Catching Summer (Second Chances #6)(27)

“Slow, huh? I think I can manage that.”

“And then maybe you could squeeze me in for dinner?”

“Only if you come to the restaurant. I’ll be there until closing every night this week. Now next week, we can probably work something out. I’ll be there during the days and Lara will be there at night.”

A smile lit up his face. “I look forward to it. That means I can take you out on a real date.”

“Won’t this interfere with your bachelor status?” I teased.

“Yeah, but I don’t give a shit about that. If you want me to stay one, I can. I’ll leave it up to you.” He kissed me one last time and shut the door after I got in the car. As I watched him walk away and his words sank into my head, I realized I already knew what I wanted.





Chapter 13


Summer


Evan and I chose to meet at a local café that was just a block from Philip’s office. I was a little early and hungry as hell, so I ordered two blueberry scones and a hot chocolate and had an Asiago cheese bagel packaged up for Philip. As soon as I sat down, Evan walked through the door.

“I’m not late, am I?”

“No, I’m starving. Plus, they only had two scones left and I wanted to get them before someone else did.”

Shaking his head, he smiled and waltzed over to the counter. The woman at the register recognized him and her face brightened. She giggled at everything he said and made sure he didn’t have to wait long for his order. When he walked away, every head in the place turned to watch him take a seat with me.

“Nice choice,” I said, glancing down at his pastries. The apple fritters were my other favorite.

Taking a bite of his fritter, he nodded in satisfaction until the whole thing was gone. He looked down at the to-go bag I had sitting on the table and asked, “What’s in there?”

“A farewell gift, I suppose. It’s a bagel for Philip. I think I’m going to make today my last appointment.”

His eyes went wide. “Are you serious? That’s great. And you think you’re ready for that?”

I shrugged. “Who knows, really? But I think it’s time to try. My nightmares don’t come as often, and for the past couple of weeks I’ve actually been able to sleep more than four hours at a time.”

“That’s all you sleep? Have you ever taken medication?”

“Yeah, but I noticed it made my dreams worse, more vivid. So I figured no sleep was better than that.” Sleep was my enemy. I was terrified to close my eyes for fear of what I’d see. Every day, I prayed for that fear to go away. Evan nodded in agreement, but I could tell he was worried about me by the frown on his face. “What will you be doing in practice today?” I asked.

“Same old shit. Coach wants me with Gavin one-on-one so I can make sure he’s just as good as I am. He wants another record-breaking wide receiver in case something happens to me.”

“Let’s hope that doesn’t happen,” I added. “Do you have a backup plan in case you can’t play football anymore? What did you study in college?”

“Business, actually. I was one of the top students in my class. But to be honest, if something ever happened to me I could see myself coaching.”

“Or you could always help out at the restaurant, since you know so much,” I said, laughing.

In all seriousness, he nodded. “If you ever needed me, you know I would. I just hope me needing a new job doesn’t happen for a very long time.”

“Same here.” Drinking the last of my hot chocolate, I finally took a glance around the room and noticed all the stares. “Evan,” I whispered, “why is everyone looking at us?”

About that time, a little girl with golden braids and missing front teeth walked up to our table, carrying a newspaper and pen. A lady with the same blond hair and eyes watched curiously, with a big smile on her face. She waved at me and I waved back.

“Can I have your autograph, please?” she asked Evan sweetly.

He beamed and gently took the pen from her grasp. “Of course, sweetheart. What’s your name?”

“Abbey.”

Evan wrote an inscription to her and handed her the paper, smiling. “Well, Abbey, thank you for coming to visit me. Is your mom about to take you to school?”

She nodded excitedly. “Yes, and now I can tell all my friends that I met you.” Abbey then turned to me. “Do you mind signing this, too?”

“Me?” I asked incredulously. “Why on earth would you want my autograph?” When she set the paper down in front of me, I noticed it wasn’t just Evan on the front page of the sports section. It was a picture taken at the football game when he’d picked me up and swung me around in his arms. I stared at it, at the smile on both of our faces. It was perfect. The title of the article was COUGARS ON THEIR WAY TO SUPER BOWL? “Oh my God.”

“Please,” the little girl begged. “You’re Evan’s girlfriend. That makes you famous.”

With shaking hands, I took her pen and signed my name with a couple of hearts and a smiley face. I had no clue what to write. After I handed it back to her, she giggled and skipped over to her mother. “I wasn’t expecting to see us in the paper like that.”

Evan chuckled and reached for my hand. “I was waiting on you to mention it. I saw it this morning before coming here. It’s a good picture of us.”