“Hey, stranger.” Chris stands from the table at the coffee shop.
“Hey.” I lean into him for a quick embrace. “I’m sorry I’m late.”
“Only three past. That’s basically early for you.”
He sits and I slide into the seat across from him. He pushes a coffee cup closer to me.
“Thank you.” I rest both elbows on the table and place my hands around the cup.
Chris hooks one finger around the pinky on my left hand. “It’s good to see you, Piper. How’s school? I feel like I haven’t seen you at all since you started teaching.”
My pulse ticks faster. “School is good. Hard. Harder than I expected, but good. What about you? How are classes and the gym?”
“Good. Good. Busy. The same.” He smiles at me. He’s such an easy guy to be with, but I know this isn’t going anywhere. Maybe I knew it all along, but seeing Tyler again and having all these reminders of how great we were together has me all mixed up. I don’t know what’s what. Am I just romanticizing it? I don’t know, but I know that Chris’s touch doesn’t feel anything like Tyler’s.
“Don’t leave me in suspense. Tell me about this new job.” He leans back, breaking contact. “Nannying for one of the Wildcat players? How did that happen?”
I’ve never told Chris about Tyler and now I’m wishing I had.
“It’s more like helping out a friend. Or not a friend. The truth is we used to date, like way back in high school.” I ramble as I try to explain who Tyler is to me. I don’t even freaking know anymore. “I ran into him because his sister is a student at my school, and he needed someone to help when he’s traveling for games.”
“That’s nice of you.” He pauses. “Your ex-boyfriend plays hockey for the Wildcats?”
“Umm. Yes. Tyler Sharp.”
His brows lift. “No way? He’s awesome. You dated him?”
“It was an eternity ago. He wasn’t a Wildcat then. And his sister is going through a rough time, and I felt like I could help. She’s eighteen so I can work on school stuff while I’m there.”
He nods thoughtfully and finally says, “How come you never mentioned him before?”
I squirm in my chair. “There’s nothing to say. Until I ran into him at the school, I hadn’t seen him since high school.”
“Makes sense, I guess. Now that I think about it, you’ve never mentioned any of the guys you dated before me. Got an ex on the Vikings too?” He shoots me an easy smile.
“No.” I laugh and breathe a sigh of relief to have that conversation out of the way.
“Tell me more about school stuff. Are you teaching or observing?”
For the next fifteen minutes, I give him the rundown of my first few weeks at Park Academy. I tell him everything I’ve done, the teachers, the students. When I finally take a breath, I add, “I still think I want to teach middle school, but high school has been good practice.”
Chris checks his watch. “Oh shit. I need to go soon. I have an eight o’clock today.”
“Right. I need to go too.”
He stands and comes over to drop a kiss on my cheek. “Are you free this weekend?”
“I’ll have to look. Call you later?”
He nods and starts to the door, talking over his shoulder. “Think you can get me an autograph?”
I’m in the kitchen trying to acclimate myself with where everything is located in this massive space. Ash has every utensil and gadget you can imagine, but the pantry and fridge are pathetic.
“We eat out a lot,” Everly says from where she sits behind the island.
“Okay, well…” I grab a box of pasta. “Looks like we’ll have to get creative.”
While I find everything I need, Everly continues to sit in the room with me, playing on her phone.
She reminds me so much of her brother. They both have this quiet presence that somehow fills the space in this nice, comforting way.
When I finally set a bowl in front of her, Everly drops her phone to the counter.
“What is it?”
“Pasta surprise.” I shrug.
She takes a hesitant bite, but then her mouth curves up. “It’s good.”
“Living on student loans the past few years, I’ve gotten pretty good at finding creative ways to make pasta out of just about anything in the pantry.”
She studies me for a second. “I thought you were from some rich family.”
“Was. It’s a long story.”
She shrugs. “I’ve got time. River is at work for another hour.”
I take the seat next to her with my pasta. “Well, my dad owned a company that got into some financial trouble and eventually had to liquidate. Everything he built was just gone. It was awful, but he was so smart and determined. He threw himself into a new start-up.” My thoughts are wistful as I remember him sitting at the dining room table with his laptop, papers strewn all around, and a dozen empty coffee mugs in front of him.
