“How did your meeting go?” I ask Jadyn as we take our seats in the plane and prepare for takeoff.
“It was good,” she replies. “I don’t want to be rude, but would you mind if I worked on the way home? My mind is spinning with ideas, and I’d love to get them down on paper.”
“Of course not. I’ll probably sleep the whole way. I’m still tired.” And possibly slightly hungover.
“You’ve been through a lot, Jennifer,” she says with a smile. “Sleep will do you good.”
When we reach cruising altitude, she unfolds a large design table out of the wall, and I watch her sketch out a grand gathering space before I fall asleep.
We land at an executive airport in Kansas City, transfer to an SUV in the parking lot, and get buckled in.
She glances over at me, looking a little nervous. “Is Cade Crawford still your agent?”
“Yeah, why?”
“I didn’t know if you would have heard anything through him. His brother, Carter, is Danny’s agent. Since you mentioned Danny’s wife when I texted you—”
“Is she going to hate me? Is she going to be mad that you invited me?” I have a moment of panic. “Ohmigosh, does she know about me and Danny?”
“To my knowledge, Danny never told her about you. Or that he stopped talking to you and why. You would think something like that would make a woman feel good about her marriage.”
“But not her?”
“No.”
“So, do we have a story? Like, how do you and I know each other if I’m not supposed to know Danny?”
“We’re old friends,” Jadyn says simply.
“But isn’t she going to want to know how we met?”
“If she does, I’ll tell her the truth. That we met at a Nebraska game a long time ago. When I was in California for my meeting, we got back in touch.”
“Okay. Why do I feel like there’s something you’re not telling me? Even if it’s bad, tell me. I’d rather know now.”
“Danny and Lori are getting a divorce. They’ve managed to keep it out of the press. Their attorneys won’t officially file until they’ve signed the financial and custodial agreements, which takes place next week. I think Danny should be the one to tell you the rest though. It’s not really my place.”
“Are you freaking kidding me?” I yell out. My heart soars as a grin spreads across my face.
“You should see your smile.” Jadyn laughs.
“I’m sorry. I know it’s horrible of me, but it makes me happy. What happened?”
“While I’m really not all that surprised about them getting a divorce, I just never in a million years imagined that she would be the one to want it. She enjoys spending his money way too much.”
“She wanted a divorce?” My hand flies up to my chest. “What’s wrong with her? Danny’s freaking perfection!” I narrow my eyes at her, realizing for the first time that the Danny Diamond I fell for years ago might be very different now. “Wait, did Danny turn into a jerk? Was he cheating on her? Does he have an addiction to women? Or drugs? Or alcohol?”
“Danny is and has always been a good man. He’s never cheated, and he has no addictions—other than maybe working out. The rest of it, you need to hear from him. Mostly because we have differing opinions about it.”
“But you and Danny are still best friends?”
“Of course we are. And we still live next door to each other. Something Lori hates. Thank goodness he never gave in on moving away. Speaking of which,” she says, making a turn, “this is our neighborhood. Our houses are on a lake, which is really fun. When you look out back, you sort of feel like you’re on vacation.”
I take in the large homes. The bicycles in the front yards. Women pushing strollers down the sidewalks. I notice Jadyn waves at everyone we pass. The neighborhood is pretty with lots of trees, lush green lawns, and streets that seem to wind endlessly.
After numerous turns, she pulls into the driveway of a sprawling home with a beautiful, welcoming front porch that’s all decked out for Halloween. I glance at the houses on each side, wondering which one is Danny’s. Wondering if he’s home. Or if I might catch a glimpse of him.
Jadyn hits the remote, causing the garage door to open. Just as we’re pulling in, a woman comes out of the house next door. I will admit that I might have checked out Danny’s wife online. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a photo of her, so I’m not sure if this is her or not, and it causes my mind to fill with another million questions.
Are they still living together until the divorce is final? is the first that comes to mind.
Jadyn stops, rolls down her window, and says, “Hey, Kyla. How’s your little one feeling?”
Kyla smiles and tells her it wasn’t an ear infection, just teething, and then we pull into the garage, and she shuts the door behind us.
We’re stepping into a large laundry/mudroom when Jadyn’s phone beeps.
“Shoot. I have to go pick up my younger kids from school. Phillip’s meeting is running late. Do you want to come with me?” She pauses just long enough to set her bags down. “On second thought, stay here, and make yourself at home. Enjoy the peace while you can.”
She leads me into an expansive kitchen with gray cabinetry, brass pulls, stainless appliances, and gleaming white marble countertops. She points to the other side of the room where next to a long dining table are more cabinets featuring a buffet and two under-counter beverage refrigerators filled with an assortment of drinks.
“Help yourself to a drink and a snack. I’ll be ten minutes, tops.”
She glances at the time again and then rushes out of the house.
I stand in the kitchen and look around. Their house is … different. A lot different than the tract home I grew up in and a lot different from the modern Malibu beach house I’ve been living in. This house is, in one word, comfortable. But it’s also quite beautiful. Like something you’d see in a magazine from a design standpoint but still casual. On the buffet, there is a pedestal filled with cupcakes, covered with a domed glass. Two apothecary jars flank it, one loaded with pretzels and the other with a homemade snack mix. A wire bowl is filled with apples.
But it’s the table that catches my eye. It’s modern in style, yet the wood is worn and its surface marred. Probably all scratched up from having four kids, but as I glide my hand across it, I realize they aren’t scratches. Numerous names are carved into the table. Part of me wonders why someone would purposefully do this to their table, but as I read all the names, I’m overcome with emotion. These are all their friends. Hundreds of them. The kind of friends who get together once a month. Whose kids are friends. People who care about each other. I don’t have many people like that in my life. Over the years, a combination of Troy’s drinking and his quest for fame and fortune has gotten in the way. If I had a table like this, there would only be a handful of names on it. I’ve missed out on so many friendships.
I walk toward the windows and take in the view of the lake. There’s a library off to the left. While most of the home features a wide-open floor plan, this bookcase-filled room is sectioned off and cozy. I take a seat in a comfy chair, curl my legs up, and stare out at the lake.
I’m completely lost in thought when the front door opens. I have a moment of panic as I hear heavy footsteps instead of the sound of children coming home from school. Did someone just break in? My eyes sweep the area, looking for a weapon and settling on a heavy amethyst bookend.
With the bookend in my palm, I tiptoe toward the kitchen. A shirtless man is standing in front of the refrigerator, drinking milk straight out of the jug. Sweat shimmers across his muscular back. Is he some crack addict who breaks into houses and steals milk? No, a crack addict wouldn’t be built like that. Clearly, milk does a body good.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I yell out.
The guy turns at the sound of my voice. When he sees me, his eyes bug out, and he drops the milk.
Oh. My. God. It’s him. Danny Diamond in the flesh.
And holy mother-effing hell.
The glass bottle bounces off the floor without breaking, but milk splashes everywhere.
I rush toward him to help clean it up.
But Danny doesn’t move. He’s frozen, rooted in his spot, milk on the floor and splattered on the cabinets all around him. He’s drinking in the sight of me, like he was drinking the milk earlier, with force. His eyes feel like a rough caress. I look down at the workout clothes I’m wearing, wanting only comfortable traveling garments in my hungover state this morning. I remember washing my face and dabbing on some concealer and mascara. I thought I would get here, freshen up, and change before he ever saw me. This is not how I wanted to look when I met Danny Diamond again. Especially since he’s still staring at me.
I find my voice. “Hey.”
After all the clever and witty things I’d planned to say if I ever saw him again, all I could manage to blurt out was, Hey.
Great first impression, Jenn.
“Hey is for horses,” Danny says back, laughing.
Has he gone mad? Did the divorce push him over the edge?
