Part 15 (1/2)
”I don't flirt with him.”
”Could it be the fact that he sent me a history app?”
”Oh, excuse me. Did it say 'I like your mom' on it?”
”No. But get real. What guy does that?” he scoffed.
”A nice guy,” she said insistently.
”Exactly. That's my point. He's a good guy. He volunteers. He helps Rex for free. And I've seen the goofy look you get when you're texting.”
She was so busted. ”Would you prefer that I don't go out with him?” she asked gently, giving him the out that she felt she needed to. Alex was her top priority, and even though she prayed he'd say no, she'd have to honor his wishes if he said yes.
”No,” he said with a laugh. ”It's fine.”
”Do you mind if he comes to the match, and maybe we can all hang out and get a coffee or c.o.ke or something?” she asked, with a c.o.c.ktail of nerves and hope that she hadn't felt since she herself was a teen asking out a boy. Such a strange feeling, to want her son's approval so badly.
He shrugged happily. ”Sure.”
”Does it bother you that he's a recovered addict?”
He shook his head. ”Mom, he's not a thing like Dad. We're cool.” His phone rattled, and he grabbed it. ”Oh man, James just got a new cheat code.”
That was that. He'd moved on. She'd clung to fears of what their life might be like if she ventured down this path, but Alex was resilient. He'd taken his punches and gotten back up.
She was the one who'd been living in fear. He'd been living his life.
Time for her to do the same.
Fully. In every way. Not only as a mom, but as a woman, too. A woman who was falling hard for a man.
”I owe you, man. The Cristal's on me,” Rex said, offering his hand to shake as Colin pulled up to the building at the community college where Rex and Marcus were slated to take the math test. ”Wait. I meant the s.h.i.+rley Temple's on me.”
Colin waved him off. ”Get out of here. Happy to do it.”
”What are you doing today? You gonna go find the next Google to buy, or go scale the side of a mountain with your Spidey hands?”
”Both,” he said. ”Work. Some climbing, a run, then a swim.”
”You're nuts.”
”You should go with me sometime.”
”Now you're really crazy,” Rex said, laughing with his mouth wide open. ”But I will cheer your bada.s.s a.s.s on when the day comes.”
”Excellent,” Colin said, then looked into the backseat as Marcus grabbed his backpack. The kid had been quiet the whole ride. Then again, Rex tended to occupy the majority of the conversational s.p.a.ce in any room. ”Good luck, Marcus.”
”Thanks for the ride. I didn't know 'til Rex told me this morning that you were the one picking us up.”
Colin furrowed his brow for a moment, wondering why it mattered that he was the one picking them up. But he figured Marcus had more important matters on his mind. ”Happy to help. You guys will do great.”
He went to his office, where La.r.s.en greeted him with a coffee and the sheer excitement of having found a kicka.s.s startup.
”Talk to me. Tell me why I want in,” Colin said as they walked down the hall. By the time the sun dipped low in the sky, he'd worked on a term sheet for the first round of funding, then headed for an evening trail run with Johnny Cash. The day was made perfect by the photo that landed on his phone that night. An image of Elle's legs from the thighs down in her roller derby socks.
The message said, See you tomorrow.
The whistle blared loudly, and Janine took off around the track, h.e.l.l-bent on scoring more points. Elle and the other blockers joined in, jostling and jockeying against the Resurrection Girls' efforts to score on the Fishnet Brigade. Elle's quads burned, and her heart beat furiously. Her focus narrowed, as it always did during matches, to her mission-protect the jammer and win the game.
On the next lap, Elle held out a hand for Janine, who gripped it for a few seconds, then let go as Elle sent her shooting faster around the curve. As Janine sped past a Resurrection Girl, an image of Colin popped into Elle's head. She shook it off. She couldn't think about him now. Couldn't think about the fact that he wasn't here. Hadn't shown up. The match would be over in two minutes. Her team was ahead. The point Janine just scored from her a.s.sist was more padding on the total.
Maybe by the time they finished he'd be here. He'd show, right? He had to. He'd better f.u.c.king show.
A brief burst of frustration powered her around the track, her muscles cursing at her. She didn't want to believe that the man would fail to show up for her and her kid.
The only thing that would hold him back would be- Her wheels slipped out from under her, and she crashed hard onto the sleek wood.
As soon as he heard the rumble of Ryan's truck, Johnny Cash whimpered and thumped his tail against Colin's floor. ”He's back,” Colin said to the dog, who wagged harder. ”C'mon, boy. Want to go see Ryan?”
The tail became a propeller, moving so fast it could power a motorboat. Colin opened his front door, and the Border Collie took off like a shot, tearing across the lawn to greet his master. Colin joined the two of them on the sidewalk. ”Looks like someone missed you.”
Ryan stood up and gave Colin a quick hug. ”Thanks for watching him. I appreciate it.”
”He's easy. Welcome back. How was it?”
Ryan c.o.c.ked his head and seemed to consider the question for a few seconds as he pet his dog. ”I'm going to ask her to marry me next week.”
”Holy s.h.i.+t. Guess you had a great time.” He shook his brother's hand in congratulations and proceeded to pepper him with more questions.
Ryan answered them all then capped it off with a simple truth. ”Sophie's the best thing that's ever happened to me.”
Colin parked a hand on Ryan's shoulder and looked him square in the eyes. ”She is. And don't ever forget it.”
”I won't,” he said, then opened the door of his truck for the dog. An engine rattled down the street, as Colin patted Johnny Cash good-bye.
”He's back,” Ryan said in a hiss. ”He knows where we all live. Sophie told me he stopped by more than a week ago.”
Colin furrowed his brow and was about to ask ”who's back” when he heard a familiar-sounding ”hey.”
”What's the deal?” Ryan said, and Colin nearly stumbled when he turned and saw who his brother was addressing. ”My fiancee told me you stopped by my house the other day. Just man up and tell us what you want.”
s.h.i.+t. Colin had told Ryan about Marcus and the Protectors, but he'd had no idea that the kid had stopped by Ryan's house before. What the h.e.l.l?