Juked (10 page)

We make our way up the staircase that wraps around a cylindrical floor-to-ceiling aquarium. There are dozens of colorful fish in it. The biggest and brightest creature of them all is the eight-foot-long yellow eel. He’s winding in and out of the coral, doing his best to hide. If you didn’t know he was in the tank, you probably would never even notice him.

We follow the hostess to a table and sit down. She tells us our waiter will be with us soon. The large room is broken up by another massive fish tank, this one housing sharks and giant stingrays. I could stare at them all day.

“If it wasn’t marine biology, what would it have been?” Daniel asks me, leaning on the table.

“You mean my major?” I ask. He nods. “I don’t know,” I admit. “I hadn’t really gotten that far. It wasn’t until a couple years ago, when some friends wanted to go swimming at the beach, that I realized how scared I really am.”

“So no beach dates for you then?” he teases.

“Actually, I love the beach. Just don’t make me swim in the water.”

Our waiter approaches, giving each of us a glass of water. After introducing himself and taking our drink orders, he walks away, leaving us to our menus and conversation.

“How did you end up playing soccer for a living?” I ask, taking a sip of my water. “It’s quite an accomplishment.”

“I started playing when I was a kid at the local YMCA. Every single season I would beg my mom to let me sign up.” He picks up his roll of silverware and unwraps everything, placing his napkin on his lap. “By the time I got to high school, I had played on every league in the area. Having a high school team was a relief for my dad. He didn’t have to help coach anymore at that point.” He smiled at the memory. “I had some really great coaches in high school who helped me get a scholarship to college, and the figurative ball kept rolling.”

“Sounds like it was a lot of hard work.”

“It was, and not just for me. My parents sacrificed a lot of their time, too, and not because they wanted me to play professionally. There’s no guarantees, ya know?” I nod. “They just did it because they knew I loved it, and it made me happy.”

I love knowing he comes from a really solid family background with what sounds like amazing parents. So many of my friends had absentee parents or even abusive homes. It’s nice to talk to someone who seems to have stability in their past.

“If you weren’t playing soccer, what would you be doing?” I ask.

“You mean what was my major?” I nod. “Business.”

I furrow my brow. “Business? I can’t see you being a business major.”

“I think a lot of college athletes are, especially those of us who are scouted for the pros early on. It’s a good idea to know how to manage your money and things like that. Plus, once we retire, lots of companies don’t mind picking us up because of the status. Knowing what I’m doing in a business sense will give me a leg up on the competition someday.”

“Always worried about the competition, aren’t you?” I deadpan.

“Are you telling me there’s some competition for your affections I don’t know about?”

That wasn’t at all what I thought he was going to say. “Yes, because there are so many men out there knocking down the doors of women with babies. I’m surprised I’m even sitting here right now.” I meant it as a joke, but Daniel doesn’t look amused.

“Don’t sell yourself short,” he says. “Raising your nephew isn’t a negative at all. If anything, it highlights that you’re caring and generous and loyal. If a man can’t see that, you’re looking at the wrong man.”

Our waiter reappears to take our order. I fumble my way through it as I quickly decide what I want, still taken aback at the turn of this conversation. But Daniel’s right. Just because Chance and I are a package deal now, doesn’t mean I’m not still the total package. Sometimes it takes someone else to point it out.

“Your family sounds really great,” I say, fiddling with the condensation on my glass after the waiter leaves. “Sounds like you guys are really tight.”

He has a strange look on his face. “For the most part, we are.”

“What do you mean?”

“My brothers and sisters and I are really close and we’re all close with our mama.”

“But?”

“I don’t talk to my dad.”

I cock my head, sure I didn’t hear him correctly. “Your dad?” He nods. “The guy who coached all your soccer teams and encouraged you to pursue it?”

“Yeah. I mean, I give him credit for helping me get where I am today. He was a good father, ya know?”

I listen closely. I have the most overwhelming feeling he doesn’t talk about this part of his life often.

“As soon as I graduated, he left. Just left my mom after thirty years of marriage or something crazy like that. Said he hadn’t been happy for years and went to go live with his girlfriend.”

My jaw drops. “His what?”

Daniel shakes his head like he still can’t believe it himself. “I know, right? Apparently he was seeing her the entire time I was in high school, knowing he was going to leave as soon as I was out of school. Talk about a kick in the balls to know the man you admired was a liar and a cheat.”

I sit back and cross my arms. “That sucks for you guys, but your poor mom… wow.”

“Obviously I wasn’t there when he dropped that bomb on her, but from what I gathered, she was as blindsided as the rest of us.” He rubs his lip with his forefinger, deep in thought. “She handled it with such grace, ya know? To find out my dad was having an affair. Then to find out he was leaving her for a girl my sister’s age. But I never once saw her cry and she never once broke under the stress of it all.” He looks at me. “She faced it head-on, forced his hand in divorce court and won alimony, and that was that.”

