Chapter Eighteen
JT was determined to be a perfectly well-behaved driver until the moment they parked and Ali leaned across the center of the front seats.
“Ali, what happened to friends?”
“Some friends make out.”
JT laughed. “No. Name one couple you know who has successfully stayed just friends while hooking up.” She kept her tone playful, but she had real concerns that blurring the lines wouldn’t end well for them.
She’d had relationships that were purely based on hooking up, but not with someone who was as important as her best friend’s sister.
She never wanted to screw things up with any of the women she dated, but the stakes with Ali were higher.
“You and me. That’s one.”
JT shook her head, too charmed by Ali’s adorable face to mount any kind of argument. “Do I need to remind you that you were the one who said just friends?”
Ali waved her hand dismissively. “I meant we shouldn’t hook up in public.”
JT narrowed her eyes. “I don’t know why I’m arguing with you about this, except I think it’s really important that you’re sure about being in this contest together where everyone thinks we’re friends and nothing more all while making out every time we’re out of sight. Do I have this right?”
Ali sighed. “God, you’re annoying. I don’t know what I want.
I know I want to kiss you. I know I want to spend time with you.
And I know I definitely don’t want to be married to Kyle.
That’s about it. Whether you and I are destined to be anything more than winners of the contest who make out is beyond me.
But don’t you want to have some fun? With me?
” She batted her eyelashes at JT in such an absurdly over-the-top way, JT had to laugh.
JT leaned forward and kissed Ali. It was little more than a peck. “You’re impossible, Ali Porter. Unfortunately, I like impossible.”
JT’s phone dinged.
She looked at the messages. “Dammit. My siblings are asking what the hell happened to me after the event. So unless we want to tell them about this, I better get home.”
Ali kissed her and got out of the car. “Don’t get in trouble on my account. Your mom is way too scary for that.”
JT waited until Ali walked into her house before driving the short distance home. She liked the proximity but it didn’t give her much time to deal with her thoughts and emotions. She walked in the door to her parents and siblings sitting in the kitchen.
“Please don’t tell me you’re drinking cocoa,” JT said.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I thought you were little miss ‘you can never have too many marshmallows.’ Or was that just to give you a chance to bat your eyes at the judge?” Emerson raised her glass, thankfully filled with wine. “Cheers to you and Ali on your victory.”
Everyone else joined her in raising their glasses. JT kicked off her boots and joined them at the table.
“Thanks! I was super surprised. I figured caramel and peanut butter might be a bit much for the judges.”
“The only thing that was a bit much was your flirting. Is that your plan for winning this thing?”
Their mom whipped her head around. “Who were you flirting with? Jasmine, I have to live in this town.” But even her mom couldn’t make it through the sentence without laughing.
“Mom, why do you have to call me Jasmine? I’m not a Disney princess.”
Her dad handed her a glass and offered her wine. She shook her head and walked to the fridge for a beer.
“That’s true. I don’t remember any movies where the princesses drank beer. Gaston drank beer.”
“Oh my god. I am not Gaston!” JT sounded annoyed but she wasn’t. If they were going to tease her for something, drinking beer was the least of it.
“That’s true, you’re more of a Robin Hood. A way with the ladies, finding a way to swoop in and win the day.” Clark looked pleased with his assessment.
Emerson shoved his shoulder playfully. “Nah, more of a Flynn from Tangled.”
“Oh my god. How did this turn into roast JT? Watch out or I’ll give your kids all the candy they can eat and then leave them with you. You’ll regret giving me shit when you’re scraping them off the ceiling.”
Jonathan held up his hands. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. No need to escalate. We all know you have the most game of anyone in this family.”
“True,” Beth and Clark said simultaneously, drawing indignant protests from their spouses and laughter from everyone else.
JT smiled, trying to take the compliment without also feeling like it was a bit of a backhanded one.
Maybe she was a good flirt, but it wasn’t like any of the women she casually dated had been interested in more from her.
Her siblings had successful marriages with kids and houses and everything else.
They had real careers, and JT was in the middle of a low-paying “career” with no guarantees that she’d even stay in one city long enough to need a full-year lease let alone have a house.
And as much as she loved being a professional athlete, and she really did, she knew it was temporary.
Her siblings could make art for a long, long time.
They could teach practically forever if they wanted to.
But being an athlete had a short shelf life.
She might be at the start of it, but there was every chance it would be gone in an instant.
She took a healthy sip from her beer.
As if reading her mind, her mother said, “There’s nothing wrong with stability. And even if you have no game, you both did very well in the spouse department. So maybe being able to flirt isn’t everything.”
“That’s my cue. Good night. I’ll take my sorry, single ass downstairs.”
Beth and Jonathan protested. “You just got home! Come on, stay and hang out with us.”
JT shook her head. “Thanks, but I don’t need to stick around for the rest of this roast. See you all in the morning.”
Emerson and Clark stood up when she left and Jonathan and Beth moved for the door, too. JT felt bad to break up the party, but there was no way she wanted to listen to them list every one of her insecurities for laughs. Besides, she was exhausted.