“I’m guessing it wasn’t successful?”
“It never got off the ground. He had a stroke that severely impacted his speech and memory.”
“I’m so sorry,” Everly says.
“Thanks. My parents sold everything, and he and my mom bought a cute little place on a lake upstate. I think they’re happy, all things considered, and that’s all that really matters.”
She regards me for a moment. “I thought growing up broke was bad, but I think that having money and losing it would be worse. Except…I guess you probably still got to keep some of your nice stuff, huh?”
I think about the Gucci bracelet I loved so much. The one I gave to Tyler every time he left and told him to keep until we saw each other again. It was silly, but I guess I thought if he held on to it, he’d always have a reason to see me again.
“I’m grateful for the life I had growing up but being broke gives you character.”
She snorts. “I guess I have a LOT of character then.”
“How’d you meet River?” I ask, eager to turn the conversation off me.
“At the record store. When I first got here, Ty and I were living in his small one-bedroom apartment by the arena. He was always at practice or working out. I guess he still is, but I didn’t know anyone then. Anyway, I got bored one day and walked around hitting all the shops and stores. I was frozen solid by the time I got to the record store. I didn’t have any money on me to buy anything, but he let me hang out there. He even offered me coffee while I warmed up. Then he played me some of his favorite records, and…” She shrugs again.
I realize in that moment how very little it takes to win over a teenage girl. I’m not knocking it, it was a nice gesture, but knowing more about him and how he let his underage girlfriend drink and miss curfew, I worry that his motives that first day were a one-time occurrence and he isn’t really that nice of a guy.
“What about you?” she asks.
“Oh, I met my boyfriend in a business writing class my junior year. We were friends for about a year before we started dating.”
Her head tips to the side. I realize then she meant me and Tyler.
“Do you love him?”
I swirl my fork around as I decide how honest to be with an eighteen-year-old. “He’s great.”
“You didn’t answer the question.”
“We’re keeping it casual. He’s busy with classes and he works at his family’s gym part-time. I have student teaching and now hanging with you.” I lean closer and give her a playful smile.
“How long have you been dating?”
I think for a minute. “About three months. Wow, longer than I thought.”
“Didn’t you date my brother for like a year?”
“Eight months.” My pulse races. I do not like being cross-examined by his sister. I feel like if she keeps prying, I’ll spill everything and answer every single question she asks. And she does not need to know how I was head over heels in love with her brother and he broke my heart. “But we were young, and we only saw each other once a month, sometimes less.”
She nods slowly. “He talked about you.”
“He did?” I’m not sure why I’m surprised.
“Yeah. He came home for a few days over Christmas that year and his screen on his phone was this picture of you two kissing on the beach. I didn’t recognize you that first week of school, but now I can see it. He said you were the most amazing person he’d ever met.”
I remember that photo. Remember taking it. Remember the way his kiss made me feel.
Damn, an hour alone with Everly and I’m already cracking. This is going to be harder than I thought.
River comes over after dinner. He’s a good-looking kid, skinny with tattoos and a lip piercing that he continually glides his tongue over. There’s something about him that rubs me the wrong way, even forgetting that he let Everly drink too much and miss her curfew. He soaks up attention from Everly but he’s almost indifferent in the way he interacts with her.
I stay in the kitchen where I can’t hear them unless I strain, but where I’m close enough that they know I’m around. I have no idea how much privacy to give her. Tyler didn’t give me any rules for Everly, and I hadn’t thought to ask. My parents basically let me do whatever I wanted. Then again, my boyfriend was three hundred miles away.
I’m doing a Google search on parenting teenage girls when Tyler texts, Hey. Everything going okay?
I’m about to reply when my phone rings in my hand.
“Hello?” I answer with amusement. “I was just about to respond. Did you think I called it quits already?”
“No, I was just too nervous to wait.”
“She’s fine. Relax. River came over and they’re watching a movie.”
“I don’t think it’s possible to relax where Everly is concerned. She hasn’t given you a hard time?”
“No, she’s been great. We did run into a food issue, though. Meaning, there is no food in this place. I’ll take her tomorrow morning to pick up some stuff. Any allergies or things I should be aware of for the household?”
