Page 23 of Third and Ten

I blink a few times, trying not to let my mind wander into “Tenley in bed” territory. “I take it that means you’re a fan of babies?”

She sighs dreamily, and I almost do the same. “For sure. I was still at home when Ethan was born, and I loved helping with him. Then I became a labor and delivery nurse, which was great—except that sometimes I disagreed with the pushy male doctors,” she explains, turning in her chair to face me. Her eyes brighten as she continues. “I basically became a midwife and went on to get my doctorate so I could pretend to be in charge while I let the mamas do it their way.”

“I like that,” I say, trying to turn on a little charm. “But technically, that makes you Doctor Tenley, right?”

“More commonly, Nurse Tenley.”

“That’s kind of amazing, you know.”

“I can’t imagine doing anything else,” she says with a shrug, attempting to downplay my compliment.

“You must have a hard time not bringing one of those newborns home, though,” I joke. But it falls flat, and her expression tells me I’d better change the subject quickly if I want to keep her talking. “Besides work, how has moving back to Camellia been going for you?”

She mulls it over before answering. “It’s actually kind been a blessing in disguise. I hadn’t realized how much I’d been missing my family. Work is a little slower than it was in Waco, but that’s not such a bad thing now that I have more responsibilities at home. And I’m not sure if he mentioned it, but I’m going to be taking over as Ethan’s legal guardian now, so…” She trails off when another student approaches with an envelope of cash and adds it to her stack.

“Yeah, he told me about the guardianship stuff. Congratulations,” I offer.

“Thanks,” she says, almost shyly. “I just hope I don’t screw up too badly.”

I furrow my brow. “You don’t sound excited.”

“No, no.” She shakes her head quickly. “It’s not that. I love Ethan. I’m just not so confident in my underdeveloped parenting abilities.”

I lean in as if I’m imparting an important secret. “Teenagers are impossible. Don’t take it personally if you hit a few bumps in the road. Just be glad you’re starting out with a pretty good kid and that you still like him, for now.”

“Well, aren’t you two working hard?” I hear my brother’s voice from across the table. I straighten up, glaring at him. I know he’s not exactly keen on me pursuing Tenley, but I didn’t think he’d stoop to keeping us from talking.

“We’ve been collecting the cash donations,” I fire back, making sure he knows I’m displeased with his interruption.

Tenley bites her lip and looks down at the envelope of money, and I want to jump over the table and knock the stuffing out of him for making her squirm.

“That’s nice.” He raises his brow, trying to give me some kind of signal, or maybe he’s warning me about coming on too strong again. “It’ll be a good example to bring up later at the custody hearing, Tenley. Might I suggest a social media post?”

“Wait, you’re her lawyer?” I ask incredulously.

He clears his throat loudly, a smug look crossing his face. “Now, Coach, you know I can’t answer that.”

I turn to Tenley, who nods reluctantly. “He is.”

“How the hell did that happen?”

“The Robins needed an attorney, and I happened to be available when Tenley’s mom called.” Blake explains with widened eyes, another cue for me to calm down. “Well, actually, Mrs. T requested me,” he adds in a cocky tone.

“She did, did she?”

“Because he already knew Ethan and our situation,” Tenley interjects.

I clench my jaw and nod, unsure whether I should feel relieved because I know that my brother is a damned good lawyer and that Tenley and Ethan are in great hands, or if I want to protect them from Blake the Snake.

“Exactly. So, how about that picture?” He holds up his phone. “In fact, let’s get E in there, too.” He calls out for Ethan while I cast a tentative side glance at Tenley. She looks about as uncomfortable as expected, given the circumstances.

Ethan comes over with one of the signs outlining our cause, and Tenley stands to pose beside him. “Get in there, JD,” Blake encourages me. “It’ll help to have a trusted local authority figure,” he says with a satisfied smirk.

I sigh but stand and follow orders, my eyes darting over to Tenley again. “Is this okay?” I ask quietly as I sidle next to her and place a hand on her shoulder. I inhale slowly and deliberately, trying not to make it obvious that I’m savoring the opportunity to get this close to her. Of course, she smells amazing, wearing some light, clean perfume that must have been made just for her. It’s a perfect combination of citrus and floral and has just become my new favorite scent.

“Uh, yeah, you’re fine,” she whispers before Blake instructs us to smile.

He snaps a few shots, and we separate as soon as he puts down the phone. “I’ll just text those to you later,” Blake tells Tenley, and I have to check myself before I growl at him.

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