I give him a once-over. He looks a little older, a few soft crinkles around his eyes, but that is the only soft thing I can observe. Everything else is toned, hardened muscle. I remember when we stripped down to our underwear and ran into the ocean in the moonlight. He was just a rookie quarterback then. A hotshot. Still boyish. Not yet the man standing in front of me. The same muscles are there, the same level of fitness, but he looks fuller, more solid. Or maybe it’s because I’m at a point in my life where I feel so weak.
We simultaneously move toward each other, drawn together, until we’re mere inches apart. Both of us basking in the fact that we are in the same room after all these years. Danny’s eyes move to my mouth, and in that moment, I think he might kiss me.
The front door bursts open, and children come bounding in. Backpacks hit the floor. The air fills with laughter. A teen girl and two boys stop in their tracks upon seeing us.
“You’d better clean that up before Mom gets home,” the tallest boy, who I recognize as Chase, states.
“I’d let Angel lick it all up!” the other boy says.
Danny’s gaze breaks, leaving me feeling cold. “That’s a darn good idea, Damon,” he says, moving to rustle his son’s hair. “Chase, go get her. She is probably asleep in your mom’s room and didn’t hear us come in.”
“Who are you?” the girl asks me.
It doesn’t take much to know that this is Danny’s daughter. They share the same brilliant blue eyes and dirty-blonde hair.
“I, uh—” I stutter because all that comes to mind is, I’m the woman who wants to take your father in the nearest bedroom and—
“This is Jennifer Edwards,” Danny says to her.
“Like the movie star?” she asks.
“She is the movie star,” Danny replies.
The girl scrutinizes me.
“I don’t have any makeup on,” I say in my defense.
“Where’s Auntie Jay?” she asks, seemingly not convinced of who I am.
“She went to pick up, um, some kids. Someone else was supposed to, but she had to at the last minute,” I offer as an older yellow Labrador pads slowly into the room, wags her tail at the kids, and then eagerly licks up the milk.
Danny
I’m standing in Jadyn’s kitchen, three of our combined six children clamoring about with the dog licking milk off my shoes, and staring at the woman who was probably the love of my life.
This isn’t exactly how I expected things to go down if I were ever lucky enough to see her again.
“Why don’t you guys grab some cookies, go downstairs, and work on your homework before we have to leave for the game?” I suggest to the kids.
“I can’t eat cookies, Dad,” Devaney says. “I’m in high school. I have to look hot.”
“You’re fourteen. You shouldn’t worry about that.”
“Whatever,” she says, grabbing an apple from the island and going downstairs to the ultimate kid zone. A place to play, relax, and study. I’m redoing my house so that it’s more kid-friendly, hoping to wipe the memories of being forced to behave like little adults by my soon-to-be ex from the kids’ minds.
“There are wipes under the sink you can use,” Damon says as he grabs a paper plate from the buffet and piles it high with snacks.
I can’t get him to lift a finger at home, but at the Mackenzie house, kids are told how to behave if they want to hang out here. And they all follow the rules because they want to be here.
“If it’s sticky, Auntie Jay will not be happy.”
I slip off my shoes and gesture to Jennifer that I’ll be right back. I step over the sticky mess, pick up the dog, and carry her downstairs, knowing, in her advanced age, she doesn’t like to be separated from Chase.
As I make my way back up the stairs, I wonder if I’m dreaming. If I’ll get back to the kitchen and realize that seeing Jennifer was some exercise-induced hallucination.
How could she possibly be here? Why is she here?
It’s been years. I know, not long after I cut off communication with her, she started dating a drummer. I know they’ve never had children even though the tabloids always proclaimed she had a baby bump. I’ve seen photos of her on magazine covers, seen every movie she ever made, and dreamed of her many times over the years.
But I never imagined she’d be here.
“Why are you here?” I blurt out the second I get to the top of the stairs.
But she’s gone.
Am I losing it? Was the milk bad?
“Because Jadyn invited me,” a voice says from behind the island.
I take a few steps forward and see her down on her knees, antibacterial wipes in hand, cleaning up the floor.
“You didn’t have to do that.” I pull a wipe out of the plastic container. “I was coming back to clean it. I’m sorry. I was surprised to see you here. Speaking of that, why are you here?”
“You might be the only person in the world who doesn’t know.” She scrubs the floor with more vigor.
“Know what?”
“About Troy.” When she looks up at me, her eyes fill with tears.
“Is he dead?” I ask, assuming the worst as I drop onto my knees next to her.
“What? No? He, um—there are photos. He and some girls. In bed. A wild night after a gig in Amsterdam. The paparazzi have been relentless. They all want a statement from me. What do they think I’m going to say? My boyfriend cheated on me, and it hurts like hell. Yes, I was shocked. No, I had no idea.”
“My wife had an affair for a year,” I quickly confess. “I had no idea. She told me right before we were supposed to leave on a trip to celebrate our fifteenth anniversary. I realized later the reason she waited until then was because it meant she would get more, according to the prenup.”
“Were you happy?”
“I thought we were.”
“Did you ever think about me?” she asks as our gazes lock.
“Yes, often.”
“I was there when you won your first Super Bowl. I had a pass to go out on the field. My first reaction was to run down there to congratulate you, but your wife was there, and you were holding your little girl when you received the MVP Award. I understood the joy on your face. It wasn’t just because you’d won. It was also the way your little girl held on to you. She smiled and kissed your cheek. Troy is a big fan of yours. He had no idea we’d ever met. I pretended to be sick for the next championship you won. I just couldn’t bear to go. It was one thing to watch you on TV, another to be there in person. I’ve even been invited to the ESPYs numerous times over the years. I always turn it down.”
“Why?”
“Because I knew, the next time we were together, I wouldn’t be so moral.”
I gulp, knowing that was the same reason I couldn’t be just her friend. She’s so beautiful—long blonde hair, big blue eyes, killer body. I take in her full, lush lips, wanting nothing more than to kiss them—screw that, I want to take her by the hair, drag her to my house, throw her on the bed, and—
The garage door bursts open. Crusher, Jadyn’s youngest, comes barreling into the kitchen, closely followed by Jadyn and her other two children.
“Danny!” Jadyn says, her eyes widening with surprise when she spots me on the floor. “Um, I was going to tell you about Jennifer being here before—shit.”
“Shit, shit, shit,” Madden yells out.
“The kids are downstairs and have cookies,” I tell her son.
“Yes,” Jadyn agrees. “All of you, go down there, have a snack, and get your homework done if you want to go to the game tonight.”
They grab juice boxes, snacks, and their backpacks and are off to the basement. The garage door opens again, and Phillip, who must not see me and Jennifer on the floor, grabs his wife and pulls her in for a deep kiss.
“Sorry I’m late. I promise to make it up to you later,” he suggests, his hand moving to caress her backside while his lips slide down her neck. “I missed you.”
I stand up and hold my hand out for Jennifer, who takes it.
“You playing hide-and-seek with the kids?” he asks when he sees me, but he stops speaking when Jennifer follows me up. “Um, Jadyn?” he says, turning toward his wife and narrowing his eyes at her but not appearing as surprised as he should be.
I want to contemplate that, but Jennifer’s hand is in mine, and it makes my heart pound like I just ran fifty yards for a touchdown.
“I know. Okay,” Jadyn says to Phillip. “But I had to offer. And I was shocked and thrilled when she took me up on it. We literally just walked in the door from the airport when I had to leave her here because you bailed on picking up the kids.” She turns to me and Jennifer. “I’m sorry. I certainly didn’t expect you to see each other after all this time when Danny is … just all sweaty.”
Jennifer slides her hand out of mine, leaving it feeling empty. Lonely. Incomplete.
“I’m not that sweaty,” I counter, but I know I am.
Jennifer is probably repulsed.
