Page 90 of All In Good Time

He dragged out his process of dressing, taking his time with his pants, then his shirt. He shook the water out of his hair and was acutely aware of the fact that Parr was still behind him, seemingly unmoving, on the bench.

A quick peek behind might give away how conscious Derek was of his presence. He shifted a bit and caught sight of Parr in the locker mirror. Huge mistake because their stares connected. Damn.

“Go ahead and ask, Stokes,” Parr said.

Derek paused, his hand tangled in the curls he’d been working through. He averted his eyes away and pretended to focus on his hair. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Even you don’t stare in the mirror that much. Spit it out. I don’t have all day.”

The facade dropped with Derek’s hands, and he hesitated, staring at himself. His brows were furrowed, his lips pursed as he chewed unconsciously on the inside of his cheek. A tempting situation, and he was throwing himself to it with the barest of fights.

“How is she?”

There wasn’t a need to clarify who “she” was. He felt Marty shift behind him and flicked his gaze to see him in the mirror.

Marty stood from the bench and crossed his arms over his chest. “Why don’t you ask her yourself?”

Derek cut off the eye contact by shutting his locker, the bang echoing off the concrete walls of the locker room. Turning, he looked directly at Parr. “Not possible,” he lied.

“But kissing her is?”

Shit.

So he knewthatmuch. Derek bit his tongue, his jaw tensing as he dug his teeth into the flesh. “I was drunk.”

“Don’t they say the truth comes out when you’re drunk?” Parr said, shrugging.

“Just answer the damn question. Stop wasting my time.”

Parr rolled his eyes. “She is in the pool for hours a week. She’s doing so much homework her fingers have calluses on them. She just quit her job at the mall again because of your dad, and I know that she misses you like hell.” Parr’s eyes bore into him, studying his reaction. “But I guess she’s doing fine.”

Derek didn’t answer. He couldn’t. His throat blocked up, holding back enough emotion to choke him. He imagined her doing all that. Swimming and writing and quitting andmissing him.If he closed his eyes, he’d bet he could see it, clear as day. It was a relief to hear something about her, and it was a stab in the heart to know that not all of it was good.

“I never liked the idea of you two being friends. I didn’t trust you, Stokes. Still don’t, just to be clear.” He had every right to say that because Derek wouldn’t trust himself either. “But, for what it’s worth, I can tell you love her.”

Derek blanched, his eyes widening and mouth opening in surprise.

Love her.

He’d never heard it out loud. Never said it out loud. Maybe he never thought he would.

And it made him vulnerable. It made him weak. It sent tremors up his body, that gave way to indignation and fear.

“What do I do?”

“I’m not quite sure how I ended up becoming a love doctor for you two, since we all know that I’m about the least qualified person right now, but my best advice to you is do something about it.”

“That’s shit advice, Parr.”

“Just ask her yourself.” Marty slung his gym bag on. He stepped to Derek, and patted him supportively on the shoulder, “Have a good break, Stokes.”

34

August 1985 | Before

If Derek ever admitted how much he enjoyed this cheesy mermaid romance film, Becca would never let him forget it.

Avoiding her eyes was the best way to prevent her from seeing how he bit his lip at some overly cheesy line or leaned back to shake off a budding laugh.

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