Chapter 3 #2
Reegan shook her head. “Ash is a sucker for a project. She loves a man she can fix.”
“What about you? Do you need to fix a man?” Did my voice drop? Fuck, I was flirting with her. I mean, no shock, but damn.
She turned to me with a teasing smile and shook her head slowly. “I’m a teacher. I train them when they’re eight, not thirty-eight. If I have to fix a man who’s a grown fucking adult, he’s not the right one for me.”
A smile lifted my lips. “I don’t know many teachers who swear.”
“If the situation calls for it, I’m not going to hold back. I spend enough of my day keeping all my emotions locked up tight. When I’m not in a classroom, I am not interested in being around anyone who can’t handle the real me.”
“I like the real you, Reegan.”
She snorted. “You didn’t yesterday.”
“You caught me off guard.”
She raised her eyebrows. “And now we’re totally good?”
I nodded. “We are. We’re just two people enjoying a cup of coffee together.”
She grinned and tipped her mug to her lips. She licked them, catching a drop of light brown liquid on the corner of her mouth. “Not anymore. Mine is gone, and I am guessing you need to get on with your day since you don’t have the summer off.”
I checked the time and grimaced.
“You’re going to be late, aren’t you?” She stood, wrapping both hands around the mug.
I stood with her and reached for the mug. “I am. But it was worth it to share a cup of coffee with you, Reegan.”
She smiled and let me have the mug back. “Thank you for the apology, Josh.”
I smiled, enjoying the way my name sounded on her lips. “I hope you have a good day.”
“You, too.” She ducked her chin, then looked up at me through dark eyelashes.
I smiled, then hurried back to my house. I put the mugs in the dishwasher, then grabbed my keys and wallet, and jogged to my truck.
I didn’t stop smiling all day.
I checked my phone as I was leaving work and saw a string of texts from Hannah. I swore as I settled into my truck, wondering how she found out I was flirting with Ashlyn’s friend.
I cranked up the truck and turned the air conditioning on high, then dragged my phone back out to see what Hannah’s latest problem was.
Hannah
I need to talk to you.
Are you at work?
Please answer me.
This is urgent. Meet me at Daily Ritual. I’ll be there at four.
I checked the time. It was four-oh-six. Hannah didn’t love waiting, but I didn’t have my phone at work. She knew that, not that she cared. I pulled out of the lot and headed for the coffee shop, not bothering to text her that I was on my way.
I walked into Daily Ritual five minutes later. Hannah was sitting at a table for two with two mugs and two plates in front of her. She looked up and saw me, smiling like she knew she was going to get her way and was happy to see she could still beckon me and I would come.
I fucking hated that it was true.
She tipped her chin up for me to kiss her cheek. I obliged, the habit stronger than my desire to put space between us.
“What’s so urgent?” I asked as I took a seat. My knees hit hers under the table that was way too damn small for two people who weren’t sharing a moment. I tried to shift, but there was nowhere for my legs to go that didn’t rub against hers.
She did it for a reason. I wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of asking to move.
“We need to talk about Evie’s graduation party,” Hannah said. She leaned in, like we were sharing a secret.
“What about it?” The party was set for two weeks after graduation. At Hannah’s house, because she insisted on it. Her house was bigger, she said, and nicer. More people could come, and Evie’s friends would have more to do. The adults would, too.
All Hannah’s words. And as always, I didn’t argue with her. She wasn’t wrong, but it still rubbed me wrong.
“I need you to host it.”
“What? All the invitations have gone out. Everyone is coming to your house. You insisted on it.” I reached for the coffee instead of using my hands to speak to her. Or strangle her. Not that I would, but the urge was there at times.
Like when she fucked with our kid’s life.
“Brian has an event that weekend, and we can’t host two things. Since his is for work, we can’t move it somewhere else.”
“But you can just decide you’re going to move Evie’s party to my house?”
“You wanted to host it anyway. What’s the problem?”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. She wasn’t wrong that I wanted to host, but fuck. “It’s a lot of people we need to contact. A lot to do with this change. I don’t have anything planned for it. Food, entertainment, any of it.”
“I’ve already started contacting people.
And I told Evie so she could let her friends know.
The food I ordered will be delivered to your house instead.
The staff will have a harder time since you don’t have a kitchen that’s away from the rest of the house, but I’ve been assured they can make it work.
Someone will be out a few days before to set things up. ”
“Like what?”
“A tent. You don’t have space in your house for everyone we invited, so you need more room outside. I have a twenty-by-twenty tent coming with tables and chairs.”
“I don’t have that big of a flat space at my house.”
Hannah blanched. “Sure you do. That neighbor said you can use her space anytime. Since you allow her to use your… dock.” Hannah narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips like I was letting Ashlyn use something else that sounded a hell of a lot like dock.
“Ashlyn is a friend, but this is a bit of a stretch. Asking her to set up a tent in her yard—”
“I’m happy to speak to her if you’d like.”
“No,” I blurted. The last thing Ashlyn needed was Hannah coming at her. “I’ll talk to her. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“Good.” Hannah smiled at her victory. She won. She got everything she asked for, and I rolled over and gave it to her. Like I always did.
No matter what it cost me.