“I told you, playing matchmaker is like playing with matches. You’ll get burned,” Phillip says sternly to his wife.
“You didn’t want me to come?” Jennifer asks Phillip, looking stricken.
Phillip gives her the same smile he gives Jadyn when she’s pissed. The one that instantly calms her down. “My wife doesn’t like to be told what to do. Yesterday, after her meeting, she was debating on all the pros and cons of inviting you. After an hour’s worth of texts, I told her I thought it was a bad idea.” He grins. “That pretty much guaranteed she would contact you. I’m really more surprised that you came.” He walks over and gives her a hug. “Surprised but glad. It’s been a long time. I’m sorry for what you’re going through.”
I roll my eyes. This is why Phillip, who once told Jadyn that he’d never be able to afford the kind of house I could buy, has almost surpassed me in wealth. His good looks, sincerity, and his ability to sell anything to anyone mean he’s taken his dad’s already successful company to new heights. Not to mention, he has his equally talented wife, who probably just signed a contract to rebuild an iconic Beverly Hills hotel today.
“I’m glad I’m here, too,” Jennifer says, practically melting into Phillip’s arms.
I should be the one hugging her, I think, feeling jealous.
“Why were you two on the floor?” he asks.
“I spilled milk,” I say, sounding dumb, like the girl in Dirty Dancing who says, “I carried a watermelon”—a movie line Jadyn often quotes during awkward moments.
“And I was helping to clean it up,” Jennifer adds.
“Although Angel took care of most of it. My son’s idea.” I chuckle.
“The boy is smart,” Phillip says.
“Damon can come up with a million ways to slack.”
“He’s a leader,” Phillip counters. “Nothing wrong with knowing how to delegate. Isn’t that what you do on the field? Here, you take the ball, so I don’t get hit,” he teases.
Jennifer laughs. And keeps laughing. Like she hasn’t laughed in a while.
“Quarterbacks do that, don’t they?” She giggles some more.
A broad smile spreads across my face.
Her laughing reminds me of how we met. I said something that made her laugh and then didn’t leave her side the rest of the night. I wonder what my life would have been like if I hadn’t stopped talking to her. But I know. Talking would have led to seeing, seeing would have led to touching, touching would have led to sex. There is no doubt in my mind that the sex would have been monumental, intense. Probably better than winning the big game.
Just simply helping her up brought a rush of the kind of passion that I hadn’t felt in a really long time.
I’ve been blaming Lori for the failure of our marriage. She’s the one who was unfaithful. She’s the one who ended it. But would she have cheated if we had truly been happy?
I know my feelings for her were never the same after she accused Jadyn and me of having an affair. And they took another hit when she got mad at me for staying at the hospital with Phillip when a pregnant Jadyn nearly lost her life after a car accident.
I had plenty of opportunities to cheat.
But I never did.
And it wasn’t my love for Lori that stopped me. It was the love I had for my children.
“Let’s go out on the deck and have a beer,” Phillip says, finally releasing Jennifer.
Jennifer
Danny puts his hand on the small of my back, causing shivers to run down my spine. Good shivers. The kind that seem to connect directly to my lady parts.
I shake my head, mentally chastising myself. Your long-time significant other cheated on you. You need to deal with that. Lick your wounds. Pick yourself up and move on. You should not be thinking about doing it with Danny Diamond.
But the man is like sex on a stick, waiting to be licked. If I’m being honest with myself, that’s exactly why I came here. It wasn’t just to get away from the paparazzi.
“Why don’t you go take a quick shower?” Jadyn says to Danny.
She mentioned earlier that she didn’t want me to see him again for the first time when he was hot and sweaty, but I disagree. It’s exactly how I should have seen him. Because I’ve been seeing a version of him this way in my dreams for years.
We were at a party. Got introduced. He shook my hand as his blue eyes drank me in. It was intimate. Perfect. I was being my loud, crazy self, but in that moment, it felt like time slowed. I was dating my hot costar at the time, but there had never been any talk of exclusivity. I’d been drinking a little. Danny made me feel insanely hot, and I couldn’t help it. I wanted him. So, I grabbed a bottle of champagne from the party and told him we were going somewhere quiet to talk. Although talking was the last thing I wanted to do with Danny Diamond. I wanted him to throw me into the sand and screw my brains out. I even made the first move and kissed him.
But then he told me he was married.
After that kiss, there was no way I was going to let him leave. I would take whatever time I could get with him. We sat in the sand and talked for hours, each of us spilling all our secrets to the other. All the things we feared about how our lives would end up. Danny told me about his wife and her jealousy. He beamed when he showed me pictures of their baby girl. He was concerned he would end up hating his wife, and their relationship would go down in flames.
He told me he’d never met someone like me. Never felt things so fast. I told him I could never be with a married man. He told me he would never cheat.
Then we just sat there, staring into each other’s eyes, wondering what could have been had we met earlier in life. I’d had enough to drink that I blurted out exactly what I was thinking.
We talked about true love. Soul mates. And we both knew, without a doubt, that’s what we were. He caressed my cheek as we spoke. I held his other hand and kept pressing my lips into it.
Phillip thrusts a beer toward me, bringing me back to the present. I take a long sip. Because of Troy’s struggle with addiction, I didn’t keep beer in the house and avoided alcohol out of respect for him. How long has it been since I’ve had a crisp, cold beer? And it tastes even better with the cool breeze coming off the lake and the sun’s rays warming the top of my head.
“This tastes so good,” I mutter.
“The first rule here is, you don’t drink until we toast,” Phillip says.
I put my head down, embarrassed. “Jadyn mentioned that. Sorry, I forgot.”
“It’s okay,” Jadyn says. “We just try to appreciate moments like these.”
Phillip smiles at his wife and squeezes her hand. “And we have a lot to toast to tonight.”
They raise their bottles in the air, so I follow suit.
“To a few brief moments of quiet before all hell breaks loose downstairs,” Phillip says.
“And to a gorgeous evening,” Jadyn adds.
“And to Jennifer coming back into our lives,” Danny says, his gaze settled on me as we clink our bottles. I take a drink—once again prematurely because he turns and presses his bottle against Jadyn’s. “And to the woman who got her here.”
I’m touched. By all of it. Their friendship. Their family. Their inviting me into their home. Who does that?
Before I moved to California, I had lots of friends. But I left home, and they stayed, and then we lost touch. Not the case with Danny, Phillip, and Jadyn. Their friendships have only deepened over time. It makes me long to be a part of it.
Although he didn’t talk much more about his wife that night, he did mention she was jealous of his best friend. When I went to the Nebraska game, I understood why. Jadyn and Danny’s closeness was unnerving. Men and women couldn’t be just friends. I thought there must be something going on. But then I saw her and Phillip together and knew she wasn’t a threat.
It’s apparent that they’ve been his rock through the divorce.
The moment of silence passes quickly, and before I have swallowed my third sip of beer, kids run out of a door under the deck and into the backyard, the two older boys wrestling each other and possibly in a fight. As they roll across the ground, I see the smiles on their faces. Damon gets pinned by Chase and taps out. Best friends, too. No matter what. I can just tell.
Chase gets up, wipes the grass from his pants, helps Damon up, and then takes a phone out of his back pocket, saying, “I win.”
We watch as he types something into his phone.
Jadyn’s phone immediately buzzes.
She scans the message and then stands up. “Chase Mackenzie, I’m going to take your phone away. You know the rules.”
His eyes get big, and he looks sincere when he says, “I didn’t see you up there!” He gives her a grin. “I know you had a busy trip, Mom. You shouldn’t have to cook. Sound like a plan?”
Jadyn smiles at her son. “You’re very thoughtful, Chase. Yes, if you’ll go make sandwiches for everyone now and be dressed and ready to leave for your football game in an hour, we’ll all go out for pizza after.”
