Page 71 of Third and Ten

“Do I?” My voice sounds abnormally high.

She smirks. “You certainly do.”

I shrug noncommittally as I take a seat. “Well, I sort of adopted my nephew today, so there’s that.”

“Did you really? Wow, congratulations,” she says.

“Thanks.”

“And has Mr. Right come along to sweep you off your feet yet?”

I gulp. “Ah, no. Sorry to disappoint you, but both of my feet are still…” I glance down and realize that I’m sitting with my left ankle tucked under my butt.

“Firmly planted on the ground, right?” she finishes for me, one of her eyebrows is raised in a challenge.

I bite my lip. “All right. There’s…a candidate,” I concede after a second, standing to examine her. “And I imagine he’s very capable of a grand sweeping, but I’m holding steady as of now.”

“Are you?” she returns, leaning back on the exam table.

“Barely,” I say with a sigh.

“So,” she begins again as I lift her shirt and place my hands on her belly. “I’m not just here to tease you. I’m also looking for a favor.”

“Oh?”

“I’ve been teaching natural family planning classes to engaged couples in our church parish for the past few years, but I’m going to need a break after this baby arrives. I was hoping you’d be willing to offer your services in my place.”

“Oh,” I repeat. “I’ve never really studied NFP, only fertility awareness. I don’t really know the religious aspect as well as the biological.”

“Tenley, you’re a smart woman. I think it’ll click pretty easily for you,” she assures me. “Father Conrad’s a great resource, and I can send you all the information you need to get certified, if you’re interested.”

I consider her proposal as I run the Doppler over her stomach. We’re both quiet as the sound of her baby’s steady heartbeat fills the room. “Sounds good,” I say after a while.

“So you’ll teach the classes?” she asks cheerfully.

“I meant, your baby sounds good,” I correct her with a mirthful smile. “I’ll think about the NFP stuff.”

“Great,” she confirms. “And you never know, maybe you’ll find the information useful for yourself…if your feet ever do leave the ground.”

CHAPTER 22

JD

“Hot damn, Coach Thirsty. That’s a lot of tongue,” my brother congratulates me over the phone. “So, what happens now?”

It only took a few seconds for Blake to call me after I texted him that video, and now I’m sitting in my truck in the school parking lot, listening to his live reaction. But the smug look I’ve been wearing for the past couple of hours softens once I start feeling like I’ve made a mistake by sharing the video without any regard for Tenley’s feelings. And it’s not going to get any better now that Blake is transitioning to his usual line of questioning regarding my love life.

“We’re, um, dating, I guess. And we’re kind of keeping it quiet, at least during football season. We don’t want anyone giving Ethan a hard time.”

“And what’s included in ‘dating’?”

“We barely got the chance to discuss the general idea of becoming an us, and it didn’t seem like the right time to put any more pressure on her,” I say in my defense.

“Seeing as though you and Tenley look like you’re about to swallow each other whole, I imagine you’ll want to figure that out pretty soon.”

I cringe, because I hate admitting when Blake is right. I’ve been so intent on getting Tenley to like me that I’m not even sure what to do with her now. But I probably should initiate a conversation to define the specifics of whatever this is as soon as possible, because there’s already a desperate need to determine the physical boundaries of our relationship.

Like, really desperate.

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