Chapter 5
Heston and Luke were sometimes joined in their unofficial basketball grudge match by the neighbor on the other side of Luke, an older widower guy named Bob. He had played college ball back in the day, and although he didn’t jump anymore, he had serious skills, both offensively and defensively. When he showed up, Heston and Luke would team up against him, and despite laying off the elbow throwing and pushing they usually allowed, it still took everything they had to hold Bob off.
Bob threw up a perfect three pointer—which was anything off the concrete—and laughed.
“Still got it, boys.”
Heston leaned over, huffing and puffing. “We know. You remind us constantly.” He glanced over at Luke. “What are you smiling about? Every time I look over at you, you have a goofy grin on your face.”
Luke dribbled the ball before going back to the crack in the sidewalk to pass it in to Heston. “The real question is, why does it bother you? Has happiness been banned today or something?”
Bob rested his hands on his bald head. “Are we playing or not? He’s got a woman on his mind, Heston. Moving on.”
Heston’s eyes got big. “Is it Tara Harris? Is that who you were texting the other night?”
Luke threw a straight pass at Heston’s chest. “I plead the fifth.”
“Oh, come on. Sarah’s been pestering me to get information out of you.”
“All the more reason to keep my mouth shut.” Luke moved around to get open and took the pass from Heston before throwing up a jump shot. Nothing but net.
He was taking Tara to dinner and out ice skating in a little over an hour, and his level of giddiness was one step below little-kid-Christmas-morning status. Playing basketball with the guys was just a way to work off some nervous energy.
Bob took revenge and finished them off with a two-point lead. He leaned forward and gripped his thighs. “Okay, I’m done. My ankle’s bothering me again. I’m gonna go ice it. What’s Sarah cooking for dinner?”
Heston smiled. “Chicken and mashed potatoes. If you offer to do dishes again, I think you’re a go on getting that standing invitation. What about you, Luke? Are you coming?”
Luke shook his head. “I’ve got stuff to do. Thanks though.”
“No prob.” Heston didn’t have any reason to question him about it. Even though Luke had more free time than he used to, he still spent most nights working. He’d rescheduled some things just to be free tonight.
Luke waved goodbye and jogged to his door. It was time to shower, shave, and attempt to tame his hair. His mom had sworn up and down that his cowlicks would calm down as he got older, but his hair had other ideas.
He applied a little bit of aftershave to his jaw and neckline, making sure not to overdo it. The getting ready for a date routine wasn’t anything new, but the anticipation mixed with fear definitely was. This date was not supposed to happen. His feelings for Tara were not supposed to happen. But it was all happening, and he knew eventually things would have to be said, and decisions would have to be made if he kept seeing her.
Why did she have to be so perfect for him? After texting all through the party, it had somehow been completely natural to check in with her the rest of the week. He loved that she was funny and quirky, free-spirited and occasionally downright flirty. Sometimes it made him feel squirmy inside, realizing how little Derek must have appreciated all the little things about Tara that made her the amazing person she was.
But since she didn’t want to talk about her relationship with Derek, he hadn’t brought him up either. It was nicer to pretend that it was only Sandy’s matchmaking they had to deal with.
They had an ongoing bet about how long they could keep their date tonight a secret from her. Tara was hoping for the Tuesday after forever. He had a feeling they’d be busted in a Sandy sting operation sometime during dinner. After all, half of their text conversations ended with Tara sending S. O. S. alerts. At some point, they were bound to be caught exchanging stupid memes or talking late into the night about work and family and how much dating stunk. Skipping over all the Derek stories, of course.
What he knew about her seemed to fall into two categories: life before Derek, and life after. And as much as he loved the hilarious details of living with her aunt, he wondered about a lot of things they couldn’t talk about yet. He only had Derek’s side of things, and the more he got to know Tara the less he realized he knew about anything.
After getting dressed and lacing up his boots, he pulled out his phone and texted her.
Luke: Ready to sneak out?
Tara responded with a gif of a female super spy summersaulting across laser beams. He’d take that as a yes.
They’d decided to meet up at the new sushi place near the outdoor ice-skating rink. He threw on his jacket and left early enough that he’d be able to get them a table before she arrived. The place didn’t take reservations and it was always hopping. Tonight was no exception.
When the hostess finally led him to a booth, he took the far side so he could see the door. Tara stepped through it a few minutes later, smiling when their gazes locked. She dodged a waiter passing by with drinks and slid into the booth, immediately shrugging off her jacket.
It was so nice to see her in the flesh after only hearing her voice for a week. Her eyes, and her smile, her curves. Everything about her attracted him. And once again, that fear of everything going wrong hit him right in the chest. This was what true vulnerability felt like, and realizing how foreign it felt made it that much scarier. He thought he’d been too busy to date. Maybe he’d just been too detached until now.
“So,” she said, leaning forward. “I have a confession.”
“I guess it’s your turn for one.” Luke smiled. “I’m all ears.”
