“I know.” She meets my eyes, and there’s something raw in her expression.
Then she’s gone, slipping back through the door, leaving me alone in the hallway with a racing heart and the taste of her still on my lips.
• • •
I give her ten minutes instead of five. Partly to be safe. Partly because I need the time to get myself under control.
When I walk back into the ballroom, I don’t look for her. I make myself talk to sponsors, shake hands, and do theschmoozing thing Coach wanted. I laugh at jokes that aren’t funny and nod along to conversations I don’t care about.
But I feel her.
Every time I turn, I know exactly where she is in the room. Near the dessert table. Talking to Dana. Laughing with Logan about something.
And every now and then, our eyes meet.
Just for a second. Just long enough for my pulse to spike and my skin to heat and the memory of her mouth to flash through my brain like lightning.
She looks away first. Every time.
But she always looks back.
Banks appears at my elbow again near the end of the night. “You seem less like someone ran over your dog.”
I smirk. “Told you. I don’t have a dog.”
“And yet.” He studies me with those sharp eyes that see too much. “Something changed.”
“Nothing changed.”
“Liar.” But he doesn’t push. Just lifts his glass in a silent toast and walks away.
I watch Tori say goodbye to Dana, gather her coat, and head for the exit. She doesn’t look at me as she leaves.
This is going to get complicated. I know it is. She’s my PT. She has rules. I have a daughter who can’t handle another person walking in and out of her life.
There are a hundred reasons why this is a terrible idea.
But for the first time in years, I’m not sure I care.
15
BABYSITTING
Tori
My phone buzzes while I’m elbow-deep in laundry.
I almost ignore it. It’s Sunday afternoon, and my day has consisted of laundry, leftover Chinese food, and a true crime documentary I’m only half paying attention to.
Then I see the name on the screen.
Zayden.
My stomach flips. We haven’t talked since the banquet two nights ago. Since the hallway. Since he kissed me like he was trying to prove a point—and he succeeded spectacularly.
I stare at the phone for three full rings before answering.
“Hello?”
