Page 37 of Secret Love

“While you were over there deep in conversation, the guys have been blowing up the phone,” Weston says. “Take a look at our thread.”

I pull my phone out of my pocket and see the slew of texts that have been going on while we've been sitting here.

“Nope.” I start shaking my head.

“What are they saying?” Sadie asks, laughing. She’s been around long enough to know their foolishness.

“They want to know if I'm taking Tru home with me tonight, and if for some reason it all goes south, what night next week can we hit the club?”

Weston groans. “You need to ask her out. You didn't get the words all the way out. She didn't have a chance to turn you down.”

I shoot him a look. “She was gonna turn me down.”

“She's into you,” Felicity says.

“Sointo you,” Sadie adds.

“How can you tell?”

“She couldn't take her eyes off of you, and when she looked at you, her eyes were like this.” Sadie makes dreamy eyes, her hands up close to her face like she’s panting.

I burst out laughing. “You look like a puppy dog. She did not look at me like that.”

“You didn't see what we were seeing then,” Felicity says. “She's into you, no question. She might think she shouldn't be, for some reason…like the age difference, maybe?” She lifts her eyes to the sky coyly. “I know a little something about that and trying to decide whether I should or shouldn’t. If she were here still, I’d tell herhell, yeah, she should.” She and Sadie crack up.

There’s a big age difference between Sutton and Felicity too.

“Yeah, it could be that and the fact that she’s my daughter’s teacher.”

Weston nods. “The whole forbidden thing.” He lifts his shoulder. “Some women like that.”

Sadie looks at him and laughs. “Oh, is that right?”

He leans over and kisses her nose. “You know I’m right, Chapman.” He waves his phone. “Hell, I'm with the guys too, man. If you're not gonna pursue this with Tru, and I still think you should, then yeah, let's get you out. This is the most I’ve seen you interested in anyone ever, so I think you should pursueher. But if you're saying that's impossible, then let's have a night out.”

I stare at the fire, feeling like a moody asshole. The last thing I want to do is go out clubbing. But I know once the guys get something in their heads, they have a hard time letting it go.

“We'll see,” I say, and leave it at that.

The next morning, Tru isn't there when I drop the girls off at dance. I wait around a little bit to see if she's in the back room or something, but when she doesn’t come out, I don’t hang around. The Pixie Pop-Up Market is going strong today. We've had a few nicer days, so the whole town is out enjoying the market. Tiana is playing her guitar on the corner, her long blonde hair blowing in the breeze. Vendors line each side of the street—raw honey, soap, fresh flowers. There's even a small petting zoo where Charlie Newcastle lets the kids pet his animals.

I go to Serendipity for a little bit, and when I go back to the dance studio to pick up the girls, I see Tru. I smile and wave, and she does the same. But she's busy with the extra kids in there. On my way in, I noticed the sign out front said something about parents leaving their kids there while they shopped.

The girls and I walk around the market for a while and then stop at the petting area so they can spend some time with the animals. A hand squeezes my shoulder, just as I hear, “Here he is.”

I turn and Rhodes is grinning next to me, Penn comes up on the other side, and Bowie catches up, stopping in front of us.

“Hey, what are you doing out here?” I ask. This does not seem like their jam.

“We were looking for you. You're not answering your texts and an opportunity has presented itself,” Rhodes says. “Look at us, no kids.” He points to the three of them.

“I was trying to avoid you guys.” I laugh.

The girls run over and hug them and then go back to the animals.

“As you can see, I’ve got the girls. I’m surprised Weston's not out here. Sadie usually brings him out as soon as the market opens.”

“Were you looking for us?” Sadie asks, popping around in front of me. I laugh, and she goes over by the animals to hug the girls too. Cassidy turns every shade of red when she sees Weston, which used to drive me crazy, because I did not want to see my little girl crushing onanyone. But it happens so frequently with Weston now that I’ve sort of gotten used to it.

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