Page 19 of Rocking Player
The entire time we walked around the campus, Michael kept his hand on my back.
At least he hadn’t shied away from the selfies.
Once we left, I finally breathed. I'd had no idea how many attractive teachers my son had or my sister, Olivia, worked with.
I’m sure she’d text me later, but I silenced my phone for a few minutes. Alone time meant Michael and I could talk.
I’d been living in a bubble yesterday and today. I wanted him, but I wasn’t sure how we fit. Life near him had me on edge and I’d never made smart choices when nervous. Logically, Michael would probably leave forever, so this short time was all I’d get, then I’d be able to breathe.
Except he wanted Jeremy and, after the alluding to more in our conversation, we needed a firm decision if he intended to be in our lives now. And, I needed to get a grip, fast.
Michael and Jeremy might be good together and they deserved that shot. I’d loved my dad, and his cancer was one of the worst times in my life.
Michael held the driver’s door for me like a gentleman. Once he joined me in my car, he said, “Jeremy’s a good kid.”
I nodded but peeled out of the parking lot before someone else stopped us.
I’d like a few hours to talk to Michael and touring a school wasn’t my idea of one-on-one time when we had decisions to make about what we wanted to do for our future.
“The school is nice,” he said.
I wasn’t sure where else to go, so I went on auto-pilot home, until I entered my garage and his two-seater reminded me we didn’t fit. I ignored the feeling as I said, “I think so. And he does well in school.”
“There are other school options.”
“I guess, but I went there myself, so I’m slightly biased into thinking it’s a good place.”
As the garage door closed, he asked, “Do you think you could live outside of Pittsburgh?”
Tension ran up my back. He wanted us, it seemed, and we’d talk seriously. I turned off the engine and took out my house key while I said, “I never thought about it.”
“Why not?” he asked as I turned the key to let him inside.
He went right to the kitchen and poured us more coffee. He’d bought a six-cup container, so we had plenty, and his ass in front of me gave me a nice view. The jeans he wore weren’t nearly as tight as his work pants, but I had my memories of his naked body that heated me up. While I'd never believed in love, I’d avoided any mention of sex these past few years. “Why would I?” I asked as I set my purse down. “My family is here.”
He placed a cup near my seat from earlier and I took it as he took the seat he’d chosen while he said, “My parents live in Fort Myers. They moved to retire and see me during spring training. They are Jeremy’s grandparents, and they’ll want to meet you both.”
My mind raced faster than my body aching for his touch did. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want him in my life. I had needs too, and I ignored how I jittered a little and said, “They’ll probably be angry about everything.”
“That’s not their style.” He shrugged and said, “I’ll handle them. Mostly they’ll want to know where they fit.”
Good. My parents would have been good for Jeremy. My dad had died before I'd known I was pregnant, and I prayed for years that he was happy I had Jeremy. In a blink, I hoped Michael’s parents were good. I wrung my hands together and said, “I don’t know. My parents died, so he’s only had me, and my sisters, and my cousins, who act like uncles.”
“And you all live in Pittsburgh?”
“No.” I lowered my head. “Stephanie’s living in London now, with her husband-to-be, and my cousins are all over the country.”
His eyebrow perked up, but he sipped his coffee. I did the same and, once we finished, he asked, “What about the other four sisters? What happens when they marry?”
I took out my phone to get it out of my pocket and said, “That won’t happen.”
“How can you know that?”
My stomach tightened. At mom’s funeral, steam had been coming out of me, not tears, and I’d been in my last trimester. Then, I was the first-time mom with a newborn crying hysterically after putting him in his crib. Not honoring that war inside me didn’t seem possible. I lifted my chin. “I guess I can’t, but we made a pact.”
His gaze narrowed. “What pact?”
“To never marry and turn into our mother. She was quite a wallflower.”
