“She’s pretty,” Reg commented when the camera landed on the glamorous brunet seated next to Alli and Liam in a private box. “You think they’re…ya know?”
He made a lewd gesture that was difficult to misinterpret.
I snorted, then glanced out the sliding glass door to watch the kids chasing Reg’s manic golden retriever puppy. “Tate’s got your shoe.”
Reg rolled his eyes. “Are you sure you don’t want a puppy?”
“Positive.”
I expected Reg to join the merry chase outside, but he didn’t move from his perch on the corner of his sofa.
“Do you still…I dunno…have feelings for him? Silas?”
Poor Reg. His face was beet red. He didn’t do heart-to-hearts well. But I appreciated that he was trying.
“I do, but it’s over.”
Reg sighed. “Are you gonna be okay if that girl really turns out to be more than a friend?”
I stood and patted his shoulder. “I won’t have a choice, will I? Another beer?”
Yeah, distraction was my standard method to avoid conversations regarding my personal life. The people who knew me best had caught on that Silas and I were more than buddies. They hadn’t talked about it while he was here, and they’d been kind enough to let it go now that he was gone.
But lately, not as much.
“I miss Silas,” Aunt Rhona said. “So do Ivy and Chase. They talk about him all the time. Where are your darn spoons?”
I opened a drawer and handed her one and stuck my nose in the pot she had simmering on my stove. “Smells good.”
The kids were next door with Sarah. True to her word, she’d rented the house from Silas’s friend, Vally, twice a month. Our new living situation was going pretty well. No major angst, thank God. But somehow my aunt had gotten it in her head that I’d forget to feed myself if left to my own devices.
“Thank you, dear. I heard your young man sent Chase tickets to the game next week and you’re all going.”
I didn’t miss her sly tone or her verbiage. “My young man? Aunt Rhona, Silas isn’t?—”
“Oh, hush. I know exactly who he is, and I think it’s high time you get your butt to Boston and tell him you’re sweet on him.”
“Oh, yeah?”
Rhona skewered me with a fierce once-over. “Yes. I’m gonna tell you something, and you’re going to tell me to mind my business, but I’ll take a chance ’cause you need to hear this, Coop. You’re the rock of the family. The steady guy who makes life easier for everyone else. But sometimes it’s okay to put yourself first and ruffle a few feathers. In fact, I highly recommend it. That doesn’t mean you’ll get your way, but you might manifest some positivity in the universe, and that’s a damn good thing.”
I furrowed my brow. “I’m confused.”
My aunt stood on her tiptoes and swatted me upside the head. “Tell him you’re cuckoo for cocoa puffs for him!”
“Just like that?”
“Oh, honey…yes. If you get a chance to dance, always dance.”
I didn’t know how to tell her that while I loved the sentiment, it simply didn’t apply to me. Not where Silas was concerned. I didn’t see a scenario where a single dad and a professional football player lived happily ever after. There were kids and contracts at stake. Silas’s place was in the spotlight, on ESPN highlight reels and entertainment sites speculating about his private life.
Mine was here.
Those were cold, hard facts. I’d had my chance to dance, and I’d taken it. But it was over. We were friends now, and that could be enough.
CHAPTER 26
SILAS