Chase and Damon cheer and wrangle all the kids back inside.
But then Jadyn looks at me. “Oh, shoot, um, maybe you going out isn’t a good idea. Although I doubt anyone would realize who you were if you wore a ball cap. I’d leave you home with Danny, but he and Phillip help coach the team.”
“I love pizza,” I say, not wanting to be left out. “And football.”
“I should probably go shower,” Danny says.
I’m hoping he’ll ask me to join him, but know that probably wouldn’t be appropriate.
“I could use a shower, too,” I practically whimper.
Jadyn presses her lips together, trying not to smile, and I realize how that just sounded.
“I, uh, didn’t mean, like, with him,” I lie. But then I glance at Danny, who looks slightly crushed, so I start babbling, “I mean, I’d love to shower with you sometime, Danny. Uh, I mean, I just—the traveling. I don’t know what I’m even saying. I’m sorry. Just stop me.”
“Why don’t I show you up to the guest room before I leave?” Danny offers, his eyes soft with understanding. “You can freshen up, and I’ll meet you all back here in a few.”
I drain the rest of my beer, feeling tipsy the second we’re in the house. Or maybe I feel tipsy because Danny is holding my hand as he leads me back to the garage, out a side door, and then up a set of stairs I didn’t notice before.
“Jadyn recently turned the attic into a combination office slash guest room. The good news is, it’s quiet up here.”
The space is gorgeous. The ceiling follows the roofline and features wood beams wrapped with metal. The walls shimmer in a warm pink. The girlie color is offset by numerous architectural drawings set in black metal frames. A dark wood drafting table is set against a wall with an inspiration design board hanging above it. On the opposite wall two antique barn doors are slid open, one side filled with binders full of swatches and the other side featuring a kitchenette with a glimmering pink and gold glass backsplash. This area also has a round table across from a seating area filled with what looks to be the most comfortable couches in the history of mankind.
My head is on a swivel as I try to take it all in, but Danny leads me through the space without a word. He slides open a barn door at the end of the room to reveal an adorable bedroom suite, one that looks straight out of an HGTV episode. One wall is covered in reclaimed wood. A cream linen padded bed sits in front of it, draped in fluffy white bedding. A soft, pastel wool rug covers the wood floors, and modern gold metal chairs are dressed with white fur. A crystal chandelier dangles from the ceiling.
“It’s so pretty. I might never leave,” I blurt out.
Danny lets go of my hand and turns toward me.
And I suddenly feel like just a girl. Standing in front of a boy. And nothing else matters. Not where we’ve been or what we’ve been through to get to this exact spot. Just like we stood on the beach that night. When it was almost dawn.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” he says.
“I can’t either,” I reply, our eyes locked.
We don’t speak. We don’t have to. Just the fact that we are here says volumes about what could be.
But then he goes, “Why are you really here?” His tone is brusque, almost irritated. “You just need a place to hide out from the press?”
“I, uh …” I say, getting distracted by his chest, noticing a salty residue clinging to his collarbone. Is it gross that I want to run my finger through it and taste it?
“You, uh, what?” he asks, causing me to catch the squint of his eye. The hurt behind those gorgeous baby blues.
“That’s not an easy question to answer. We haven’t really caught up yet.”
“I’m getting a divorce, and you’re going through a rough spell,” he says.
Now, I see why he looks all bunched up. He really thinks I only came to hide out.
“I left him,” I say, causing the tension in his jaw to soften ever so slightly.
“And Jadyn invited you.”
“Yes,” I say, feeling ready to cry. “I was afraid to come, but being able to see you again … I just couldn’t pass it up. And it makes no sense really. I look horrible. I haven’t slept much lately. And I thought you were still married. But I had to come.”
He studies me. There is a large mirror decorating the bedroom, and I suddenly see myself reflected in it. My eyes are just visible over Danny’s shoulder. I see the fear in them. The sadness. For what I know I lost.
And I’m not talking about my relationship with Troy.
“Why?” he says again.
He is just like me, I realize. Broken. Hurt.
“Because I’ve never stopped thinking about you. When you cut off contact, it broke my heart.” He looks like he’s going to say something, but I keep going, “No, that’s not right. When we stopped talking, it was like you took a piece of my heart. Or I left it with you. I’m not sure.” As I speak, I feel bolder, more sure of myself. “I was in love with you, Danny. I had never in my life felt what I felt when I was with you. Considering that nothing really happened between us, you obviously made an impact on me.”
He doesn’t reply. Doesn’t tell me he felt the same way. Instead, he nods and then walks past me and into the bathroom where he turns on the shower.
“It’s got a tankless heater, so you won’t run out of hot water, just takes a while to get all the way up here.”
“Thanks,” I say, following him into the bathroom, which, although spacious, feels small, Danny’s big body filling up the area.
He tries to slide past me, but his naked chest grazes across the front of my shirt. I swallow hard. He keeps moving toward the door, like he can’t get away from me fast enough.
“I’m sorry I made you spill the milk,” I say for lack of anything better.
“It’s okay,” he says softly, stopping. He’s close to me, and he definitely doesn’t stink. Instead, he smells like he did that night at the beach. The salt mixed with his manly scent. “I have to be honest with you, Jennifer. I’ve been through a lot over the last few months. I don’t know if I could handle you coming back in my life, only to be split apart again. In other words, don’t start something with me you don’t fully intend to finish.”
He walks out the door, leaving me feeling completely confused.
I’m not sure what to do. I don’t really need a shower. I took one just this morning. I meant it as a joke. Sorta.
But I strip off my clothes anyway, lost in thought, the emotion behind what Danny said hitting me full force. He’s afraid I’ll go back to Troy. That we’ll—
“Oh!” I hear and then see Danny standing at the doorway, his eyes wide. “Um, sorry. Didn’t know you’d be naked already.” He smiles and shakes his head. “I came back to tell you I’m sorry for acting like a jerk.” He pulls me in tightly, the skin on our chests touching and filling me with desire. “I’m glad you’re here, Jennifer.”
I’m ready for him to kiss me. To strip off his shorts and take me in the shower.
Instead, he walks back out the door.
Danny
I leave quickly, the thought of Jennifer’s naked body on my mind as I race down the stairs and through the front yard to the safety of my house, hoping none of the neighbors notice me leaving Phillip and Jadyn’s house with a raging boner. One touch, and I feel like a teenager again. Heck, that’s not true. More like a middle schooler. I could control it better than this in high school.
It’s been over five months since I’ve had sex. Five months since my wife left. My kids have held my focus. They were devastated. They had a million questions. They blamed me. They blamed her. In the end, they wanted to stay here, in their house. They quickly realized their mother was off with someone new and didn’t want to spend time with them. Not that she really ever did before. To her, our kids were just another status symbol. She hired nannies because she couldn’t handle the messy parts of childrearing. She had a housekeeper and a cook for the rest. Part of me wondered what the hell she did all day. Screwed around, obviously.
But even thoughts of Lori’s betrayal can’t quell my arousal.
As I step into a cold shower, my thoughts turn back to Jennifer Edwards. Who is clearly in distress. Who would totally sleep with me on the rebound.
And then go back to Hollywood where she came from.
It’s the other reason I haven’t been with anyone. I can’t bring someone into my children’s lives, only to have them leave.
Those thoughts quickly fade as I picture Jennifer standing there, naked. I soap up my hand and go at it. I’m almost there when there’s a knock on my door and a wail.
“Dad!”
I jump out of the shower, thinking someone is bleeding, my manhood responding by shrinking to its normal state. I wrap a towel around my waist and fling open the door.
Devaney is standing in my room, crocodile tears rolling out of her eyes, clearly upset.
“What’s wrong?”
