Page 39 of Third and Ten

“And you could call Coach JD.”

I narrow my eyes. “Why would I do that?”

“Because you still feel guilty about what you said last Friday.”

I turn to the sink, hoping he misses the way I wince at his accusation. “Even if I do, I can’t just invite him to dinner out of the blue without giving him the wrong idea,” I explain, washing a coffee mug.

“Don’t worry. I think he gets it now,” he mutters.

“Oh. You’ve talked to him about it?”

Ethan crosses his arms and leans back against the counter. “Do you even care?”

“I don’t have to be romantically involved with someone to care whether I hurt his feelings,” I say defensively.

“He hasn’t brought it up. But that’s probably because you did hurt his feelings.”

And I know I did. The only time I’ve run into JD since the parking-lot incident was at church the following Sunday morning, and he barely acknowledged me when he stopped to talk to Ethan on his way out. Truthfully, I’ve only been going to Mass because it’s a requirement for me to serve as Ethan’s confirmation sponsor, but the fact that JD apparently attends regularly and receives Holy Communion has triggered my guilty conscience…as well as some other surprising sentiments I’m not willing to admit.

I groan as I shut off the water and dry my hands with a dish towel. “In my defense, he did kind of parade around in front of me with Loren after he’s been…” I trail off, forgetting that I’m supposed to be in denial about JD’s interest in me.

“He’s been what?” Ethan asks with a satisfied grin.

I roll my eyes and toss the towel onto the counter. “You know what.”

“Well, maybe he just got tired of waiting for you to go out with him,” Ethan retorts.

“Well, technically, he’s never asked me out,” I fire back, mirroring Ethan’s posture and crossing my arms. “Not that I want him to,” I add quickly.

“That’s not what your face said while you watched him change that tire the other night,” he mumbles under his breath.

“What are you even?” My voice goes suspiciously high. “Ugh. You’re ridiculous.”

“I’m ridiculous? Aunt Ten, you’re the one getting all worked up over a guy who ‘technically’ hasn’t even asked you out.”

I open my mouth to respond, but I’ve got nothing, so I settle for pouting.

My mom walks into the kitchen again, glancing between the two of us and noticing the tension. “What on earth are you two arguing about this early in the morning?”

“Nothing—”

“Coach JD—”

We both answer at the same time. She shakes her head and turns her gaze to me, as if she’s asking my side of the story first.

I let out a sigh before I begin. “After the game last Friday, we had to get JD’s help to change that flat tire, and Ethan provoked me until I laid down the law about not going out with his football coach just because he’s done us a few favors. Naturally, JD overheard what I said, and even though I’ve already apologized because the delivery was admittedly a little harsh, Ethan thinks I should invite him over for dinner. However, I feel like it would be inappropriate, and I don’t want to risk leading him on.”

“Ethan?”

He huffs. “Maybe I did tease her. But she’s totally missing the point.”

“You mean, she doesn’t want to admit she was only bothered by what you said because she’s scared shitless, seeing as though she has a weakness for your football coach’s big muscles and his even bigger heart?” she asks.

Ethan snorts. “Exactly.”

My cheeks immediately start to burn, and all I can manage is to blurt out some unintelligible objection.

“That’s almost the same noise she made when she had to watch JD getting cozy with Ms. Reed,” Ethan says while he and my mom laugh at my expense. At this point, I’m just grateful my dad’s not hearing this since he’s napping in the other room.

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