She might be a massive flirt but talking to people when she had to be JT Cox, Olympian, was exhausting.
And then there was everything with Ali. Confusing felt like an understatement.
She clearly liked JT and wanted to add some benefits to their friendship, but JT didn’t want to read the wrong thing into all her mixed signals.
She descended to the basement and flopped onto the couch. Ali wasn’t a random woman JT had met at a bar and might have a nice little fling with. She was Tommy’s sister who recently ended her marriage to the guy she’d been dating since they were teenagers.
But Ali was an adult, more than capable of making decisions for herself. So why did it feel so confusing? Were the signals truly mixed or was JT simply being a chicken?
* * *
JT woke to find her nieces and nephew out of their minds in the kitchen. Brooke and Mabel were running around the island at full speed, looking like a crash waiting to happen. Harrison ran to her.
“Snow! JT, it snowed!”
She looked out the window to find the snow coming down in big flakes and the ground completely covered. Pure magic. She and Harrison pressed their faces to the window and scanned the field.
“When are we going sledding?”
“Grandma says we have to have breakfast first.” He didn’t whine, but the disappointment was evident in his voice.
JT caught her mom’s eye. “Your Grandma is right. We need fuel if we’re going to sled all day. Come on, have some food with me.”
JT hoisted him onto a stool at the counter and scanned the room. “Bagel?”
Harrison nodded and was joined by his sister and Brooke. “With cream cheese!”
“Please.” Mabel reached for Brooke’s hand. “You have to say please when you ask.”
JT couldn’t handle how cute they were in their pj’s and with their hair all messy from sleep. “Three cream cheese bagels coming right up. Now, how do you three take your coffee? Black, I assume.”
Harrison and Mabel cackled. “JT, coffee is for grown-ups!” Somehow Harrison made “grown-ups” sound like an affliction.
“Oh, you’re right. Can’t be stunting your growth with all that caffeine. How about some milk?”
Brooke held out her sippy cup.
She slid two cups across the counter and filled them for the older kids. “So, how big of a hill are we taking on today?”
“The biggest,” Mabel said in a whisper. God she was a cute, fierce little creature. JT loved her spunk.
“You know who has never been sledding? Toby. Should we bring her?”
The kids cheered loud enough that JT’s mom turned to see what was happening.
“Okay, then I need to take her out and get her ready. But then let’s find a giant hill and maybe, if we’re lucky, there will be treats afterward.”
JT took Toby on her usual walk but nothing about it felt like every other walk they’d gone on that week. The snow made everything so quiet and peaceful. Even when Toby got zoomies and ran around the yard and chased snowballs JT threw for her, everything felt like someone had turned down the volume.
They got to Ali’s and found her shoveling her walkway. JT watched her push the snow aside, and how she seemed happy to be doing such a boring task. She cleared the walk and pushed the snow to the side before stamping her feet to get it off her boots.
“Good morning!” JT called, not wanting to startle her.
Ali beamed. “I love snow!”
JT bent down to scoop a handful into a snowball. She gently lobbed it in Ali’s direction. Toby tugged at the leash trying to go catch it.
“Toby, you handsome girl. Come here.”
JT dropped the leash and followed Toby as she bounded to Ali’s steps. Ali bent down and let Toby plaster her face with kisses.
“I guess you meant what you said about preferring her kisses.”
Ali looked up at JT, her eyelashes catching snowflakes. She looked so incredibly beautiful in the morning light filtered through the snow. JT sucked in a breath.
“Jesus,” she said as she exhaled.
Ali looked puzzled.
“Nothing. The snow suits you, that’s all.” JT recovered. “We’re all going sledding in a minute. Do you want to come?”
Ali rubbed Toby behind her ears. “I would love to, but I have some work to do on this house before the next competition.”
JT shoved her hands into her pockets. She should have offered to come help instead of sledding. “I can come over after if you want some help.”
Ali smiled up at her. “I’d love that if you don’t mind. But I don’t want to take you away from your family.”
“After a couple hours of sledding, those kids will all pass out in front of a movie. I would love to come help you instead of listening to my parents ramble on and on about art and museums. I’ll text you before I come, okay?”
JT had the urge to tell Ali about the teasing she received the night before.
She wanted to tell her everything about her siblings teasing her and how she thought about Ali’s laugh and smile and the way her hair fell out of her messy bun while she mixed cocoa.
She wanted to say so many things she shouldn’t.
Toby tugged her glove off and pulled on the leash. “Toby! I need that.” Toby wagged so hard her entire body wiggled from side to side like a worm.
Ali giggled and JT lost her breath looking at the way her face lit up when she smiled. Snowflakes dotted Ali’s hair and the top of her beanie.
“What?” Ali asked, catching JT staring.
JT shook her head. “You’re just really fucking gorgeous. But I’m sure you know that.”
Ali blinked and then smiled. “I don’t know how you do it, but you always make me feel so good.”
JT dipped her head, a little embarrassed but proud. Toby tugged the leash. “I should get her back home, I’m sure the kids are screaming to get sledding. See you later?”
Ali nodded. “Can’t wait.”