not with you.”
“Once a prick-tease, always a prick-tease, huh, Taryn? One of these days you’re going to give me what I want.” His feral smile bordered on a grimace that sent shivers of dread through me.
Still, I held my ground.
“It’ll be a cold day in hell before I spend five minutes alone with you.” Spinning on my heel, I willed myself to move at a steady pace as I walked up the sidewalk to the front porch when all I wanted to do was run.
“You’re such a bitch. No wonder that boyfriend you had last year dumped you. I’m the only guy who ever even gave you the time of day,” he yelled.
Maintaining my focus on the safety of my parents’ home, I climbed the three steps to the porch and opened the front door. The angry noise of his diesel engine growling to life accompanied me inside. As the door slammed behind me, I thought I heard a different thump, but I was too relieved to be away from Derek to wonder too much at the sound.
Another thought insisted on my headspace. How did he know about Aaron? At the time he was still attending school in Wyoming, an entire state away from me and my love life. Did he have spies at MSC? Was that why so few guys had asked me out in the years I’d been going to college there? And how had he known exactly when I’d be arriving in town for the holiday?
Shaking my head at my paranoid thoughts, I comforted myself that he hadn’t said anything about Danny. If he had someone spying on me, he’d know about Danny and me. Besides, MSC was too big even for Derek Watson and his dad’s money to influence.
I heard voices in the kitchen, so I dropped my bags on the floor in front of the door and headed in that direction.
“Taryn! You’re home.” Mom smiled wide as she stood from the table. Wrapping me in her arms, she said, “Now my home is complete with all my chicks back under my roof.”
“Mo-om.”
Over Mom’s shoulder I grinned at Tina’s eye roll. From across the table, Tally smiled back at me.
“Facts are facts.” Holding me at arm’s length, Mom said, “You look wonderful—like you’re actually sleeping.”
Feeling my cheeks heat at her comment, I ducked out of her arms and escaped to the coffee pot. My favoriteEasy Amug sat beside the stove as though it had been waiting for me since the last time I was home way last summer. As I poured it full, I said, “All those extra hours I spent at work last summer meant more time for sleeping in this fall.”
“How’s Danny?” Tina asked, and I almost spilled the milk I was topping off my coffee with.
Bending down, I carefully slurped caramel-colored coffee from my mug before returning the milk to the fridge. Carrying my mug to the table to join Mom and my sisters, I said, “He’s great.” I sat before dropping the bomb. “He’s starting in the playoff game Saturday.”
With a smirk, I raised my mug for a drink while my family exploded.
“He’s starting?”
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“I thought he already started.”
Putting my hand up to stop the interrogation in its tracks, I said, “He found out yesterday in practice. So I’m glad Zoe and I already bought tickets to the game.”
Pulling her phone from her pocket, Tina’s thumbs ran furiously over her keyboard. When she glanced away from her phone, her accusatory demeanor reminded me of a pissed-off porcupine. “The game is sold out.”
I sipped more coffee, swallowed, and said, “I’m aware. I also might have mentioned to Danny that you guys would want to see him start, but he swore he didn’t know he was starting until yesterday’s practice.”
“Are you two spending a lot of time together?” Mom’s heart-eyed expression was at odds with her indifferent tone. Mom had been harboring a sweet spot for my friend—boyfriend—since I first brought him by the house and he charmed the hell out her.
With the change in our relationship being so new, I wasn’t quite ready to share it with my family. Shrugging, I said, “We study together a couple of nights a week when I don’t work. Pretty much the same as high school.”
The speculative gleam in Tina’s eyes said I hadn’t been as nonchalant as I was going for.
Tally, bless her, preempted whatever nosy question Tina had in mind. “If he’s playing football this weekend, then is that why he’s not coming for dinner tomorrow?”
“From what he described, the alums host a big feed for the team and the coaches at the practice facility. Then they all gather in their film room and watch the pro games together. They have regular practice today, tomorrow, and Friday, so no one goes home for the holiday.” I drank some coffee and added, “I like to watch football, but I can’t imagine that much football in one day.” I added a shudder for good measure, but when I sneaked a glance at my younger sister, her gaze said she wasn’t buying it. I couldn’t imagine what vibes I was giving off that she was picking up.
“You sure seem to know a lot about his schedule,” she said, not bothering to hide her knowing smirk.
