“Lover boy, huh? Well that explains it.”
“Explains what?”
“Why a good-looking guy like yourself is never with a woman. You have a thing for Shayna’s nanny.”
“Fuck you.”
Flint’sfuck youwas nothing like Everson’s. I detected nothing playful or joking in his words.
“I don’t care if you’re gay. It’s none of my business, and unlikesomepeople, I know how to mind my own business.”
Total bullshit. I was queen of the peephole. My favorite hobby was trespassing into other people’s business.
“You don’t know shit, Lake.” Flint walked off. Not another word or even a quick glance back.
Jamie narrowed his eyes at me as he helped Shayna do her back float. I shook my head and flipped my hat back down.
A while later, Shayna called to me. “Lake, we’re leaving now. I want to ride home with you.”
Yes, we even took separate cars. Any bullshit issues Flint had about my outing was complete over-obsession on his part. I nodded and smiled as Shayna walked toward me, wrapped in a big pink towel that dragged along the ground.
Jamie held up his hand. “See ya at home.”
“Ice cream! Please, Lake.” Shayna clasped her hands again under her chin.
My willpower was no match for her adorable begging. “Yes, of course, ice cream.” I took the edge of her towel and squeezed the water from her ponytail.
“Thank you, Lake.”
“You’re welcome. Let’s go.”
We stopped at her favorite place for ice cream, and she gother usual: rainbow ice cream with gumballs. I shook my head every time. How could she enjoy cold, hard gumballs that she had to spit into a napkin to chew when her ice cream was gone? I got peanut butter ice cream with chocolate cookie pieces.
“I miss Evson.” Shayna swiped her tongue across her top lip, missing the smearing of pink on the tip of her nose.
“I know, sweetie. Training camp is almost over and you’ll get to see him a little more often.”
“I love Evson.”
Of course she did. Love was all Shayna had to give.
“Have you said, ‘I love you’ to Everson?”
She nodded.
I jabbed my spoon into my ice cream. “Has Everson said ‘I love you’ to you?”
She nodded.
I wanted to cry, but I didn’t. Instead I smiled. Every inch of me smiled. It felt like a huge victory. I knew he’d love her. I knew it would be impossible for him not to love her. It was no longer my illusion that she was going to be OK—that they were going to be OK—they were there.
I blotted a drip of ice cream from her nose.
She giggled then sucked in a breath. Her smile vanished as her eyes widened with panic and her spoon dropped to the floor.
“Shayna?”
Her hand shot to her throat.
