Page 56 of In Spades

“I ate at the bar last week.” He chuckled. “A lot. Bridget talks about y’all.”

“What, um,” I stuttered through nervous laughter.

My hands got clammy, and I felt faint. I prayed that Bridget could keep a secret.

“What else did she tell you?”

“Not a damn thing about you,” he said, sounding both amused and irritated at the same time. “No one would tell me anything about you. And trust me, I asked around.”

Logan appeared at the door and pointed to the table. “Mind checking that for me?” When had he gone from sounding like a little boy to sounding like a man?

I nodded and held up a finger. “I’ll be there in just a sec.”

“Someone there with you, Kris?” Will asked, a sudden sharpness in his tone.

I squeezed my eyes shut and pinched the bridge of my nose. He could only interpret this situation one way. I’d been cagey with him about my personal life, and now he probably thought I already had someone.

More like four someones.

“Not like that,” I said quickly. “I, uh, I gotta go.”

“Kristin—”

I bit my lip and wished things were different. “I work tomorrow, so I, um, I’ll see you then, I guess.”

I ended the call before he could respond.

“What’cha need?” I asked, the screen door closing behind me as I pocketed my phone and walked inside.

“Can you check my answers?” Logan asked, hunched over his notebook at the kitchen table.

I nodded, covering my mouth to yawn.

“If you’re too tired?—”

“I’m not tired,” I said, reaching for my coffee. I took a sip.

Mmm—room temperature. Yum.

I gestured to his homework. “Let me see.”

Logan slid his notebook over to me.

I reviewed each section of his assignment carefully. Only a few finer points needed to be addressed. “Looks good, dude.”

My phone buzzed. It surprised me how much I wanted it to be a goodnight text from Will, but it was just Mel shooting me the details for girls’ night on Friday.

Why did that make me feel so deflated?

Kylie stepped into the kitchen, fresh out of the shower and wearing pajamas. She eyed me skeptically. “Are you dating someone?

I didn’t keep secrets from the kids. What happened five years ago blindsided all of us. That wouldn’t happen again on my watch. I couldn’t promise them much, but I would always be honest with them.

I looked between Ky and Logan. She was nearly my twin. In a few years, it would be hard to tell us apart. Logan, on the other hand, towered over all of us. His hollow leg strained my grocery budget, but somehow I made it work without going too far in the red.

“No,” I said sternly. All the relationship talk from the poker club had me on a hair-trigger. Not to mention Will’s flirting. “Y’all know that you’re my priority.”

That seemed good enough for Logan. He muttered a goodnight before creeping back to his room with quiet steps so he didn’t wake Hunter. Kylie lingered a while longer, leaning against the kitchen counter. She didn’t speak until Logan’s door shut.

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