Page 17 of Her Football Star Ex

“Are you saying raspberries are girly?” I asked. Because the last time I checked, guys could eat fruit.

“No, it’s just…” He paused and stared at me like I was missing something vital. “No guy goes to a restaurant and orders a salad with pink vinaigrette. I mean, I didn’t even know they served salad at The Pizza Cart.”

“That’s because it doesn’t have pineapple in it.”

“Or because it’s something you order when you’re eating with a girl.”

“Which you obviously never do,” I said. “Hence the dating app.”

He scowled and took another bite of his pizza. “Not for long.”

He picked up his phone to swipe through his dating app again and I picked up my fork to eat mygirlysalad.

And as the tangy taste of the vinaigrette hit my taste buds, I realized something.

Cole was right. I hadn’t thought about it until then, but I had totally just ordered Emerson’s favorite salad.

Man, my subconscious mind really did work overtime sometimes.

I looked at the two pizzas in front of me. I’d even ordered her favorite Margherita pizza.

I might as well just invite Emerson to eat with us while I was at it.

Oh well, as long as I didn’t tell Cole what I’d just done, no one would have to know.

I stuck my fork into my salad and glanced over at Cole’s phone to see what kinds of girls were looking for dates in the Denver area. There were girls of all sizes and colors—something to fit all the different tastes a guy might have.

I swallowed a bite of my salad. “She’s cute,” I said when a girl with dark brown hair and brown eyes came onto the screen.

His thumb seemed to hover over the image, as if he was deciding whether to swipe right or not.

“She actually looks a lot like my sister, now that I think about it,” I said when he didn’t do anything.

He pursed his lips as if my bringing up Arianna had struck some sort of nerve. After a short pause he said, “Yes, she does.”

And he swiped right.

Interesting.

He and Arianna had been best friends since college, but was it possible there was more to their friendship than either of them had ever told me?

I was about to stand up to refill my glass with water when a new image came up on his phone that made my heart stop.

What?

I immediately zeroed in on the woman’s green eyes and shoulder-length blonde hair. Then I took in the navy-blue dress that I’d seen just a few days earlier.

“Is that Emerson?” Cole asked, mirroring my thoughts. “Because dang, she looks hot!”

“I’m sitting right next to you, bro.” I shoved him in the side. “Don’t you know you don’t say things like that in front of me?”

“I’m sorry, but—” He put the screen in front of me. “—any heterosexual man would say the same.”

I sighed and studied the image of Emerson looking up at me with her big turquoise eyes.

Cole was right. She looked gorgeous.

“Did you know she was dating again?” he asked, taking another look at my ex-wife.

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