Page 36 of Give Me a Shot

“I don’t see that happening,” Khalil said. “You’re so attuned to Maddie emotionally; I’d be shocked if you did something like that. Even unintentionally. Besides, has that been an issue with Diana’s new husband? Does Maddie feel like she still has her mom?”

“It hasn’t been an issue at all,” Mo said.

“So why would it be an issue with you?”

Maybe Khalil was right. Jess was the first person he’d really been interested in since the divorce. Staying focused on Maddie had allowed him to maintain the emotional stability he desperately needed to feel balanced.

“I mean, I guess it could be that. But it doesn’t feel quite—”

“It’s the girl thing, isn’t it?” Khalil asked flatly.

“The girl thing?”

“You’ve never been the most…aware of female interest,” Khalil said. “We almost had to hold an intervention to get you to realize that Diana was into you.”

Mo chuckled in spite of himself.

“And even back then, you weren’t sure it was okay to like someone, which I’ll never understand,” Khalil said.

“Very funny, Ladies’ Man,” Mo said.

“One lady man now, thank you very much,” Khalil said. “I hate telling you to relax because saying it won’t work, but maybe let yourself see where this goes. It might not go anywhere, maybe you’ll get to know each other and realize the vibe isn’t right. But it’s worth trying. Especially since it seems like Jess respects your…uniqueness.”

Mo bristled a little at the last part, but Khalil wasn’t wrong. Mo could just see what happens.

“Okay,” he said. “I’ll try.”

“You could sound a little more enthusiastic,” Khalil said. “You’ve already kissed her.”

“It’s…a lot to process.”

“It is,” Khalil said. “But you can do it. You might even like it.”

“Hmmph.”

“Let’s get started,” Khalil said, standing and pushing the stool to the side. Mo shifted to the edge of the chair and stood too. He unsnapped the cape.

“What are you doing?” Khalil asked.

“Be back Thursday,” Mo said over his shoulder as he walked to the door. Khalil started laughing.

“You’ve got to be kidding me, man. You’re already here,” he called out.

“No,” Mo said, unlocking the door. “Stick to the schedule.”

Chapter Ten

Jess

Wednesday afternoon, Jess dropped her whiteboard marker for the third time and cursed under her breath. She’d been shaky and distracted the entire day. Mo’s dark eyes and gentle face kept bubbling up in her subconscious, spilling silly feelings like shyness and giddiness all through her insides. Taming those feelings should have been the easiest thing in the world, but she was struggling—in front of her most difficult class to manage, no less. She hadn’t been able to keep them engaged for the past fifteen minutes. Her newly unruly mind was all over the place.

She shook her head hard.

Stop being unprofessional.

“As I was saying,” she said, making her voice carry over the whispered conversations. “At the height of the Renaissance, women who wished to avoid being subjugated to a husband had no other real choice but to enter a religious order. While there were women who helped run their husbands’ businesses, such as shopkeeping, they could not…” Jess trailed off. She had the attention of about four students out of thirty. Everyone else was talking or on their phones. Between her own distraction and the strange new deep aching in her legs, she just didn’t have the strength to fight.

“Okay, let’s wrap it up for today,” she said.

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