Page 59 of Something to Prove

“Skydiving.”

“Paragliding.”

I’d snickered at the outlandish suggestions while reveling in their easy acceptance.

Was it cheating if we weren’t being completely honest?

Ty didn’t think so. To him, it was a simple matter of introducing new friends and old friends.

Maybe he was right.

I’d said my good-byes to Robin, packed my suitcase, and delivered Mabel to Shay, who’d kindly offered to watch her for me. My flight to Toronto left first thing in the morning, so I planned to spend the night with Ty…in bed.

We lay naked, entwined like human pretzels, panting and grinning like fools.

“I feel bad that I can’t take you to the airport,” Ty commented, tracing lazy circles on my hip.

“What time is your game tomorrow?”

“The bus leaves at nine. I’ll go home next week after the game in Granville. My sister is flying in with her family and my parents are bringing my four-year-old nephew to the game. It was supposed to be a surprise, but Wyatt couldn’t wait to tell me. Kids are so funny, and not that I’m biased or anything, but my nephew is cute as hell.”

I loved the way Ty’s eyes lit up when he talked about his family. “I bet you were cute.”

“I was a fuckin’ hooligan. Not the bad kind. I was just…mischievous.”

“Oh, I believe you. How so?”

Ty snorted. “I always came up with dumbass ideas. Like…the time my brothers and I washed my mom’s car and dried it with tissue.”

“You dried a car with…tissue?”

“Let me tell ya, that was a mess. It looked like the car had been through a snowstorm. White shit everywhere. Mom wasn’t happy, but I swear it’s one of her favorite stories to tell.” He altered his voice to a woman’s falsetto and continued, “ ‘You wouldn’t believe what Ty did. That boy!’ ”

I snickered. “Oh, geez. How old were you?”

“Seven? Evan and Lyle were five and four, soIgot in trouble. But c’mon, who puts a seven-year-old in charge of washing a car?” Ty huffed incredulously. “That’s on them. You can’t be fully trusted to do a decent job till you’re at least ten.”

“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never washed a car.”

Ty sat up and gaped. “Shut up. You’ve never put water in a pail with a little soap and scrubbed your ride?”

“Nope.”

He blinked a dozen times. “How’d you escape that chore?”

“My aunt or uncle would have been the only ones who’d ask, and they never did,” I replied. “And now, I go to the car wash. Have I missed out?”

“No, you lucked out.” Ty blew out a slow stream of air. “I still think it’s a rite of passage, though, and if it wasn’t twenty degrees and dark outside, I’d say this was a good day to pop your car-wash cherry. Fair warning, I’m coming for you in April, Red.”

I squeaked, dodging his attempt to tickle me. “Cool it.”

“Make that May.” More tickling. “It rains too much in April.”

“Ty…”

“No, we have finals and graduation in May. June it is. Put it in your calendar. It’s a date.”

My smile dimmed, wondering if we had that long. But I wasn’t about to let maudlin thoughts dampen the mood.