Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
THE GEORGIA SATELLITES, “KEEP YOUR HANDS TO YOURSELF”
Kyle
After I put Josh to bed, I carried the phone onto the deck with the cord slid under the door and sat in a wooden rocking chair.
Adam answered on the second ring. “Hello?”
“Hey. Miss me yet?”
“Hell yes. How’s it going?”
“Pretty good so far.”
“You haven’t found a new best friend, have you?”
I laughed. “It wouldn’t be that hard.”
“Have you figured out the only good thing in that little town is your neighbor girl, so it’s time for you and Josh to return home?”
I chuckled. “Not quite. My QB this year is the real deal. I can’t miss his senior year.”
“Is he better than you?”
“Maybe. I don’t know yet.”
“When’s your first practice?”
“This week. It’s supposed to cool down a bit, so conditioning might not hurt as much.”
“They’ll still whine like the babies they are.”
I cradled the phone between my ear and shoulder and cracked open a beer. “I don’t doubt that. How’s Lizzy?”
“I broke up with Lizzy.”
I took a swig of my beer and grinned. “You’ve broken up with her twelve times. I’m not sure what it says about either of you that you keep getting back together, but I know you’re back together.”
Adam claimed he kept getting back together with his high school sweetheart because the town was small and the pickings were slim. I didn’t buy it.
“It’s just sex.”
Barking a laugh, I adjusted the phone and brought the beer can to my lips before mumbling, “It’s always just sex to you.”
“Exactly. Then she assumes it’s more, so I have to tell her it’s not, and she calls it a breakup when it’s just a clarification.”
“Well, at least you’re having sex.”
“Don’t give me that. If I lived where you live, I’d be fucking Eve every day. Maybe twice a day.”
I winced. “Man, that’s my pastor’s daughter—my brother’s best friend ’ s daughter. You can’t talk about her like that.”
“Like what? Fuck? Everyone knows it means F ornication U nder C onsent of the K ing.”
Again, I laughed, missing my friend already. “I don’t think anyone knows that.”
“Seriously, though, can you imagine what a scandal that would be if you screwed the preacher’s daughter?”
“I can, actually. And that’s why we’re done talking about it.”
Adam sighed, releasing a hum with it. “Remember being eighteen with surging hormones? Remember wanting to screw anything that moved?”
“I remember, but I’ve grown up. I have a child. A job. And morals. You, however, are still that guy. So I don’t know why you’re acting nostalgic about something you’ve never given up.”
“I own an accounting firm. If that’s not a job, then I don’t know what is.”
“ Firm feels a bit too big for your office above your dad’s garage.”
“Fuck you, Kyle. The garage is an auto body shop, not like my mommy and daddy’s garage.”
I snickered. “I miss you already. You should move here or to a real accounting firm in St. Louis. Then we can hunt on the weekends. You can even bring Lizzy.”
“I’m missing you less and less by the second.”
“Come for a game. Maybe over homecoming weekend. I’m sure they’ll need extra chaperones for the dance.”
“As tempting as that sounds, I think you should come back here for a Broncos game.”
“Or a Chiefs game in Missouri.”
“We’ll draw straws. I gotta go,” he said.
“Lizzy calling?”
“No.”
“Baby, I’m home,” Lizzy called.
“Shit,” Adam muttered.
“I don’t know why she’s calling it home when you’re just having sex. But I’ll let you go since I’m sure the king has given his consent for you and Lizzy to fornicate.”
“If I didn’t love ya, I’d hate you so much right now,” he grumbled.
“Aw, that’s sweet. The feeling is mutual.”
The next morning, I took Josh to the first practice, but after he had a meltdown over wanting a snack (which I forgot to bring) and endlessly smacking the players on the butt, I called the Jacobsons before the afternoon practice.
“Hello?” Janet answered.
“Hey, Janet, it’s Kyle. I’m in a bind. Kindergarten doesn’t start for Josh until next week, but I have two-a-day practices this week. I took him with me this morning, and we had a few issues. Would Eve or Gabby be willing to watch him this afternoon? I’ll see if I can make other arrangements for the rest of the week.”
“Of course. Eve isn’t home from the motel yet, and Gabby’s at the church with Peter, but someone will help out, even if it’s me. What time do you need to leave?”