“Mom canceled on our spa day for Saturday. She and Richard are going out of town. Dad, she promised. It’s homecoming. We planned it for months! I’m supposed to get my hair highlighted, my makeup done, and everything!”
I hug my daughter, feeling disgusted with my wife. How could she do this again? Put some guy in front of her kids?
“She’ll make it up to you,” I lie.
“No, she won’t, Dad.”
She escapes my hug and plops dramatically on the bed. “Chase said he’d take me anywhere I wanted to go and that we’d have more fun than a stupid day at the spa.”
“What do you think would be more fun?”
She sighs as tears trickle down her face.
Lori has caused her so many tears. That’s the real reason I fought so hard during this divorce. Sole custody. The money I don’t even care about. But the kids are like pawns to Lori. Small pieces of her life, just like the football wives club and her charities. Having children made her appear nurturing and soft as opposed to the conniving bitch that she really was. For a while, she pretended to want them and fought me for joint custody but, once I sweetened the pot with more money than required in the prenuptial agreement, she backed off. Just last week, we verbally finalized our divorce agreement. Once we sign it next week, we will file, it will be presented to a judge, and in thirty days, it will be over.
I want her out of my life, but I know, because of the kids, she never will be.
There were only two things she didn’t ask for. The house and my Ferrari, which, fortunately for me, are two things she’s always hated.
“I want to go to Paris instead of homecoming,” Devaney says, pulling me back to the situation at hand.
“Paris, France?” I ask.
“Yes.”
“I’m afraid I can’t swing that, Dani. I have a game on Monday night. What do you want to do in Paris?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugs. “Things.”
“Is there somewhere closer you might want to go?” I ask gently. “And do you really want to miss your first homecoming dance? Won’t your friends be disappointed? I thought you were all going together.”
“My friends have been sort of mad at me since I made varsity cheerleading. They say I’m too good for them now. If it wasn’t for cheerleading, I would hate school. I miss Chase.”
“He’ll be there next year.”
She brightens slightly. “He said he’d be my date.”
“Do you want that?”
She sighs. “Dad, you know I love Chase, but I can’t take an eighth grader to a high school dance. It would ruin me.”
“Sounds like you need some new friends.”
“Exactly,” she says. “Mine need to grow up. But the problem is, Dad, you don’t want me to. Tomorrow night, there is a slumber party at the head cheerleader’s house after the game. All the cheerleaders are going but me.”
“That’s because she’s a senior.”
She throws her hands up in the air. “I need to just quit then. My friends are mad at me because I made varsity, so they won’t be friends with me. You won’t let me make new friends because they are older than me, and you worry that I’m going to get in trouble like you used to.”
“What makes you think—”
“I’ve heard enough of the stories to know that, back then, you weren’t like you are now.”
“How am I now?”
“No fun.”
Her words cut me to the core. I slowly lower myself to the bed to sit, halfway afraid I’ll fall down if I don’t. When did I become no fun?
“You’re way too strict. You don’t trust me anymore. It’s like you’ve turned into Mom.”
I take a deep breath. “I do trust you, Devaney.”
“But you don’t trust other people,” she says, finishing my sentence. “Just because you were a troublemaker doesn’t mean I’m going to be. I promise, I won’t do anything to embarrass you.”
“I would never be embarrassed of you. You’re my pride and joy. I just worry, sweetheart.”
“I know you do, but you have to let me grow up. I promise, I’ll try to do it slowly.”
I can’t help but smile. She’s been telling me that since she was in kindergarten.
“So, this party, you’ll be staying there all night. No going out?”
She nods.
“Okay, you can go. But I expect you to be responsible. To call me if anything goes on that makes you uncomfortable. All you have to do—”
“I know, Dad. I can pretend to be sick, and you’ll come and get me, no questions asked.”
“And what about Saturday? Maybe Jadyn can take you.”
“Maybe. That, or I’ll just hang out with Chase. Thanks, Dad,” she says, practically skipping out of the room. She stops in the doorway and turns around. “Dad, how does Auntie Jay know Jennifer Edwards?”
“Uh, they met a long time ago, just after you were born, at a Nebraska football game.”
“How come I’ve never gotten to meet her? That was forever ago.”
“They just recently got back in touch, I think.”
“Because of what Troy did to her?” she asks.
“Yeah, I think so.”
“I read online that she’s been taking it hard. I can’t imagine how awful that must be for her. To see pictures like that of someone you love with someone else. Did Mom cheat on you with Richard before she left us?”
“Why do you ask that?”
“Because there is a photo in their house where they are together, kissing. She had the red highlights, and she got them changed to blonde before she moved out.”
My daughter is too smart for her own good sometimes.
“Did you ask your mother about that?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t think she’d tell me the truth.” She gives me her puppy-dog eyes. “But I know you would.”
“Honey, marriage is hard. It takes two to make a marriage work and two to make it fail.”
“I already know she did. I overheard Auntie Jay talking about it. I know I shouldn’t have been listening, but I did. Did you ever cheat on Mom?”
“No. Never,” I emphatically tell her.
“Did you ever want to?”
Only once, I think.
She continues, “I thought you met your true love, got married, and lived happily ever after.”
She considers this for a moment while I try to think of something comforting to tell her. I can’t tell her that her mother wasn’t my true love. That I met my true love after I got married. After she was already born.
“Mom says you just fell out of love.”
I nod. I don’t trust myself to say anything else.
“Then maybe she wasn’t really your true love.”
“I’ve told you and your brother this many times. Make good choices because the consequences of your actions can affect the rest of your life. It’s something my dad told me when I got married, and I’ve lived by that. I always think ahead. So, while there were other pretty women in the world, I knew ahead of time what the consequences would be if I did cheat. That it would destroy my marriage, possibly cause you kids hurt. For me, that wasn’t worth it.”
“So, you stayed together because of me and Damon?”
“I loved your mother, Devaney.”
“Do you think you will ever fall in love again? Maybe she’s still out there, you know, waiting for you.”
“Who?” I ask, not following.
“Your true love.”
“How would you feel about that?” I can’t help but ask. “If I met someone. Fell in love.”
“Dad,” she says, giving me an exaggerated eye roll, “you’re supposed to love with your heart, not your head.”
“Who told you that?” It sure as hell wasn’t me. I want her thinking with her head, not her body.
“Chase.”
“Chase is a smart young man, but that’s not exactly true. You fall in love with your heart, but sometimes, especially when you’re young and hormones are running wild, you can feel like you’re in love when really—”
“Dad, this isn’t about me and Chase possibly having sex someday.”
My eyes get huge.
“Have you thought about having sex with Chase? Does he want to, like now? Do you like him?”
“He’s my best friend; of course I like him.”
“You kissed him when you were younger.”
“And I’ve kissed him since then. And I’ll probably kiss him again,” she states.
“You have? You will?” What the f—?
“Sure, it’s no big deal,” she says. “He’s sweet to me. Sometimes, when I’m sad, I sneak over to his house. Sometimes, I even sleep with him.”
I don’t care if he is Phillip’s son; I’m going to kill him. Now.
She gives me a dramatic eye roll as I ball up my fists in anger. “It’s not like that, Dad. He’s not my boyfriend. We aren’t going out or anything. He just … well, he makes me feel safe. Like everything will be okay. Like how he told me he’d take me anywhere I wanted to go. He is the one who said he’d take me on their plane to Chicago or New York or Paris.”
“Devaney, no matter what’s going on in our lives, you can come to me about anything. I’m always here for you, and I won’t judge or freak out. I promise.”
“Dad”—she laughs—“you just about had a stroke when I told you I slept with Chase.”
I laugh along with her. “You’re right. I just about did.”
“It’s okay. You survived me getting my period, and you didn’t freak out too bad. You’re a good dad. I don’t tell you very often, but you are.”
