Page 67 of The Way We Score

Mom

Dr. Pfefferle thinks I need a hip replacement. This is not a trick, so if there’s any chance you might be able to work out a remote situation, I could use your help.

Squinting at my phone, I’m suspicious this is indeed another trick, but I hesitate. I think about the prospect of beingin Newhope for eight weeks with so much in the air. So much is unresolved.

Let me look at my calendar, and I’ll find a date.

Mom

Why does my phone say you’re in New York?

Exhaling a swear under my breath, I curse the day I taught her how to share her location with me. Of course, I had to share mine with her, but that was before my life turned into a Tilt-a-Whirl.

Taking care of business. Talk soon. Love you

Mom

Love you, Olivia

“Everything okay?” Garrett’s voice draws my attention, and it takes me a minute to catch my breath and blink away the swoon when I see him.

His dark hair is damp and messy, and he’s wearing faded jeans that hug his ass exactly right. A gray T-shirt stretches over his broad chest, and the navy bomber jacket he’s wearing makes his blue eyes glow.

I’m lit from within, and I think about pregnancy hormones and all the other things I’ve heard they do to you, like horniness.

“Henny Lane thinks she’s pregnant.” I hold up my phone, and his brow lowers.

“What?” Laughter dances in his eyes, and I want to be like we always were.

I want to skip around and hop onto his back, hugging our bodies close together as I wrap my legs around his waist. I want to whisper in his ear things we only share with each other.

Instead, I swallow that down. “Mom says she’s brooding.”

“How does that work?” He holds out a hand, and I take it, letting him pull me to my feet.

“She thinks her eggs are the real deal, and she won’t let Mom touch her or them.”

“What’s your mom going to do?”

“Play along?” I shrug, slipping my hand into the crook of his arm. “I told her to get a chick, but she’s worried the entire flock will get broody. Apparently six chickens is enough.”

“I thought eight was enough.”

Snorting, I shake my head, and he holds the door. A black SUV waits to take us wherever we want to go. I’ve never had a car service, but I’m not complaining. I don’t feel like walking all the way back to his apartment right now.

“How do you feel about hamburgers for lunch?” He touches my arm as I climb into the vehicle. “I know a place that has the best burgers in town. Or wings if you prefer.”

“Sounds good to me. I’m starving.”

A short ride later, we’re in the middle of Blondie’s, a sports bar filled with bar games and televisions blasting every variety of sport available. Garrett leads me to a high-top close to a couple of pool tables.

Sliding onto the stool, I nod at them. “Want to play a round?”

“Nah, I’ve been banned.” He calmly lays it out there, picking up the menu.

“Banned!” My voice goes high. “What the hell?”

“Logan let it slip my family owns a restaurant that’s also a pool hall, and now I can’t play without being accused of hustling the clientele.”

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