Page 66 of Only in Your Dreams

“He wouldn’t believe we were only sleeping, and I don’t think he’d like it. He’s always been weird about me dating. He hated Connor even when we were together, and they weren’t even long-time friends the way you two are.”

His binder falls shut with a snap. “Luckily, I don’t give a shit what Parker thinks of me.”

I rear at the sudden edge in his voice. I cast back, trying to remember if Parker mentioned a falling out. But I’d been very careful about avoiding the topic of Zac over the years, and there’s a real chance I’d have descended into a fugue state at the simple mention of his name.

“Since when? You two were basically brothers.”

“Things change.” Zac drains the rest of his coffee and drops the mug on the table with a loud clap. “Look, I’ll agree not to shout about us from the rooftops, but I won’t lie about it if it ever comes up. And considering Brooks saw you at practice the other day—”

“Did something happen with you and Parker?”

He blinks away. “We’re not getting into that.”

“Why not?”

“We’re not talking about me and Parker, Mel,” he says sharply. “Let it go.”

I stare him down, waiting him out. But he seems to want to play this just as stubborn as I am. I’d be highly impressed with his perseverance if it wasn’t getting in the way of the intel I’m after. There’s no way I can bring this up with Parker without raising suspicion about why I’m suddenly asking about Zac.

When it’s clear he’s not willing to let me win this round, I sink back in my chair. “Then what do I have to do to get you to hide this sleeping arrangement?”

He doesn’t miss a beat. “Let me kiss you again.”

“Not happening.”

“Then you’d better hope you’re as sneaky as you think you are. I’m not hiding you, or our sleepovers.”

“Then I’d better get out of here,” I say innocently, jumping to my feet. “I need to sneak back into Parker’s before he notices.”

“Sit your ass back down, Melody.” Zac catches the hem of my shirt and tugs me into my chair. “We both know you couldn’t pay Parker to wake up this early. You have a couple hours, at least.”

Stifling a laugh, I help myself to another blueberry waffle. “Maybe I want to get a head start on work. This feels like the kind of day made for changing my life.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. I mean, look at all this,” I gesture around us, “there’s waffles. Not a cloud in the sky. I just had the best sleep I’ve had in ages. If today’s not the day, when is?”

Zac’s mouth twitches, threatening a smile. He hikes a knee up on his chair so that he can turn to face me fully. “Can’t argue with that. How are you changing your life?”

“I haven’t quite thought that far ahead yet. I’ve been wrapped up in Connor for so long, I barely know what I want anymore.”

“You said before you wanted to move back to the city.”

I nod, staring out at the shoreline at the end of his property. “I want to move back on my terms without help from a shitty boyfriend with a rich mommy. I want… I want everything I thought I had with my ex before it blew up in my face.”

“Which is what?”

“I want my own place, a job that doesn’t give me the Sunday scaries every single night of the week. I want to be in love. To start a family with a good person who doesn’t get off on messing with my head. I just need to figure out how to get it all without completely losing myself in the process again.”

“So, make yourself a playbook.”

I tear my gaze from the bay. “What do you mean?”

Zac nods at his binder. “At work, we’ve got a playbook for every team we play against. Maybe we’re playing football every time, but the opposing players change constantly. The field changes with every away game. We adapt our plan accordingly. Maybe life is like a game of football—”

“Okay, Forrest Gump—”

He jabs my thigh. “Let me finish. I’m saying you spent the past six years with that idiot Connor, playing your life a certain way. Maybe your goals are the same, but your circumstances have changed. You want to move to the city, have a family. You can still have all that. You just need a new playbook. A new way to get there.”

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