Page 46 of Third and Ten

“Thanks,” she replies shyly, taking a bite of food to cover up her smile. I can tell she takes pride in her cooking from the way she reacts to my compliment.

Unless, maybe…it’s a reaction to me?

I did sort of moan.

“Oui, c’est bon,” says Mr. Jude with a smirk.

“It’s bussin’, Aunt Ten. Thanks for cooking,” Ethan adds.

I try the corn bread next, growling appreciatively this time. Then I place the slice down and suck the butter off my fingertips, leaning back and watching for her response.

She stops chewing and brings her glass to her mouth, taking a deep gulp.

“Wow, Tenley. Ethan wasn’t kidding,” I say, reaching my arm around to rest on her chair back. “I’ve never been so tempted to break the rules. But I could certainly eat twenty-six-dollars’ worth of this, as long as you promise not to report me to the ethics board.”

She forces a fake laugh and takes another sip, and I notice her ears turning red.

Interesting.

No, wait, not interesting. I’m making her uncomfortable again, which I promised not to do.

Her parents exchange knowing glances across from us, and I realize I may have gone too far. I remove my arm and turn back to my plate, attempting to tone down the desperation.

“Slow down, there, Coach. You’re gonna make yourself thirsty,” Ethan says with a warning glare, and I give him an apologetic look in response. I keep my mouth busy after that, finishing off two servings of food in between laughing at Mrs. T’s funny stories about Ethan as a toddler.

And it’s one of the best nights I’ve had in as long as I can remember.

CHAPTER 15

TENLEY

We cut Ethan’s birthday cake after dinner. My mom adds a scoop of ice cream over each slice to camouflage the spot that ended up on JD’s back, and we all make our way out to the front porch to enjoy dessert.

We laugh again about the cake mishap, and JD smears chocolate icing on Ethan’s nose in an attempt to shut him up after he keeps making jokes about “Coach serving cake,” whatever that means.

It isn’t long before Dad gets tired, and Mom brings him inside just as it begins to get dark. Ethan waits patiently for permission to take the truck out for a spin. As soon as I say he can go to Caidence’s, he abandons us with a quick “thank you, bye.”

And that’s how JD and I end up alone on a porch swing.

“That kid’s got it bad,” he says after we watch Ethan drive away.

I chuckle lightly. “He does. But Caidence seems like a nice girl.”

“Yeah,” he agrees. “He could do much worse. She gets pretty good grades, works at her family’s business, and is super respectful. Although, I’m not sure how much he thinks about all that so long as she’s wearing a skirt on the sidelines every Friday night.”

I glance over. It’s getting darker out, but his smile is still visible, as well as the outline of his chest and shoulders in that tight T-shirt. His arm stretches lazily over the back of the swing, and he pushes us back and forth with the slightest movement of his foot. Then his eyes meet mine for a second, causing a definite twinge in my chest, and I force myself to look away.

He’s too easy to read tonight. There’s something different in his expression that says he isn’t just a harmless flirt, and that his feelings for me run deeper than friendship or even physical attraction. I can sense him staring at me longingly, as if the dark has made him bold. But I know that if I turn to face him right now, it will be too hard to keep pretending I don’t know any better. And if I acknowledge his feelings, I’ll have to figure out whether I feel anything, too.

I’m not ready for that.

“For what?” JD asks.

Crap.

How much of that did I say aloud?

“I mean, I’m not ready for Ethan to be driving…and dating, I guess.” I try awkwardly to recover, hoping all my thoughts haven’t slipped out so easily.

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