She puts her hands on her hips and continues to study me. “If I find out you’re lying—” She doesn’t finish her threat because her phone interrupts her, and she digs inside her purse for it. “Hey, Dad. Hold on a sec.” She puts the phone down and approaches. “I’m going to talk to my dad, then I’m going to grade papers and do some writing. Thank you for the early bird dinner, but heaven help you if I find out you’re not doing right by that boy.” She walks past me and opens her front door.
“Okay, Queen Victoria. I’m going, but I’ll see you soon.” I kiss her cheek and walk out of her apartment.
ELEVEN
I can still feelhis lips on mine two full days later. He’s texted, but I haven’t replied. I haven’t gone so far as to block him yet, but I will if the texts continue. Since he’s in a series of away games, I don’t have to worry about him showing up at my school again this week.
The events of the next few days are exactly why I know I made the right decision about not getting involved with Colt or someone famous. The buzz at school has yet to die down. It’s all the staff and students can talk about. I’m bombarded with questions every time I step foot in the teacher’s lounge, the hallway, or my classroom, but that doesn’t even come close to the worst part. The worst part is the pictures that are floating on social media. Pictures of not just Colt, but of me. It took one day for my name to be revealed, and for my family’s history to be written about. Not that the Taylors have anything to hide, but we do like our privacy.
Someone managed to get my yearbook picture from high school. There was talk about my job as a teacher and my connection to Ethan Bradford through my sister. All boring stuff, and I can’t understand why anyone would care or find any of it interesting. The things I did find interesting were the little articles written about Colt. The things that add context to what he’s already told me about himself. He’s the younger of two boys, and his brother is two years older than he is. His father died when he was thirteen after suffering from a major heart attack. His brother, Charlie Chastain, was also a very gifted athlete and earned a basketball scholarship at the University of Alabama, but six weeks before he was supposed to move on campus, he was in an accident that shattered his right femur, and his plans of playing for a division one school were also shattered.
Two years later, Colt was offered that same opportunity and seized it before he was drafted into the NBA at the age of twenty. The articles about him and his late wife are where everything I’ve always assumed about him was confirmed. Kelsey Bennett Chastain had known him all her life. She has a daughter from a previous marriage, so there’s a story there. The surprising part, though, is that they married a couple of months before she had Evan. There are no articles about them dating. They were married a little over two years when she died. There’s speculation that the couple was having marital issues, and there’s even talk that he only married her because she was pregnant. One article goes so far as to suggest that Colt was going to leave her and that her death was a suicide.
I spent hours looking at photos of them as a couple and as a family. Kelsey was a tall, long-legged brunette. In all her pictures, she was dressed in designer clothes and expensive shoes. I don’t think she ever left the house without makeup. Her little girl, Mia, is her spitting image. In a few photos, they are dressed alike, but I don’t see any pictures of a baby or toddler Evan. After spending hours searching the internet like a rabid fangirl, I shut down my computer and do my best to put Colt out of my mind. What I said is true. I have no interest in dating a celebrity who is also a single father. Beyond that, he’s not interested in me. He’s interested in the challenge, and I’m not trying to be anyone’s conquest.
The rest of the week continues, and every night, I turn on the television to see how the home team is doing while on the road. I’d usually have it on in the background while I either work on my book or make plans for the summer. My summer plans are another reason why a relationship is not in the cards for me right now. I plan on spending a month in Atlanta, the hometown of one of my main characters.
* * *
“Family!”I slam my parents’ front door and step inside. “Why don’t I smell anything cooking?” The first floor is eerily quiet and dark for an early Friday evening in June. “Are we ordering out?” I yell from the bottom of the stairs but hear nothing back. “Your child needs food!”
I open the blinds and peek outside. The backyard is empty. I sigh, open the fridge, and pour myself a glass of wine. It’s smooth, and after taking another gulp, I finally look at the bottle. A French rosé that I can barely pronounce. A quick glance in the fridge reveals two more bottles; then I remember that my sister and Ethan are still staying here. I finish my wine and refill my glass. I grab my phone to text my parents, when I hear footsteps coming down the stairs. There’s a loud scream and male laughter.
“Get away, you ogre!” Tara comes running through the living room in a see-through silk nightgown that barely reaches mid-thigh. Ethan follows behind her in black boxer briefs and nothing else. He reaches for her when she gets to the couch, snatching one of her arms, turns her around, and lifts her off her feet. She wraps her legs around him and crashes her mouth on his.
Once the moaning starts, I let out a loud string of coughs, and he nearly drops her in their surprise. I arch an eyebrow while I sip my drink.
“Good evening,” I say. Tara stands in front of him. I assume it’s to block my view of his very broad chest. “Oh, girl, please. I like them dark,” I remind my sister. I give them my back and rummage through the fridge. “Where’s Dad and the evil one?”
“Ethan sent them to Tuscany for a week.” I let out a loud whistle. When your man is a billionaire with his own plane, I guess that’s nothing. I check my phone for the first time in hours. There’s a text from Dad telling me they were surprised with the trip and would be gone for a week.
“Well, there goes my evening.” I look at my sister and her boyfriend. She’s wrapped in his arms, neither of them caring about their state of undress while he leans down and whispers something in her ear.
“Come to dinner with us,” Tara tells me.
“Where’s Vincent?”
“He’s spending the night with my sister,” Ethan says. I nod, finish my wine and grab my purse.
“In that case, I’m not about to crash your kid free evening. But I am having a dinner party next Saturday. I’m introducing Hunter and Cody, and I want you two to come.” Ethan snorts and Tara swats his bare chest. Hunter is Ethan’s personal assistant, and Cody is a teacher at my school.
“Hunter is a big enough pain in the ass. I don’t want to hang with him outside of work,” Ethan complains.
“We’ll be there,” Tara says for them both.
“I see who wears the pants in this relationship.” I high-five Tara on the way out. “Neither one of you.” Tara catches up to me, takes my elbow, and walks me to the door while Ethan runs up the stairs and out of sight.
“Are you going to watch Colt tonight?” She wraps her arm around mine.
“Where have your hands been?” I extricate myself from her, and she giggles but doesn’t deny where her hands have been. “I’m telling Dad,” I joke. We were never allowed friends of the opposite sex in the house unless an adult was present. “And that’s a loaded question. Am I going to watch Colt’s game? Hell no, but he’s in so many commercials, I can’t escape him whenever the TV is on. So, I’ll probably have to put on some music tonight while I write.”
“He’s been asking about you.”
“Come on. Are we back in high school? I’m all about black love and you know I’m not looking for a relationship right now. Especially with a person who can’t take two steps without being stopped for an autograph.” I cringe at the few things that were written about me. “And did you know he’s from—” I lower my voice and say, “Alabama?”
“So?” Tara shrugs.
I wave her off. She’s in love and won’t see things from my point of view. People in love think the world is perfect and that everyone will find their soulmate too.
