Page 31 of When to Call a Blitz

“It’s really good, Heidi.”

I tuck my hair behind my ear. “Thank you.”

“I don’t cook a lot around here. If you want, you’re more than welcome to join us for some meals?” he looks unsure as he says it, like he doesn’t know why he’s extending the offer, or if he’s going to rescind the invitation right after giving it.

I suck in my bottom lip, my brain running a million miles an hour trying to figure out if this is some kind of trap, or if I’m even truly welcome.

“You sure about that?” I ask hesitantly.

He waits a beat before nodding, his blue eyes holding mine intensely. “Yeah.”

I break eye contact, finding Juniper across the dining room. “I’d love to.”

The second I say it it’s like the trance breaks, and Emmett snaps out of it, his hands clapping together. “Well!” he says quickly. “I was also wondering, while we’re talking about it, whether you’d like to start running with me in the morning.”

“You want to go running?” I ask, confused.

“I’m an athlete why wouldn’t I want to run?”

“Maybe because it’s your job and I’m sure you run plenty while training?”

He shakes his head. “Nah. I think running before practice would be good for me. Are you in, or are you scared?”

A small smile tugs at the corner of my lips. “You’re on, Gardner.”

It occurs to me, as we’re loading plates up with pasta, homemade sauce, and makeshift garlic bread, that I’ve neverheard Emmett talk so much. I’ve never seen him this happy, either.

And I don’t let myself wonder if it’s because I made him pasta, or whether he’s not used to having more people here, or whether he’s just been lonely.

It’s probably nothing at all.

But part of me, deep down, really hopes that this is the start of a friendship.

16

EMMETT

I’m not sure how the woman knew that the way to my heart was homemade pasta sauce like my mom used to make and still does on occasion when she comes to visit, but something in me broke last night.

Because spending more time with Heidi is not what I need. In fact, in a perfect world, it needs to be the opposite.

So I’m not sure why every single decision I’ve been making has led me closer and closer to her.

“You ready to go?” I ask as I close my front door. When I finally get a look at her, I stop short, nearly tumbling over.

Heidi wears a pair of short black shorts and a black sports bra, her long hair up in a high ponytail. She’s illuminated by the garage lights, and my jaw just about drops.

It makes sense. It’s about 6 in the morning and it’s already scorching. Even I’m in as little as possible, and when I shake myself out of my trance, it occurs to me that she may be equally shocked as her eyes make their way up my legs. Eventually, our eyes meet.

But today it’s Heidi who breaks the silence with a smirk. “Like what you see, Gardner?”

My face heats, but I can’t help but smile. “I feel like I should be asking the same.”

“Could you possibly find shorter shorts?” she asks with a laugh.

I could. But my five-inch inseam shorts are probably the absolute shortest I can possibly go, and even these are in danger of my thighs ripping them.

I shrug. “It’s hot.”

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