Page 58 of Recipe for Rivals
“Okay, maybe not,” I conceded. “It was probably a tie.”
“Have you always been such a tease?” she asked, rising and taking my empty plate over to the sink. I was going to go for seconds, but I didn’t want to be greedy, so I sadly watched my plate disappear.
If she was starting to sense that humor was a coping mechanism for me, I wouldn’t be surprised. Nova was one of those rare people who seemed to understand me on a deeper level. Like when everyone else saw the funny, charming guy, she could peel back the layer of charm and see the regular man underneath.
This was getting dangerous.
“I only tease people I like.”
“Since we’re rivals, I guess that disqualifies me, huh?”
I got up and started carrying things over to the kitchen, helping her put everything away. “No, because I know you like it.”
I didn’t know, actually, but Ihopedthat was the case.
The bed in her room started creaking again, and Nova rolled her eyes. “I blame you entirely for that, by the way.” She went back to her room and told Alice to quit jumping on the bed. I heard her threaten to take Peaches away next time she caught either of them disobeying, and Alice squealed and ran to her own room, shutting the door hard behind her.
Staring at the door to Nova’s room, I narrowed my eyes. We’d brought furniture into the apartment today, but we hadn’t taken anythingout. I waited for her to return. “Hey, there was no mattress already when I brought the bed.”
She froze, putting the rest of the salad in the fridge, then closed it and turned to face me. “No, there wasn’t. I cleared out the room.”
She couldn’t have hidden a mattress under the rug. “Nova, what have you been sleeping on?”
“Well, a few nights ago I shared Alice’s twin with her because I fell asleep reading to her.”
“And all the other nights?” She didn’t even have a sofa.
She sighed, putting the salt and pepper in the cupboard with a snap. “Air mattress. Don’t judge me, Dusty. Slept is best.”
“Yeah, if youcansleep on an air mattress that long.” Iconsidered the two twin mattresses in her kids’ room and the rest of the barren apartment. To know she’d been coming home and crashing on a blow-up mattress made me want to strangle her ex-husband. He was an idiot for ever letting her go in the first place, but to allow her to come so far with so little? That was low.
“I slept well enough,” she muttered.
“Well, I expect you want me out of your hair so you can go starfish on that bed for a while, then. It’s gonna feel like the Ritz after weeks on a rubber ice cube.”
She flashed me a hesitant smile. “I am looking forward to being warm tonight.”
My stomach clenched in a weird way. I wanted to cross the room and promise she’d never have to sleep cold again, that she could have my entire farmhouse and I’d take this barren apartment. But I didn’t know her well enough to offer her the world, and the impulse was inappropriate.
That didn’t stop me from wanting to say something though.
My phone buzzed, and I pulled it out.
Coach Gable
We’ve got a problem. Can you meet me in the locker room? It’s Brody.
I swore. My head whipped toward Alice’s door. “Sorry.”
“What’s wrong?” Nova asked, concerned.
“It’s Brody.”
“The kid who helps you coach?”
I nodded, firing off a text saying I would be there soon.
“Can I do anything?” she asked.