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Julie brushed off my attempts to focus on the mechanics and asked the question I’d been dreading since my slip of the tongue. “Is Andi still single?”

I held back my groan with effort. Julie’s focus on my love life, or lack thereof, would be hilarious if it weren’t so uncomfortable. She’d stalked the single moms on Rosie’s soccer team, using every excuse to throw them at me. As Rosie’s coach, I always had plenty of help carrying the bags of soccer balls to my truck and no shortage of snack volunteers. It was bad enough that she’d gotten me to agree to coach when thinking about the game I’d loved still hurt. I didn’t need her pimping me out at every opportunity too.

“I don’t know,” I admitted.

Though I could guess. Andi hadn’t mentioned a significant other, and it hadn’t beenthatlong ago that she’d propositioned me at trivia.

She smiled brightly at me. “Well, you should invite her over next week after jury duty. We’re happy to cook for one more, and it would be fun to catch up. I haven’t seen her since high school.”

I cut off the snort before it fully manifested. Julie and Andi had never been friends. Not enemies either, more like non-entities. The age difference alone had made a friendship unlikely. Julie had been strictly drama club, where Andi had bounced around to FBLA and debate.

My non-committal hum seemed to satisfy Julie, and my shoulders relaxed as she let the subject drop. The last thing I needed was my nosy sister pushing Andi and I together at every opportunity when I was having trouble remembering that we were supposed to just be friends myself.

Chapter 5 – Andi

I’d been disappointed when Ty didn’t meet me at my car Wednesday or Thursday morning. But he must have been reassured that my car wouldn’t break down again. It was better not to read too much into his original chivalry, avoid any additional mortification sparked by seeing things that weren’t there with him. Ty may be a good guy, but he wasn’tmyguy. Confusing the two could only lead to more pain and embarrassment.

Not that I wanted to play the damsel in distress when it came to my car, but as excuses to hang out with him went, I’d take it. His quiet competence drew me against my will and beyond my desire not to get distracted from focusing on my career. Staying away from him, avoiding thoughts of him, was the smart move, but those broody piercing eyes and his longish dark hair reminded me of the dark heroes in my favorite fantasy novels.

Why were the silent ones sexy? Emotionally unavailable men shouldn’t be hot. Couldn’t that be a rule somewhere? Help the single women of the world avoid heartache and rejection?

Maybe it was the hint of hurt in Ty’s eyes that made me want to ignore good sense. I remembered the outgoing, confident teen. The boy who used to zoom around the soccer field proclaiming he was ‘King of the World’ when they scored,regardlessof who kicked the goal. Something about life after high school had worn down his puffed-up, cocky attitude. Mellowed him. I’d heard from Jimmy that he’d spent time playing professional soccer in Chicago before an injury ended his career. I could only imagine that the death of your dreams had an impact on your world view, but I hated to see the joking jock so shuttered.

Life after high school probably hadn’t turned out like he thought. Going from celebrated sports star to a voice behind the scenes during emergencies had to sting. Nameless. Faceless. Then again, most of us never experienced the heady drug of adoration. Sports fanatics were a special breed. As evidenced by our current trial, some people made loving sports their life and whole personality. Had losing his shot at fandom changed him from the outgoing boy I remembered?

My brother, Jimmy, was affectionate and outgoing like a golden retriever by comparison. He’d never lost the goofy good nature that made him popular in school. And his wife, Melena, had made me suspicious because of it. My sweet brother was too pure, too much the firefighter hero, always wanting to save the day. Save everyone. Whether they deserved it or not. Protecting him from his own good nature had always been my job. I scowled out my windshield as a car cut me off on the way to the courthouse, slamming on my brakes to avoid a collision.

Not that Melena didn’t deserve Jimmy. She’d slowly won me over during the last few months. Helping him after his accident, putting up with his moody ass. He hadn’t been badly hurt, but the ladder accident at work had left him with limited mobility for weeks. While he was usually easygoing, if my brother got so much as a hangnail, he turned into a royal pain in the butt. She’d managed him admirably, and it was obvious Jimmy adored her.

I shrugged, trying to dislodge the surge of jealousy thinking of Jimmy and his new wife invariably caused. I was happy for Jimmy. I wasn’t that petty. But hanging out with him and Melena, along with his buddy Chase and his fiancé Tamra so often, meant I was surrounded by happy couples. Couldn’t escape them really. And it only served to highlight my own loneliness.

I’d tried dating. I’d tried apps. I’d tried setups.

Sometimes it turned into a short relationship, but never intothe one.

I snorted. Nearly thirty and still believing in fairy tales.

If there was one thing my work in HR had taught me, it was no one was perfect. No matter how pristine the résumé, or amazing the interview, every human was simply that—human. Not a robot orchestrated to perfectly match expectations. The halo would wear off. They always did. My goal had become to find a good enough fit where everyone was still happy in the end. Perfection was an impossible goal, but happiness? That I still believed in.

Finding my own happily ever after might seem hopeless at times, but I kept on trying.

I shuffled through security before grabbing a cup of coffee and settling in next to Shelly in the juror’s room. A quick glance revealed Ty a few seats down, working steadily on a sunny yellow skein of yarn. He glanced up, as if feeling my gaze, and smiled.

Oof. Even a tiny twitch of his lips hit me in the feels. It was patently unfair that I found him so sexy, and he found me … what? Too friendly? I swallowed, pushing down the disappointment.

I’d crashed and burned once with him already. Unprepared for the changes in him, had I approached him all wrong? High school Ty would have crowed about his heroic save to anyone who’d listen, eager to accept the accolades. But he’d seemed almost morose afterward. We’d worked well together when it came to helping Ted. Seamless, and in tune. Maybe Ty needed a friend more than anything else. After all, it was all I should be offering. I had my own worries, my own future to be concerned with. If I could make him smile, even a little bit, was it a bad thing?

“If you keep staring, you’re going to burn a hole in his shirt,” Shelly chided from next to me.

I hid my grimace with a sip of coffee, shifting my gaze to the older woman. Today, she sported a T-shirt that readdeja poo. the feeling that you’ve heard this crap before.

“I’d like to burn that shirt,” I said instead, gesturing to the soft cotton covering her chest and softening my words with a grin.

Shelly flicked a hand at me, unconcerned.

“When you get to be my age, you embrace every opportunity to be outrageous. Life is short. Lick the spoon.” She cast a glance down the table to Ty. “Or the sexy knitter.”

I shook my head, holding in my chuckle. If Ty thought me propositioning him at trivia night was bold, then licking him like he was mine was sure to get me banned from the bar for good. Though tracing the tendon along his neck, maybe gently nibbling along his jaw held some appeal.