Page 33 of The Friend Game

“Oh, right,” I laugh. “Silly me. I’ll just move on over to the yellow lines.” My voice is coming out all high-pitched, and for some reason my arms won’t move.

“She’s not moving, Ellie,” Mia whispers loudly.

“Should we tickle her?” Ellie suggests, jolting me into action.

“No, no tickling!” My foot hits the gas, and I zoom into the closest spot, making the girls squeal as their heads jerk forward. My head jerks a bit too, reminding me of my wispy braid. Glad Luke looks like he could be in a Gatorade ad as a hot, high performance athlete, while I look like I’m coming off a rough day on the farm. I knew I should’ve donated these overall shorts to Goodwill last year.

I whirl on the girls. “What the heck is Pastor Abbott doing here?”

Ellie rears back in alarm, and I realize I may have spit a little.

“Sorry.” I attempt to dial down my crazy. “What I meant was, could one of you perhaps tell me why Pastor Abbott is here?”

“He’s our coach,” Mia supplies.

Of course he is. Of course Luke spends his free time volunteering to coach a bunch of kids. Lord, are you sure this temptation isn’t too much for me to bear?

“How lovely,” I manage to reply. It’s not that I’m not happy to see Luke— it’s actually fortuitous given my need to discuss the Caroline scholarship situation with him—it’s just that for once I would love for him to stumble upon me looking gorgeous in a little black dress with my hair curled and my makeup on both eyes surrounded by guys eager to take me out.

I don’t think that’s too much to ask.

Although I might need to buy a little black dress first.

“C’mon, Aunt Hannah,” Ellie whines, “we have to get to practice!“

“Oh look!” Mia cries. “Pastor Abbott is coming this way!”

“I hope he’s coming over to name me team captain,” Ellie says with a dreamy sigh.

“I hope he’s coming to tell me I got the starring role in the Thanksgiving pageant,” Mia squeals.

I hope he’s coming to tell me he went blind and deaf for the last four minutes and did he miss anything during that time?

“Hannah, hi.” His head appears in my window as he leans down, propping those sinewy forearms of his against the window ledge. “Hey, girls,” he adds, waving at Ellie and Mia, who shout their hellos like he’s still across the parking lot rather than two feet away. “Quite a jam session you three were having.” There’s a teasing twinkle in his eye that I find very cute, but I refuse to acknowledge that I’ve done anything worth being teased about. I am going to play it so cool, he’ll think he’s left Arizona for a more moderate climate.

“The Proclaimers are a Scottish rock duo from the eighties, Pastor Abbott,” I inform him in my best teacher voice. “I’m simply exposing the girls to arts and culture. And history,” I add forgood measure, since he’s a self-proclaimed history buff.

“Not to mention vocal studies,” he replies without missing a beat.

“Exactly,” I say primly, but I can’t keep my lips from twitching. Our gazes are locked in a game of who will crack first.

“Can we get out of the car now?” Ellie whines, pulling at her locked door handle.

Right. Kids in the backseat. Game over.

“Sure thing, Ellie Bean.” I finally break eye contact with myfriendLuke and hit the unlock button for the back doors. Ellie and Mia both tumble out of the car and race towards the fields behind the school.

“Hey, look for cars you two!” I shout after them. “And you’re welcome for the ride! And good-bye to you too!”

“You’re not staying?” Luke asks in confusion.

“Sorry, what?” It’s my turn to be confused. “Are adults supposed to stay?”

“No, I mean they’re welcome to if they want to watch, but it’s not required. Typically the coaches do stay though.” His voice is teasing.

“Coaches?” I echo. “You can’t mean me.” I look around like there’s some other adult in the vicinity he must be speaking to.

“Not you exactly. Max signed up to be my assistant coach,” he explains, “ but he couldn’tmake it today because he’s speaking at a charity event. Jill had planned on helping out, but I got a text from her fifteen minutes ago that she had something come up and was sending you in her place. So, for today at least, you were going to be my assistant coach.”

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