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“Screw this,” Chance muttered as he tossed his phone onto his bed.

He was dressed and out the door before he could change his mind. The short drive to Tori’s did little to clear his mind. He had to know what was going on.

Stopping in front of her house, he looked at the empty driveway. She wasn’t even here to confront.

He put his car in park and pulled out his phone, sending one last plea to her.

Chance: What did I do?

She didn’t write back. He hadn’t expected her to. Instead, he drove himself back to the house and tried to forget about her for a little while.

Tori had been in this house, though. Thoughts of her were everywhere. He wasn’t even going to be able to sleep tonight. She’d been in that bed.

Chance pulled his phone out again and looked up nearby hotels. He was going out tonight, and he wasn’t coming back here. Checked in online. He just needed to decide where to go.

Changing into black dress pants he’d had tailored a few months ago. He paired it with a white button-down shirt that fit him perfectly. Rolling up the sleeves, he grabbed a matching jacket before slipping into shoes and heading out the door.

He wasn’t an idiot. He knew exactly what women thought when he went out dressed like this. Tonight he was going back to the way things were. No more putting himself out there and getting stomped on.

Sex was what he needed, no strings.

* * *

Three hourslater and lots of flirting, he wasn’t feeling it. It felt wrong, even if he didn’t know what was going on with Tori, to be out here acting like this.

He threw his jacket on the bed and tossed his clothes on the floor of his bedroom. It had been a waste of money to rent the hotel room. It wasn’t what he wanted. He couldn’t even get drunk. One drink he’d sipped on for hours and didn’t even finish it. He felt like am imposter out there tonight.

He wanted to be here, with her and Emmett and his world to right itself again. He needed it.

Chance: Please. I’m begging. I don’t know what I did wrong, but I’m so sorry.

Knowing he wouldn’t get a response, Chance fell onto the bed and tossed his arm over his eyes. It was going to be a long week.

Fifteen

Tori hadn’t been home today. She’d gone from work to pick up Emmett from school and straight to the field. While she wanted nothing else to do with Chance, she didn’t want to let the kids down. They deserved for this to go well.

Plus, the parents were paying for this, and it was mostly profit for parks and rec, which would give more money to athletics without increasing prices. They needed this to replace some aging equipment.

She also didn’t want anything bad to happen to Chance. That wasn’t her goal. He’d used her, but she didn’t hate him. She was just hurt and a little angry at herself for falling for it.

Tonight would be the first time she’d see him since Saturday, and her only goal was to keep herself busy enough to stay away from him. If she got lucky, she’d be distracted enough not to notice him either, but she wasn’t hopeful.

“Mom,” Emmett ran up. “They’re here. Can I go?” he asked.

She didn’t need to ask who. “Stay where I can see you,” she reminded him.

He was off, latched on to Chance, who looked her way. He didn’t make a move in her direction, and she told herself to be grateful. This was what she wanted, needed.

“Where do we put this?” someone asked.

Blessedly distractions were in abundance. There were parents to greet, kids to see. Some were nervous and needed a little reassurance.

Emmett stayed close to Chance and Maddox. She had lost sight of him once and Chance caught her eye pointing to where Emmett was. She was glad that at least in trusting him with her son she hadn’t been wrong.

He understood her need to keep an eye on Emmett and whether he thought she was being a helicopter mom that was overdramatic or not, he kept an eye on him.

Things relaxed once the clinic started. Other than a few late arrivals, she had a little free time. Watching Emmett was too hard. He was in a group with Chance and Maddox, and watching Chance broke her heart.