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I force myself to move my attention from her mouth to her eyes, and what magical eyes they are.

“Hey, Mel. Good to see you.” I choke out, hoping my voice doesn’t betray how affected I am by her unexpected presence.

Realizing I’m still grasping her hand, I drop it and take a step back.

Madden and his wife look from me to Mel a few times before Odette asks, “Do you two know each other?”

She looks genuinely shocked, so It’s obvious Mel hasn’t mentioned to them that she knows me. For some reason, that makes me feel a little disappointed.

“West is friends with my brother,” Melanie says with a forced smile.

Noticing she didn’t say I was her friend as well makes my stomach drop in disappointment again.

“We were next-door neighbors.” I add, “The three of us were inseparable growing up. Me, Mel, and Harrison.” I smile and hold her gaze. The thought of how little we’ve talked the past few years makes my stomach churn.

“Yep, the three musketeers.” She smiles back at me and there’s sadness in her eyes. Or maybe I’m reading into it.

Everyone else in the room has lost interest in me and Melanie, starting up other conversations and autographing the Windell’s jerseys. But I can’t take my eyes off of the woman before me. I was a moron to think the connection between us would go away or that eventually I wouldn’t be attracted to her. Even the few times I’ve seen her the past few years, there’s still been a spark there, no matter how awkward and stilted our brief conversations were.

My mind swirls with thoughts of how much I’ve missed our friendship and all the things I’ve always loved about her… like how scheduled she is, and that she’s so organized. But my favorite thing is that she always smells like essential oils.

Wait, wasn’t that supposed to be my list of things that were annoying about her? Who was I kidding; they’re not annoying qualities at all.

It was horrible of me to basically stop talking to her after she sent that video. I know I’m not her favorite person in the world—at least, that’s what I’ve assumed from her body language every time I’ve seen her since. But at the time, I didn’t know how else to keep my feelings for her at bay.

“Hey, we should catch up. Would you want to grab coffee this weekend?” I’m hoping if I ask her in front of all these people she won’t say no.

She shifts her eyes around the room. “Um, sure. Okay.”

Before I can say anything else, Madden and Odette ask me to autograph their jerseys. I realize for the first time they’re wearing Kershaw jerseys and feel bad for not noticing sooner. But being so close to Melanie made me lose my bearings.

What am I going to do if she continues coming to my games? I won’t even be able to think. Maybe I can ask her not to sit in the front row.

Madden thanks Tom for inviting them to meet the team and then thanks us for the autographs. They say goodbye then begin to head towards the door.

“See you later, Mel.” I nod my head in her direction.

She glances at me over her shoulder. “Bye, West.”

She says it like it’s final. As if she’s not planning on seeing me again. But boy is she wrong. I’ll do anything I can to at least get her to have coffee with me.

I head back to my locker and start removing the rest of my gear.

Mitch looks over at me with a smirk. He raises one eyebrow and says, “Wow, your friend’s sister is a hot piece of—”

I get right in his face, fisting my hand in the front of his jersey. Anger is pulsing through my veins, making my skin feel like it’s on fire. “If you finish that sentence, you’re going to be missing a few more teeth.”

Mitch throws his hands up in defense but looks amused. “Alright, alright. Get off me.”

The rest of the team is staring at us. I narrow my eyes at them, and they return to removing their gear. I’m hoping they all got the hint that making comments about Melanie will cause punches to be thrown.

* * *

The next morning, I call the number I had for Melanie from high school.

A man who sounds elderly answers, “Hyellow?” His greeting sounds like a combination of hellow and yellow.

“Um hi. I think I might have the wrong number.” I purse my lips.