“No, but Lynn, Ash’s housekeeper, comes by on Tuesdays. There’s a list on the fridge. Add anything you want there and she’ll grab it.”
I walk over to the fridge and find the list. It’s long and contains everything from eggs to shaving cream.
“I don’t mind. I like grocery shopping.”
“Are you in the kitchen now?” he asks.
“Yeah. Why?”
“Walk over to the end of the counter by the coffee machine.”
“Okay,” I say as I do just that.
“Open the last drawer, next to the wall. I left an envelope of cash for you and keys.”
I take out the envelope first, balking at the amount of cash. It’s the weirdest rush of excitement mixed with panic. “Holy shit, Tyler.”
“We eat a lot,” he says. “Everly has my credit card, too, if you need it.” I count out at least a thousand dollars. Plus a card. Is he for real? They don’t eat that much.
Dropping the envelope back in the drawer, I pick up the keys. “What do I need keys for?”
“I rode to the arena with Ash so you could have my car for whatever you need.”
“My car works just fine.”
“Your tires are basically bald.”
When I don’t respond, he says, “I forgot how stubborn you are.”
“Very.”
He chuckles lightly. “Drive it, don’t, but it’s there for you.”
“Thank you,” I force the words out of my mouth. I am thankful, but this situation is already weird. I don’t want to feel like he’s looking out for me in a boyfriend type of way.
“What are you up to tonight?” he asks.
“You mean besides watching your sister?”
“Mm-hmm,” he says, and it sounds like he’s moving around. I try to picture him at the hotel or maybe out somewhere. Although the latter seems unlikely because it’s too quiet.
“I was Googling how much privacy to give a teenager.”
His laughter comes easier this time.
“My parents pretty much let me do whatever I wanted. Or at least that’s how I remember it.”
“You were a good kid,” he says.
“So is Everly.”
“She is, but she hasn’t had a lot of good role models. Our mom and Ev’s dad are too wrapped up in their own shit to notice unless she’s causing trouble.”
“That had to have been tough.” I fidget with his keys, spinning them around on my finger. “Was it like that for you, too?”
“They were happier then, I think. I don’t remember a lot. She met Ev’s dad when I was three.”
“And before then, was your dad ever in the picture?”
“Nah. My mom got pregnant with me at sixteen. According to her, his parents didn’t approve of her, and he was too chicken shit to go against them.”
I knew the first part of that, that she’d had Tyler early, but he never mentioned his dad except to say he wasn’t around.
“You never tracked him down to find out for sure?”
“No. One parent that resented my presence was more than enough.”
“She resented you? Why?” My chest tightens. God, why did I never ask him any of this before? Or had I and he just brushed it off with half answers?
“She’s never outright said it, but she would tell me these stories about all the plans she had before she got pregnant. I honestly don’t know if it was the same for Everly. I hope not, but from the second I was able, I spent as much time as I could away from the house, playing hockey or whatever sport I could. Luckily, I was pretty good at all of them because I never would have been able to pay for the fees and equipment. Coaches would lend me shit or cover my costs. I was too desperate to care or feel guilty about it. I think I thought if I became someone, she would finally feel like it wasn’t all for nothing, you know?” He lets out a short, harsh snort. “Sorry, that got dark.”
My throat is thick with emotion. “Why did you never tell me any of this?”
“You were going through your own stuff with your dad losing his company. Plus, I didn’t really like talking about it. I still don’t, but with Everly here it’s all been on my mind.” His tone changes as he moves from the topic. “We’ll be back tomorrow night. And as for privacy, use your best judgment with Everly. River, however, is another story. I don’t trust him as far as I can throw him.”
Tyler hurries off the phone soon after, leaving me reeling with all this new information about his childhood. I knew things hadn’t been exactly like mine with two parents who loved and provided for me, but I had no idea his mother carried so much resentment toward him.
Toward Tyler of all people. God, my heart hurts for him. I see his drive and determination in a new light, and I hate her a little for that. No, I hate her a lot for it.
And Tyler, well, I’m finding more and more of the same reasons I fell for him in the first place, and that is a dangerous place to be.