“A quarter to four.”
“Someone will be there.”
“Thanks, Janet. I really appreciate it.”
After a late lunch, Josh mowed the lawn with me. I had never had so much to mow in my life, and I was grateful that the previous owners left the riding mower when they sold me the house. Of course, it took twice as long as it should have because letting Josh help meant we made a lot of wrong turns and sudden stops and took frequent breaks to hydrate and pee because it was hot today.
By the time we made the last pass on the north side of the barn, my long-legged neighbor girl in cut-off shorts, a pink T-shirt, and white sneakers traipsed toward the house while eating an apple with one hand and carrying a bag in her other. Eve’s dark hair tangled with the wind, and she shook her head to get it out of her face just as we stopped the mower by the garage.
When she smiled, I felt it in places I didn’t need to feel the effects of an eighteen-year-old girl.
Woman.
I meant it when I said she reminded me of myself, but a better version. My family never found my humor funny. And I spent a lot of days grounded in my room. I had a penchant for alcohol and other things that weren’t good for me.
“You’re early,” I said.
Eve chewed the bite of apple and inspected her watch, which had pink and yellow straps that day. “It’s three fifty-five. I figured I was a little late.”
“It’s what?” I looked at my watch, but it still read one fifty. The battery had died.
“Nooo. No. No. No.” I lifted Josh off the mower and sprinted toward the front door. As soon as I grabbed my keys off the kitchen counter, I dashed out the front door. “I’m going to be late. And I said anyone who’s late has to run an extra mile.” I opened the truck door. “Sorry. Thank you. Gotta go.”
Eve grinned as I started my truck. She held her hand up with the apple and waved at me with her ring and pinkie fingers. I returned a grimace because it was all I could muster before I peeled out of the driveway.
I was five minutes late to practice, and the players let me know as much.
“You said if you were late, you’d run the extra mile,” one of them reminded me.
Rod Webber, my assistant coach, smirked.
I shrugged off my shirt and tossed it onto the grass before jogging to the track. “If everyone just stands around watching me, I will make you run two extra miles.”
The team, minus Rod, jogged behind me. By the time they finished their one required mile, I was already ahead by an extra lap and a half. Rod let them grab water before they stretched and moved on to drills while I finished my extra mile.
Although I knew I would miss Adam and our other friends in Colorado, I was happy with how talented my star quarterback and the rest of the team were. We were going to have a good year.
I returned home a little after six, and the house smelled like an Italian eatery of garlic and spices. Josh was in his booster seat, eating lasagna at the dinner table.
“Hey,” I said, smiling at him before shifting my attention to Eve, who was drying the last dish. “I had ingredients for lasagna?”
“No.” She laughed. “My mom sent groceries with me in case you didn’t have things to eat.”
“There’s bologna and bread.” I filled a glass with water and gulped every drop.
Eve set a clean plate on the counter. “My mom doesn’t consider a bologna sandwich a proper dinner. But don’t tell her I told you that. She’s not one for making anyone, except her daughters, feel bad about their life choices.”
I stood behind Josh and bent down to nuzzle his neck.
He giggled. “Stop, Daddy! You’re sweaty.”
“I know.” I shrugged off my shirt and used it to wipe my face and sweaty hair. “When you’re done eating, I’ll shower.”
“If you want to shower now, I can wait for him to finish.” Eve smiled. It wasn’t her usual sassy grin. It was more of a shy one that made her cheeks turn pink. And she averted her gaze when I looked at her.
“Are you sure?”
“Mm-hmm.” She nodded while wiping the already clean counter with the dishtowel.
“Thanks.”
Eve returned a second “Mm-hmm.”
When I finished my shower, Josh was in the living room, playing with his blocks and Matchbox cars, while Eve grated an apple in the kitchen. A plate of lasagna, salad, and garlic bread was at the table, along with a folded paper napkin, fork, and a glass of ice water.
“This is beyond what I expected when I called your mom, begging for someone to help me tonight,” I said, sitting at the table. “This looks and smells incredible.”
Eve glanced up from the bowl of shredded apple and smiled. “Thanks.”
“Are you making your special applesauce?”
She nodded.
“I might just keep you.” I stabbed my fork into the lettuce.