“Thanks.” I kiss the top of her head. “I love you.”
“I love you, too. You’d better hurry. We have to leave in, like, five minutes for the game.” As I run into my closet to grab clothes, she yells out, “Wear something cool. Jennifer freaking Edwards is going with us. She’s pretty. She’s single. Maybe you should try to impress her.”
I’m ready to reply with all the reasons I shouldn’t, but when I stick my head out of the closet, she’s gone.
Now, I’m standing on the sideline, getting ready for the eighth grade game to start, and I am scanning the crowd, looking for Jennifer, when I notice Devaney sitting next to Chase. He’s dressed in his full uniform and pads, and he should be out, warming up with the team. Instead, his arm is across the back of the bleacher, and she’s leaning against it. His full attention is on her, and I can tell she’s confiding in him about something. It suddenly hits me. Their friendship is like Phillip and Jadyn’s. They’ve been best friends their whole lives.
I lean over toward Phillip, who is standing on the sideline next to me. “Did you know my daughter has been sneaking over to your house and sleeping with your son?”
Phillip’s expression doesn’t show surprise. And he has never been a good liar. He doesn’t look me in the eyes, just kicks the dirt. “She’s been upset about the divorce. Nothing is going on.”
“But it could. They’re teenagers now.”
“Jadyn slept with me every night for months after her parents died when we were seniors. Nothing happened.”
“That’s because you were an idiot,” I tease.
“Jadyn told Dani to tell you the truth.”
“She sort of did tonight, but what I don’t understand is why neither of you told me.”
“It’s important your children know they can trust you. Yes, you have to be a disciplinarian, but parenting is so much more than that. Did you lie to your parents?” he asks me even though he knows the answer.
“Yeah; otherwise, I would have gotten in trouble!”
“The things you lied about, are those things you’d want your daughter to do?”
“Heck no.”
“That’s my point. We’d rather our kids talk to us. We talk in advance about risks and consequences before they do it. We decide together what’s best. Dani is in high school now. Older boys, bigger parties—you want her to tell you about all those things. Not to mention, sex.”
“That’s what her mother is for,” I scoff.
“Do you and Lori share the same feelings regarding sex? Do you really want her taking advice from someone with your wife’s morals?”
“Probably not,” I admit.
“Plus, Jadyn says that divorce is hard on kids, especially girls. They dream of fairy-tale love. They see their parents having that, and then the idea gets shattered.”
“And how do I combat it? I’m not getting back together with Lori.”
“I would hope not. Just be open with Dani. Talk to her. Chase is the least of your worries,” Phillip says.
That sets my heart beating fast again. Especially when Chase heads out on the field, and I watch Dani wander by herself to the concession stand. A group of high school boys looks at her and then smirks at each other. And I know that look. I’ve had that look. And I know exactly what those boys are thinking right now.
I might have to go kill them.
“Calm down,” Phillip says. “Dani is a pretty girl. Boys are going to notice her. You have to teach her how to handle herself.”
“Kicking a boy in the balls is one of the first things I ever taught her.”
“Chase and Damon always watch out for her. Remember the black eye Chase got last semester?”
“Yeah. He said he ran into—”
“An eighth grader’s fist,” Phillip finishes my sentence. “He was saying stuff about Dani.”
“What kind of stuff?”
“That she was a slut.”
“Oh my God! Is she?” I panic that I’m a failure as a father.
“I thought your only goal for your children was to keep your son off the pipe and your daughter off the pole,” Phillip teases, reminding me of what I said one night when I was drunk and Lori was pregnant with Devaney.
“I want to keep her off everything!” I reply, getting riled up. “Who was the little shit who said that?”
“Nathan Matthews.”
“Isn’t he a running back? Little guy?”
“Yeah, he couldn’t take on Chase by himself, so he had a couple of friends jump him,” Phillip says.
“Why?”
“Because Chase grabbed him at school one day and told him, if he said another word about Dani, he’d bust his ass.”
“Does Devaney know?”
“Of course she knows,” Phillip says with a laugh. “She got angry with Chase. Told him she could take care of herself. It was one of the few fights they’d ever had. Turns out, Nathan had a crush on Dani and couldn’t figure out how to get her attention, so he was mean to her.”
I rub my hand across my face, stressed. “I do remember teasing the girls I liked. We were kind of dumb when we were young, huh?”
Just as I say the words, Jennifer and Jadyn stroll across the field toward us.
“Try not to act that way now,” Phillip teases.
“How am I supposed to act?”
“Be nice to her maybe? She looks good.”
“She sure does,” I say with the kind of regretful sigh that usually comes from my daughter when she’s being dramatic.
“You were young back then, Danny. You did what you thought was right.”
“Do you think it was the right thing?”
“I do think you made the right decision then but, now, you have the chance to follow your heart. If you’re happy, Danny, your kids will be happy.”
“You think so? Devaney told me I should dress nice because Jennifer was coming to the game. She’s a little starstruck yet not. Also, I have no idea why Jennifer is even here. And I certainly don’t want to be her rebound sex.”
“You don’t want to have sex with her? Wow. Lori must have really screwed you up—”
“What? Of course I want to have sex with her, but I don’t want it to be just sex. I am a father. I can’t go around having casual sex. If I do, Devaney will think it’s okay for her.”
“They usually go to Lori’s every other weekend,” Phillip suggests. “She doesn’t have to know.”
“It figures, the one weekend I actually have something I want to do, Lori decides to go out of town.”
“You mean, someone you want to do?” Phillip says with a laugh.
“Shut up.”
Jadyn saunters over, kisses Phillip full on the lips, and then says, “Good luck,” while Jennifer stands awkwardly in front of me, which is weird.
The Jennifer I used to know was never awkward. She was crazy and bold and always laughing.
Not that I’m much better. In college, I would have strutted up to her, grabbed her, and kissed her just for the fun of it. Or had some stupid pick-up line that I could get away with because of who I was and how I looked.
Instead, I say, “Enjoy the game.”
“I’m sure I will,” she replies and then leans closer to me. “But I have to be honest; I’m looking forward to after the game.” My heart feels like it’s going to beat out of my chest. She wants me to see her naked again. “I can’t tell you the last time I had pizza.”
Or not.
Jennifer
“Kill me now,” I say to Jadyn as we take our seats in the bleachers for the start of the game.
“Why now?” she asks as she waves down at her two younger sons, who wanted to sit on the ground in front of the bleachers and play in the dirt instead of sit up by us.
“I think I just made Danny think I don’t want to see him again.”
“Because you said you wanted pizza?”
“When he showed me to my room—which is fantastic by the way. Seriously, when I get a new place, you have to help me decorate it, like, if you have the time. I know you’re really busy,” I word-vomit.
“I’d be happy to help you, but back to when he showed you to your room.”
“Yes. Sorry. It’s like I’m a bundle of nerves when I’m around him. It’s so much pressure.”
“Jennifer, it’s been a long time since you’ve seen each other. It’s going to be a little awkward.”
“I know. It’s just that, when I imagined seeing him again, I swore, I’d just straight-up pounce on him. Instead, there were kids and a dog and milk and me naked.”
“Wait, naked?”
“You were saying that Danny was hot and sweaty and that wasn’t how I should see him, but it’s exactly how I should have seen him. Because he was shirtless and wet and all muscles, and it reminded me of the night we’d spent on the beach. On a mutual dare, we’d stripped down to our underwear and run into the water. It was freezing, and I was screaming and laughing. But the second he pulled me into his arms to warm me up, I forgot all about the cold and could only think about him. The way his strong arms felt wrapped around me, how his dark blond hair glowed in the moonlight, and the sound of his sexy laugh. It’s a moment I’ve cherished. A moment forever etched in my mind. I guess I just didn’t imagine him seeing me and being so shocked that he dropped the milk.”
