Page 116 of Secret Shifters Next Door

I waved a hand at him. “I’ll cover it. I’ll write you a check before I leave tonight.”

Aiden’s eyes bulged, and he almost vibrated in his seat from excitement. Kellan held up a hand. “Wait, no. April, you don’t need to do that. I don’t want you to think we need you to pay for everything.”

I didn’t want to hear any of that. If I could use all the money I’d made over the years to give my nephew something like this, no one could stop me.

“Listen, Kellan. Will this camp be fun? Will it be beneficial for him? Is it something you’d love for him to do?”

“Well, yeah, but?—”

“Noyeah buts. That settles it. Yes is the only answer I need. Plus,” I held up a finger, “we’ll call this a make-up for all the birthdays and Christmases I missed over the years.”

Kellan shook his head, but a slight smile starting to appear on his lips. He glanced over at Kris and Chelsea who were studiously eating their food, trying to conceal smiles of their own.

Kellan pulled his phone out. “Okay, I’ll sign you up right now. Steff sent me an email with the link.”

Aiden raised his arms above his head in victory. “Yes.” He jumped up from his seat and ran to me, wrapping his arms around my neck. “Thank you, Aunt April.”

I gave him an awkward side hug and laughed. “That’s what family does. We help each other.”

“Oh my gosh, I can’t wait,” Aiden said, plopping back in his chair.

While typing on his phone, Kellan said, “I’ll get a hold of Coach Steff. The camp is almost an hour’s drive each way. He said he’d give you a ride if I decided you could go.”

“Seriously?” I said, raising an eyebrow.

Kellan nodded. “He sees a lot of promise in Aiden. Told me he’d be happy to do it.”

My eyes cut across to Aiden. I didn’t want him knowing all the background. “Uh, are you okay with that? After… you know, everything?”

“He’s a good coach, and Aiden looks up to him. It’s not something easy to forgive, but it isn’t really my place to forgive him, right?”

“He’s right,” Kris added.

To say I was surprised was an understatement. They’d hated Steff from the moment he dumped me. Now, they were sitting here extolling his virtues and letting him drive Aiden to baseball camp. It was a complete one-eighty.

“Besides,” Kellan said, “I believe he’s got Aiden’s best interests at heart. A person can only hold a grudge for so long. Would I still like to”—he pantomimed punching his hand multiple times—“yeah, sure, but it’s been years. I think it’s finally time to bury all that. At least for me and Kris.”

Kris nodded his assent. I was a little taken aback by that. They’d been my backbone and my support system when Steff destroyed me. They’d been as angry and as hurt as I’d been. Now, it looked like everyone was moving on and leaving all thatbehind. Was I the only one stuck in the past? It was starting to seem like it.

Later that night, after pulling back into my driveway, my phone rang. Still thinking about everything that Kris and Kellan had said, I pulled it out and glanced at the screen. It was Ryland. I stared at it as I got out of the car, letting it ring. I wasn’t in the mood to talk to him, but hit the green button on the fifth ring anyway.

“Hi, Ryland. How are you?”

“Hey, April. Uh, I’m sorry it took so long for me to get back to you. How’s your weekend going?”

“It’s fine. Had a cookout with my family. I actually just got home.”

“Oh, nice. That sounds fun. Listen, I really hate how our last date went. It’s part of why it took me so long to call you. I really wasn’t very sure about where your head was. I’d really like a do-over and…”

Ryland’s voice faded slowly into the background. My mind was unable to make sense of or even hear his words because my attention was solely focused on the truck that had pulled into the driveway next to mine.

Steff hopped out of his truck and walked around the front of his hood. As he rounded it, his eyes locked on to me. My heart rate spiked, sending flutters through my chest. A wave of warmth spread across my arms and legs. The back of my hand tingled as my mind went back to that moment in the pizzeria. His thumb gently caressing the back of my hand. His skin on mine, and the way I’d craved his touch for so long.

Steff stopped staring and walked straight toward me. A shock of fear rushed through me. Why was he coming this way? What was he going to do? What would I say? It was like I was in a daze.

“...April? Did I lose you?”

I flinched, realizing Ryland had been talking the entire time I was watching Steff. I’d completely tuned him out. I was a little embarrassed but that was the least of my emotions at the moment. Steff stepped up to me. Less than two feet from my body. I could almost feel the heat radiating off him. In one fluid motion, his right hand flashed out and gently pulled the phone from my hand and placed it to his own ear.

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