Eve paused her hands, brown eyes wide and unblinking.
I shook my head while I chewed the salad. “That sounded wrong. I just meant Josh could get spoiled having homemade lasagna and fresh applesauce.”
She cleared her throat and sprinkled cinnamon and sugar into the bowl. “Did you punish yourself for being late to practice?”
I smirked over the bite of lasagna and nodded. “It’s only fair,” I mumbled.
“What do you think of your quarterback?”
“Drew? He’s good. Really good.”
Eve put the cinnamon and sugar into the brown paper bag she brought with her.
“How was your day? Do a lot of people stay at the motel?”
“No.” She laughed. “So I work slowly to get in the hours I want. I turn on the TV in the rooms while I clean. Watch a show. Clean things twice. No motel or hotel in this great state has cleaner rooms than the Devil’s Head Inn.”
I grinned. “By the way,” I used my fork to point to the lasagna, “this is the best meal I’ve had in years. Have you considered culinary school?”
Her nose wrinkled. “You just said that’s the best meal you’ve had in years, which felt like a compliment, but now you think I need schooling because it’s not good enough?”
“No. I suggested schooling because a degree in something makes you more marketable.”
“Did my parents tell you to talk to me about school?”
“No. This lasagna is amazing. Period. Forget I mentioned school.”
“Is it better than my mom’s tuna noodle casserole?”
“If I say yes, will you tell on me?”
“Depends.” She set Josh’s applesauce on the table at his seat. “What are you going to do for me?”
I nearly choked, so I drank some water and cleared my throat. “I figured I’d pay you for watching him.”
“I don’t want your money.” She tucked her hands into her back pockets, tightening her shirt against her chest. Either she wasn’t wearing a bra, or it was a thin one that didn’t hide her nipples.
Fuck.
“What do you want?” I murmured, pointing my gaze at the plate of food before me.
“I want you to teach me things.”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
My dick wanted the same thing. But no way it would happen in hell, heaven, or anywhere between.
“Math?” I asked with a grin. “Literature?”
“I want you to teach me to shoot a gun and use a bow and arrow. And I want to learn how to drive your fishing boat and fillet fresh-caught fish.”
I tapped my fork against my lips for a few seconds. “I’d have to ask your parents.”
Eve frowned, canting her head to the side. “You can’t be serious. I’m an adult. I can vote for the next president. Buy cigarettes. Get an abortion. Or get married. Oh, did I mention I can purchase my own gun?”
She had a good point, but it wasn’t that simple for me. “I think it’s better if I just pay you like I’d pay any other babysitter.”
Twisting her lips, she slowly nodded. “Fine.” She grabbed my plate, scraped the rest of my dinner into the trash, and set the plate and fork into the sink. Then she put the lid on the lasagna dish and gathered it and the paper sack in her arms. “Josh, your applesauce is on the table,” she called on her way to the front door. “I’ll see you later.”
Josh ran past me as I followed Eve.
She shoved her feet into her white sneakers, but with her hands full, she couldn’t get the left shoe past her heel. I squatted before her, untied her shoe, and put it on her correctly. After I finished tying it, my fingers feathered up her calf. I quickly stood the second I realized what I was doing and seemingly had no control over my unexplained impulse to touch her leg.
“You didn’t have to throw my dinner in the trash,” I blurted out the first thing that came to mind. Anything to dismiss what I just did.
But Eve didn’t miss it. She looked like a frozen statue, not so much as a blink. After the longest seconds and most uncomfortable moment of my life, she released a slow breath, rubbing her lips together—and then she fucking smirked. “I only do nice things for people who can return a favor. You don’t know how to reciprocate. You’re a boring rule follower. I’ve never met anyone so square … except for my parents. Good night, Mr. Collins.” She turned and bent forward to push open the screen door rather than asking for help.
“I can carry those home for you,” I said.
“Josh is eating. You can’t leave him alone. I’ve got it.”
“I haven’t paid you.”
She descended the porch stairs. “Think of it as a trial run that didn’t work out. A free trial.”
“Eve—”
I wanted to follow her, but she was right. Josh was eating his applesauce, and while it was unlikely that he’d choke on it, I couldn’t risk it.
I touched her leg.
Could I have been a bigger creep?