I smile. “She sounds amazing. I’m not sure I would be as strong under those circumstances.”

“You don’t, do you?” he asks as he sits back, stretching out his legs. “I would argue that you are as strong as she is. Maybe that’s what attracts me to you so much.”

I look at the aquarium as a giant stingray swims by. Hearing him say how strong he thinks I am makes my stomach flutter even more than him saying he’s attracted to me. Maybe because it isn’t about attraction to my body, but to my
self
. Not a lot of guys these days are interested in that part of a woman. At least, not the ones I’ve run into recently.

“I really appreciate you saying that.” I clear my throat and tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. “I don’t feel very strong these days.”

“How come?”

Daniel has his arms crossed and is balancing his chair on the back two legs. He’s totally engrossed in what I’m saying. There is something wildly sexy about having his undivided attention.

“I find myself second-guessing all my decisions lately. Am I using the right formula? Is the day care safe enough? Would Sarah approve of the way I’m raising her son?” I try to smile, but I can’t as the guilt hits me again. “We left things on really bad terms,” I say quietly.

Daniel drops his chair to the floor and leans forward. “What do you mean?”

“The last time we spoke, we got in a fight. She died before we could make amends.”

“That sucks.”

I brace my elbows on the table and rest my chin against my hand. “Sometimes the guilt is just… it’s so intense sometimes.”

“You know she forgives you, right?”

“I know. The harder part, I think, is to forgive myself.”

Our waiter shows before Daniel can respond, and we both straighten. I glance up as our waiter puts our plates in front of us and see Daniel’s eyes are on me, not his food. A thrill runs through me. I haven’t had a man look at me like that in a very long time.

“Enjoy your meal,” the waiter says, leaving us to enjoy the food and conversation.

After spending a couple more hours at the aquarium, we make our way through rush hour traffic to get me home. The conversation never stops, and I could spend more time with Daniel, but we’ve both got responsibilities and work tomorrow.

We drive into my parking lot, and I’m both dreading him walking me to my door and looking forward to it. Dreading it because it means the end of a really fun date. Looking forward to it because I’m hoping he’ll act on this attraction we both seem to be feeling.

“Hang on,” he says as he turns the car off. “I’ll let you out.”

He’s opening my door before I’m able to get my purse off the floorboard.

After I step out, he takes my hand and leads me to my front door.

“Do you want to come in?” It’s kind of strange I’m asking him this question, because it’s still light outside. Normally, my dates end when it’s dark, so it has more of a suggestive meaning. Today it’s an invitation to come in for dinner or a beer. Not that I would reject him if he came onto me.

I think.

We’ve only been on one date, so while I’m totally agreeable to a goodbye kiss at the door, I’m not sure what I think about going all in so soon. While I was attracted to him as a person from the beginning, I don’t think the
sexual
attraction kicked up a notch until today.

Plus I have a baby to consider. I can think of about a thousand things sexier than hanging out with a woman who will inevitably end up wearing baby puke.

Then again, Daniel ended up in baby puke earlier, and it ended up
really
sexy.

He turns to me, still holding my hand. “I would love to come in, but I’m not going to.” I’m not sure what to make of the rejection but try not to show my confusion. I remind myself if he was uninterested, he wouldn’t still be holding my hand. “I have had so much fun today, but I have practice in the morning. If I come in now, I have no idea what time I’ll drag myself back out the door, and I need to stick with my routine.”

I understand exactly where he’s coming from. “I admire your dedication to your craft.”

“If I want to stay at the top of my game for as long as possible, I need to be pretty disciplined. Will you take a raincheck?”

“Absolutely.”

He cups my cheeks and bends forward, pressing his lips to mine. It starts as a sweet peck, just soft lips against rough, but the butterflies in my stomach start swarming. And then he takes it deeper.

I open my mouth to his prodding and get a quick swipe of his tongue. Once. Twice. Holy shit I could do this all night and I want to, but way too quickly, he pecks my lips again and pulls away.

He kisses just the way I like it.

“I’ll call you later, okay?” he asks as he backs toward the stairs. I nod and bite my bottom lip, trying to contain my grin.

After he’s out of sight, I find my house key and let myself in. “Oh!” I jump, startled, when I see Katie and Chance standing inside the door.

“Tell me everything,” Katie demands while Chance grins at me and waves his arms. “Is his kiss as sexy as his chest?”

I giggle and take the baby out of her arms, giving him a hug. “Yes, yes it is.”

I
push open the door and step into the house, amidst all the chaos and noise, and think
It’s good to be home.

I can’t always get away for Sunday dinners during the season, but today is an exception, and I’ve been looking forward to it all week. All my brothers and sisters show up with their kids. Mama usually makes enchiladas of some kind and all the fixings to go with it. I don’t know how she does it, but not only do we get our fill, she always makes enough to send us away with leftovers. That might be my favorite part.