Page 42 of The Rebound Play
“And you can continue pining for him from a distance?”
“I don’t want to put myself on the line for someone who left for bigger and brighter things the first time ’round. I’m the girl he left behind, remember? I don’t want to feel like that again when he leaves in a few weeks. So, really, how I feel about him is completely irrelevant because it won’t stop him leaving. Again.”
She’s still got that annoying, satisfied smile on her face, like she knows something that I don’t know.
“What?” I ask in exasperation.
“Did you notice anything when you came home today?”
I pull my eyebrows together. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Think about it. You pulled your car into the driveway as usual. Then you got out of your car and walked up the steps to come through the front door.”
“Where are you going with this? I don’t think I need a blow-by-blow of how I entered the house, riveting as it is.”
She throws her hand on her hips. “Are you purposely not getting this?”
“What’s there to get?”
“The step. It was broken this morning when you left, and now …”
I narrow my eyes at her. “What has the broken step got to do with Dan?”
“It seems I’m going to have to spell this out to you. Dan came over this afternoon when you were out.”
My heart rate jumps at the thought of Dan coming to my house again. “He did?”
Clara nods. “He brought a hammer and nails.”
“Why would he bring—” My mind finally catches up on what Clara is telling me. “Dan fixed the broken step?” I ask, my voice coming out all breathy.
Her knowing smile morphs into a broad grin. “He fixed the step.”
Clara looks out the kitchen window, and I hear the rumble of an engine. “Oh, and one other thing, sis. He’s coming back to take you out, right about now.”
“Wait, what?!” I squeal, my pulse banging against my ribs like a caged animal trying to escape. Dan fixed the step? And now he’s here to take me out?
“Did I not tell you?” Clara asks, her face bright.
“I might have remembered that if you had!” I reply, clutching a tea towel and plate in my hands. “Is it a date? As in a proper date? It’s a date, isn’t it? Clara?”
My sister is now beaming like the Cheshire cat. “It’s a date.” She places a hand on my shoulder. “Be careful. Okay, Keeks?”
“Be careful? Why?” I ask, confused, as I peer out the window at Dan, closing the door of his SUV and making his way toward the entrance to the house.
Dan. Here. Taking me on a date.
I might pass out.
“Because, Kiki, you might just get everything you ever wanted.”
I open my mouth to reply when there’s a knock at the door and I swear my heart almost gives out with the knowledge that Dan is standing on my doorstep—the fixed doorstep, thanks to him—waiting for me.
“Well? Are you going to answer the door?” Clara asks when I don’t move.
“The door. Right.” On shaking legs, I leave the kitchen, still clutching onto my tea towel and dinner plate as though they’re my safety blanket. I can see Dan’s bulk and his broad shoulders through the glass of the front door, and I suck in a deep breath, my hand on the doorknob before I turn it and pull the door open.
“Hey,” I murmur as I take him in. He’s wearing a grey sweater with a zip at the neck, open to show a white T-shirt underneath, which he’s paired with some dark dress pants and sneakers. He looks ridiculously handsome and oh-so hot and looking at him I finally understand the expression “he took my breath away.” Because that’s exactly what happens to me right now.