Page 118 of If It's You

Christian’s phone rang, and he groaned before pulling it out. Maizie didn’t even have to guess to know who it was. Her dad. He had a knack for ruining a good moment with work.

“Yes, sir,” Christian said. “Sorry, Eric.” He hung up and looked at her. “I have to go. But we can practice this more later.”

She shot him a confused look “Later?”

“Later.” He said before sauntering off.

Twenty-Nine

“Hey, Maiz, Christian’s here for you,” her mom hollered through the bedroom door.

Why was he here? Another dance lesson? She couldn’t stop the butterflies from taking up residence in her throat when she thought about finishing what they had started this morning.

She left her room, following her mom back to the living room where Christian sat on the floor with Mason, building something with Lego blocks. Her knees buckled, and her heart stalled. How many times had she seen Mack just like this, playing Legos with Mason? Mitchell despised Legos, but Mack and Mason would build everything they could think of. Her mom stood silently beside her, their thoughts likely on the same thing.

“Oh, hey, Maiz,” Christian said, shooting her a smile she liked way too much. “Just a second.” He put the finishing touches on something that looked like a rocket ship.

“Here you go.” Christian presented it to Mason.

“Wow, thanks.” Mason grabbed the rocket and ran off with it, probably to put it in his room with his other trophy Lego inventions. He had at least thirty, most of them Mack’s that had been super-glued together so they’d never break. For all the things superglue could fix, a broken heart wasn’t one of them.

Christian hopped up and met her behind the couch.

“Ready to play basketball?”

Her smile fell. “Basketball?”

“It’s your turn for a lesson, remember?”

Not dancing. Why was she so disappointed by that? “Right,” she said, following him out the door.

“So, you obviously know the basics of basketball. But basketball is all about the basics,” he said as they crossed the street. “You can’t win if you can’t make a shot. No matter how good your other trick plays might be.”

“Good to know.” Maizie rolled her eyes. “The college basketball team is my backup in case dancing falls through.”

He turned and shot her a look that was both obnoxious and heart-stopping, and Maizie laughed.

Christian opened the door to the shed, and Maizie stepped inside the cool room, memories of Mack flooding over her. They were getting easier to remember without so much pain.

“You okay?” He stopped walking and looked back at her.

Maizie shook her thoughts free. “Yeah. I’m good. Teach me, coach.”

Christian started by showing her how to form shoot, beginning as close to the basketball hoop as possible, then making her way out to the foul line. She was already shooting better than when she had been here the last time.

“You’re a pro now,” he said, holding up a hand for a high five.

“I know.” Maizie hit his hand, but he caught her fingers in the air.

“I bet you can’t beat me though.”

“Oh, it’s on.” Maizie pulled her hand away and stole the ball from him.

They played a game of seven on the line, and she won, though she was pretty sure he had let her.

“Now I’ll teach you how to dunk.”

Maizie cocked an eyebrow. “If you haven’t noticed, I’m only like five foot seven.”