Page 13 of Quintessentially

Chloe sits back and side-eyes me. “He didn’t look soft when I saw him this morning.”

The Trevor team is on the field warming up as our team congregates behind the hometown bleachers.

Chloe’s fingers grip my thigh. “Holy heaven almighty. I think Justin needs to get his eyes checked.”

“Why?”

“Don’t turn but let me say—not soft.”

I straighten my back and keep my focus on the field. “Stop it. Dax Richards has always been good-looking. So what?”

Chloe nibbles on her lower lip.

“Stop it.”

She inhales. “If Mick and I weren’t engaged…”

I laugh. “You’re not that easily swayed. Besides, you and Mick have been on and off forever.” I peer down at the engagement ring on her finger. “I’m glad he’s finally making an honest woman out of you.”

“Speak of the devil,” Chloe says with a huge grin.

Mick’s expression is as solemn as Justin’s, yet his eyes are set only on Chloe until he reaches her and lowers his lips to hers. “I forgot to tell you something,” he says to Chloe and turns to me. “Shit, this is my fault. It slipped my mind, and I feel awful. Maybe you two might want to go do something else tonight.”

“I offered drinks and ice cream,” Chloe says. “Kandi wants to watch you guys lose.”

His dark eyes come to mine. “So you know?”

A scoff escapes my lips. “Riverbend is pretty small. Yeah, I know.”

“I don’t know what” —his head shakes— “if you two decide you want to talk…let me warn you, Justin is hot.”

Chloe reaches for his scruffy cheek. “Are you telling me that you’re checking out guys these days?”

Mick grins. “Hot, baby. You’re hot. Justin needs no incentive to get into a knock-down, drag-out with Richards.”

“That’s ridiculous,” I say. “Please keep an eye on my brother.”

“He just cares about you, Kandi. Can’t blame a guy for looking out for his sister and niece.”

A deep voice shouts from behind us.

“That’s my call,” Mick says. “I’ll keep an eye on Justin. You make sure he doesn’t have reason to start swinging.”

When Mick makes his way down the bleachers, I sigh. “I wish I could move time forward, get the damn papers signed, and go back to the way it is.”

“Most people want to move time back,” Chloe says.

I smile at my friend who happens to also be a therapist, a recreational therapist who works at the hospital in Washington. “Maybe you should expand your therapy into relationship counseling.”

“I should,” she says with a grin. “I’m so great at them.”

“You and Mick are good.” All at once, my mouth goes dry as the Riverbend team takes the field. It isn’t that Dax sticks out only because, Lord, help me, Chloe is right: he’s not soft. He’s also the only one wearing a blue shirt. The rest of the team is in orange.

The way my heart thumps against my breastbone, I expect Chloe to hear it and ask to check my watch for my heart rate. I breathe in and out. Rubbing my moist palms over my jean-clad thighs, I try to look away.

I can’t.

Six years.

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