Page 86 of Only in Your Dreams

No kissing. No kissing, no kissing, no kissing—

“Lip balm addiction kicking in?”

She grimaces. “I left it in the car.”

I lift my ass off the edge of the desk and pat around my back pockets, pulling out a tube.

Melody stares, not making a move to take it. “Don’t tell me I turned you into a lip balm devotee.”

“It’s yours. You must have dropped it the last time you were here.”

Reluctantly, she takes the lip balm and uncaps it. “You know, the strangest thing keeps happening,” she says, staring at the tube. “All these lip balms keep popping up right when I need them.”

I tip my head. “Isn’t that the point of you putting them everywhere? Your car—”

“My overnight bag, your nightstand… the wrong pocket in my purse? I even found one in your kitchen this morning,” she says with an exaggerated squint. “You want to know what’s even weirder? All these tubes are brand new. Never used.”

Fuck.

What kind of idiot doesn’t think to break in a lip balm that’s supposed to be hers? I’ve been sprinkling them around, hoping she wouldn’t think anything of it.

I don’t know what my face looks like, but the very corners of her mouth tick up. She’s caught me and she knows it. Mel’s hands come to rest on each of my knees, and I really hope she didn’t notice the resulting tremor down my legs.

“Why do you think that keeps happening, Zac?”

I take her hands, palm to palm, and thread our fingers. Give a little tug and pull her closer. Her eyes catch on the flash of red at my wrist, the old shoelace bracelet breaking free from under my sleeve.

“I guess I forgot to tell you about the gnome problem at the house,” I say, drawing back her attention.

“The gnome problem?”

“Yeah. It’s been happening since I bought the land. Up until now, they’ve been leaving bags of Flaming Hot Cheetos everywhere. I guess they’re onto lip balm now. I hear that stuff’s addictive.”

She digs her teeth into her lip, trying not to laugh. “You’re telling me you have an infestation of benevolent gnomes, who leave around your favorite snack and my exact brand of lip balm?”

I shrug. “In hindsight, it explains the cost of the property.”

“And what do these gnomes want in return for their kindness?”

“Oh, everyone knows the best way to hurt a gnome’s feelings is to try to pay them back. Just enjoy the silky-smooth lips, Clover.”

She gives a skeptical hum, squeezing my hands before extracting her fingers from mine. “Well, I don’t know about that. But I did come here hoping to give you something to ease your nerves tonight.”

“What’s that?”

“First is a reminder that it’s only one game, and you’ve got a whole other two ahead of you to make this work. You can do this, Zac. Even if you don’t tonight, it’s not an indicator of how the next game will go. How the rest of the season will go. You’ll bounce back because you’re good at what you do. And because you love this game and your players, and knowing you, you won’t rest until you make this happen for them. They’re lucky to have a coach who cares as much as you do.”

I nudge her thigh with mine. “How would you feel about delivering my pre-game speech to the team, huh?”

“Not that you need me, but I’m happy to do my part to get that win. This next thing is just for you, though.”

Mel reaches into the pocket of her jacket. My heart, my entire fuckingbeing,melts when she pulls out a tiny four-leaf clover.

She twirls the stem between her thumb and forefinger, fluttering the four little leaves. Giving me a tiny smile. Blue eyes twinkling up at me.

Ten years.

She hasn’t done this for me in ten years, and the surge of emotion inside me almost cripples me. I’m aching. This persistent, delicate ache that originates deep in my chest and radiates through the rest of me, and I know that if I were to lift the sleeves of my shirt, I’d find myself covered in pinprick goose bumps.

---