“Who dropped the milk?” an overdressed woman with teased auburn hair and jewels that belong at a red carpet event rather than a middle school football game says, sitting down on the other side of Jadyn.
“Uh, hey, Lori,” Jadyn says.
Lori? As in Danny’s wife? Of course it has to be her. Her son is playing. She’s here to watch.
Not that I’ve been watching the game. I’ve been babbling in Jadyn’s ear. I didn’t even stop when she stood up to cheer about something.
“Danny dropped milk on my kitchen floor. The dog licked up most of it, so it wasn’t a big deal,” Jadyn states flatly.
I could cut the tension between them with a knife. I figure Lori will ask who I am, but she doesn’t even acknowledge my presence.
“Did you hear that Richard and I will be off to Bermuda for a long weekend?” Lori asks Jadyn.
“I thought you were taking Dani to the spa on Saturday? She’s been looking forward to it.”
Lori waves her hand through the air, dismissing it. “I didn’t cancel the appointments. Devaney can still go.”
“By herself? It was supposed to be a special mother-daughter thing before her first homecoming dance. She’s nervous about it.”
“Why would she be nervous? She loves school. She’s beautiful, and she made varsity cheerleading. She has nothing to worry about.”
“She’s nervous because she’s starting over, kind of. And because Chase and Damon won’t be there with her.”
“I’m sure she’d rather take a friend to the spa than go with her mother anyway. And she needs some new friends. Someone a little more up to her caliber.”
“I’ll go with her then,” Jadyn replies.
“Of course, Jadyn to the rescue.” Lori rolls her eyes. “As usual.”
I notice Jadyn’s hand curl tightly into a ball. I half-expect her to clock Lori.
“Well, thank you, I guess. Now, I don’t have to feel guilty.”
If I were Jadyn, I would go off on this woman.
Instead, Jadyn says, “So, Bermuda?”
“Yes, Richard is just so sweet. He totally pampers me. Unlike my soon-to-be ex-husband, who was too wrapped up in himself.”
“Danny always did nice things for you. In fact, the trip he had planned for your wedding anniversary would have been amazing, not to mention the custom earrings he had made for you. I notice that you are wearing them,” she says, her jaw tightly clenched.
“I earned them. You have no idea what it’s like to be married to Danny Diamond.”
I lean forward, blurting out, “But, hey, at least he gives good diamond.”
“That’s exactly what Richard said!” Lori laughs wholeheartedly and then says, “I don’t think we’ve met.” As she’s laughing, her hand flies up.
Jadyn snatches it midair, holding it tight and staring at a diamond solitaire on her finger. “New ring?”
“Yes.” Lori beams. “That’s why we’re going to Bermuda. To celebrate our engagement.”
“But you’re not divorced yet,” Jadyn says, her anger apparent.
“It’s just a formality at this point. We’ve agreed on almost everything. Most of it was spelled out in the prenup. Danny wants sole custody of the kids, and honestly, that’s fine with me. I think it’s best for them to be able to continue to live in their home and not have to traipse back and forth between his place and mine. I’ll still be a big part of their lives, of course.
“But I have to tell you about the proposal. It was so romantic; I’m practically giddy. We were house-hunting. Richard does quite well, naturally, as one of the top physicians in the country, but once the divorce is final, we’ll be able to afford something a little more spacious than his bachelor pad. Although I do have to say that I have so many fond memories of being together in that place; we might not be able to sell—”
Jadyn stands up in the middle of Lori’s rambling and cheers, “Go, Damon! Go!”
Damon breaks a tackle and sprints down the field and into the end zone, causing Jadyn to clap and wave her little paper pom-pom in the air.
When she sits back down, she turns to Lori. “Your son just scored a touchdown. You might wanna cheer for him. Oh my gosh, where are my manners? Lori, I’d like to introduce you to my friend, Jennifer Edwards.”
Lori gives me a cursory glance. “Like the movie star?”
“Not like the movie star,” Jadyn says brightly. “She is the movie star. She flew back from Los Angeles with me today. She’s the reason Danny dropped the milk. He was so surprised to see her.”
“Why wouldn’t he be surprised?” Lori asks, looking perplexed. “He’s seen all her movies. How do you two know each other?”
“You’ve seen all her movies because she’s always been Danny’s celebrity crush,” Jadyn says.
And that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
Chase, who I just now realized plays both on offense and defense, intercepts a pass and sprints down the field to score again as the time runs out on the half. Jadyn does more screaming and cheering while Lori stays in her seat and glares at me.
She’s a little scary to be honest. Bye-bye, warm fuzzies.
Once the crowd settles down and the team runs to the sideline, Jadyn turns to Lori and whispers, “Congratulations. I’m so happy for you and Dick Rash. See you later.”
She grabs my arm, pulling me down the bleachers and toward her children.
When we’re standing safely on the ground, she mutters, “Not.”
“Holy smokes,” I say. “What was that all about? And is she really marrying a man named Dick Rash?”
Jadyn doesn’t get the chance to reply because Danny is right there.
He places his hand on the small of my back, leans in close, and says, “So, what did you think of the first half?”
“Are you touching me just because your wife is here?”
“Lori’s here?” he asks, his hand moving off me so fast, you’d think he got burned.
“Wait,” Phillip says, “Jennifer, did you say marrying?”
“Yes,” Jadyn replies for me. “Lori and Richard got engaged. That’s why she canceled on Dani. They are going to Bermuda to celebrate.”
Her son, Ryder, jumps up to get her attention. “Mom, can we go to the concession stand now?”
“Sure, sweetie.” She turns back to me and says, “We’ll be right back.”
Phillip follows her, giving her a smack on the butt before he veers off to go into the locker room.
“But our divorce isn’t even final,” Danny says incredulously.
“It wasn’t when she cheated on you either, so I don’t know why that would be a surprise,” I blurt out.
“You’re right.”
I give him a conspiratorial grin and bump his side with my elbow. “And you ought to take some comfort in the fact that she’s marrying a man named Dick Rash.”
“You’re right again,” he says with a laugh. “I do. Lori always said Danny Diamond sounded like a porn star name.”
“Will you strip for me sometime?” I whisper in his ear.
“Will you do what sometime?” his son, who I didn’t even see standing here, asks.
“Uh … oh, Jennifer wanted to know if she could get her favorite kind of pizza tonight,” Danny fibs.
“What is your favorite?” Damon asks me.
Based on his facial expression, I can tell he takes pizza very seriously.
Danny answers for me, “Her favorite is extra pepperoni and extra cheese on a thick crust.”
“Pepperoni is my favorite, too,” Damon says, leaving us to head to the locker room.
“I can’t believe you remember that,” I whisper.
“It’s what you said you wished we could have for breakfast. I remember every single detail of that night, Jenn. You had a profound effect on me.”
“But not enough for you to leave your wife.”
“It killed me to say good-bye to you. I would have left Lori in a heartbeat, but I couldn’t leave Devaney.” His eyes get misty, and he lowers his head. “I can’t talk about this here.”
“Okay,” I reply, my own eyes filling with tears. All this time, I thought it was me. I want to throw my arms around him, hug him with all my might, and never let him go.
“I need to get to the locker room with the team,” he says, walking away from me.
Jadyn comes back from the concession stand, her younger children happily stuffing their mouths full of warm, buttered popcorn.
“Want some?” she asks, holding a bag out toward me. “Wait, why do you look like you’re going to cry? Did Lori say something? I knew—”
“No, Danny did.”
She smiles softly at me. “Are they happy tears?”
“Yes.” I quickly wipe them away. “He told me he couldn’t because of his daughter.”
“I knew it,” she says, looking around to make sure no one can hear. “All these years, I knew that’s the only reason he stayed with her. Remember how I told you about the time when Lori was pregnant and thought Danny and I had an affair?”
“Yeah.”
“She told him that she would make his life a living hell and that he’d never, ever see their baby. That’s why he cut off contact with you, Jennifer. He knew, if she ever found out, that’s exactly what she would do. That’s the kind of person she is. The truth is, when she filed for divorce, I immediately thought of you. But I was afraid, if Danny dated anyone while they were going through it, she would get vindictive. As it was, when they verbally finalized their settlement, she was the one who wanted out of their marriage, and Danny got what he wanted most.”
“Custody of his kids?”
“Exactly.”
“I respect him for that. Wait, when Phillip came in the house and saw me, he said you couldn’t decide if you should contact me. If things were all under control as far as Lori went, why were you still hesitant?”
“Lots of reasons. You live in different cities. Danny could visit you in California, but he wouldn’t move there. At least, not until the kids were done with high school. That’s five more years. Logistically, there’s a lot to consider. His kids. Your careers. For it to work, you’d probably need to be willing to move here. Or you’d have a long-distance relationship. Not to mention the fact that, at the time, I didn’t know if you would leave Troy or work it out. I didn’t want to see either of you hurt because I’d opened up some can of worms that I should have left closed, you know?”
“I know. And thank you for caring about me. About him.”
Jadyn smiles back at me, but then her mouth turns down into a frown. I follow her eyes to see what causes it.
“Matt Malone,” she mutters. “That kid is bad news. Dani shouldn’t be talking to him.”
“Why not?” I ask. “He looks cute.”
“He thinks he’s a badass,” Jadyn replies. “Rides a motorcycle. Acts like he’s all cool. I dated a guy like him in high school.”
“Every girl needs to date a bad boy at least once, don’t they?” I grin.
“Yes, but he’s a senior, and Dani is a freshman. She’s not ready for a guy like him, based on the way he’s all over her.”
“Should we go intervene?” I ask. “See if she wants to come sit with us? Have some popcorn?”
“Yeah, we probably should. Goodness knows, her mother won’t do anything.”
Before we can make a move, Chase comes out from the locker room with the team, sees Dani, and immediately steps in between her and Matt, taking Dani’s hand and leading her across the field. Dani looks at Chase like he’s her hero. And I can see why. Chase looks like the all-American dream boyfriend. His hair is messed up from playing. He’s tall, and the pads under his uniform make him look much older than he is. If I were her age, I’d choose him over the bad boy any day.
“Chase to the rescue,” Jadyn says.
“Has he ever considered modeling?” I ask.
“I don’t think so, but maybe he should. He’s always been photogenic.”
“He belongs on an Abercrombie bag. He’s kind of a little hottie.”
“I’ll have to tell him you said so.” Jadyn laughs. “He will die of embarrassment.”
My eyes get big. “Please don’t tell him then. I don’t want the kids to think I’m weird.”
As we head back up the bleachers, Jadyn stops. “Lori’s still here.”
“Why wouldn’t she be?”
“She usually only makes an appearance. She really doesn’t like football.”
“Does that mean she stayed because of me?”
“Probably. I should have kept my big mouth shut. Don’t tell her anything. Like, nothing.”
“You’re still here,” Jadyn says, sitting back down next to Lori. “Usually, you leave at the half.”
“It’s a gorgeous fall evening, and you know how I love football,” she says, giving me a curt smile. “What about you, Jennifer? You a fan?”
“I love football,” I answer honestly.
“So, am I to understand that you’re seeing my husband now?”
“Seeing? Uh, no.”
“He put his arm around you. In front of our children. In front of everyone.”
“He didn’t put his arm around me. Damon wanted to know my favorite pizza toppings. I guess we’re going for pizza later. Is that a problem?”
“Considering we aren’t divorced yet, I’d say so.”
“Says the woman who was just showing off her engagement ring.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she snarls.
“It’s not supposed to mean anything, Lori,” Jadyn says. “She was simply stating a fact.”
“Why are you here again?” Lori says.
“She’s here because I invited her,” Jadyn replies. “I might be working on a project in LA, and I needed her input.”
“What kind of project?”
“An old hotel. She’s the only person I know who has to deal with paparazzi out there, and that’s a big concern for the new owner.”
Lori reaches across Jadyn and sympathetically pats my hand. “You’ll get used to it, honey. I deal with it all the time, being married to Danny. Although I bet, since your husband got caught cheating with all those women in Amsterdam—what did they call it? The Brothel Debacle?—that you have been hounded more than usual. The trick to having the press love you is never do anything stupid like that. But live and learn.”
“Um, thanks, but he’s not my—” I say as her phone buzzes.
“Oh, that will be Richard,” she says, cutting me off. “We’re off to catch our flight. Have a lovely weekend. I know I will. Sand. Surf. Amazing sex—something I wasn’t getting at home. Ta-ta.”
“Have a wonderful trip, Lori!” Jadyn turns, and whispers to me. “It couldn’t have come at a better time. We won’t have to see her until after the papers are signed on Wednesday.”
Danny
I should probably say something motivational to the team as the second half is about to start, but I can’t take my eyes off Jennifer. I can’t believe I touched her back earlier, like it was the most natural thing in the world. The crazy thing is, that’s how it felt. Natural. Like I’d been doing it my whole life.
The news that Lori is engaged should piss me off, but it doesn’t. Especially when I watch Jennifer’s backside as she walks up the bleachers. I love how she and Jadyn seem to be having fun together. My head is practically spinning from the thought of seeing her naked again as well as the future I wish I could have with her.
Phillip flicks me on the back of the head, getting my attention. “You’re practically drooling.”
“It’s just so surreal. She’s here. At my son’s football game. She and Jadyn love each other. I should have—”
“No regrets—isn’t that what you always tell me? She’s here now; focus on that.” He looks up into the bleachers. “Or on the fact that Lori didn’t leave at the half, like usual.”
“She and Dick Rash got engaged,” I mutter.
“She’s not going to like you dating Jennifer.”
“I don’t care what she thinks—wait. Dating?”
“You touched Jennifer in front of Lori. Was that to piss her off? Because you don’t want to piss Lori off. You want Lori deliriously happy with Dick Rash until she signs on the dotted line.”
“You think she will be mad?”
“She’s a complete B, Danny. Of course she will. I bet she even cancels her trip.”
“Speaking of that, did you know Chase offered to take my daughter to Paris on Saturday?”
“What? Why?”
“She was upset that Lori canceled on her for the spa. Chase said he’d do something with her instead. Said he’d take her in your plane.”
“He wants her to be happy.”
“I’m not sure I like that.”
“Did you see what he did during the half? Did you notice how that senior was seriously hitting on Dani? How he had his arms around her? How Chase got her away from him?”
“No. What happened?” I say in a panic. “Who was hitting on her?”
“Matt Malone.”
“I’ve heard he’s trouble. Damon said he got kicked off the high school football team for fighting.”
“That’s him.”
“He’d better stay away from my daughter.”
“Oh, boy,” Phillip says, causing me to shift my attention to the field. I assume we made a bad play, but the guys are just lining up for the snap.
“What?”
“Lori must have said something bad, based on the look on my wife’s face. Oh, Lori’s getting up and leaving.”
“Do you think I should go check on them?” I ask.
“No, I think you should stay right where you are. Jadyn is a big girl, and she’s been dealing with Lori’s bitchiness for years.”
“You don’t really think Lori will cause trouble, do you?”
Phillip rolls his eyes at me. “It’s all she’s good at. When are you supposed to sign the papers?”
“Wednesday.”
“You just have to make it until then. Lie low.”
“Lying low with Jennifer sounds fun.”
“That’s the Danny I know and love.” Phillip punches me in the shoulder and grins. “It’s about freaking time.”
