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It's been six days since Travis Woods had me pinned against the wall in my office, and I can’t seem to stop staring at the space on the wall as I imagine his lips against mine.

It’s been the most unfocused week of my entire career.

I’m lost in a haze when Mandy appears in my doorway.

“Snap to it, Hartley,” she says. “Look alive.”

My eyes edge over to my friend. “Do I not look alive?”

She laughs. “Jessie just told me your district position has been posted.”

“What?!” I practically yell. I scramble to check the district website, and sure enough, there it is.

District Reading Coach.

I squeal. “The second three o’clock hits, I’m applying.”

“And then we’re going out to celebrate.”

I narrow my eyes at her. “So you can see Jaxon?”

She shrugs. “I don’t know if he’s going out tonight, but if we’re at the Gridiron and he happens to show up…”

I laugh. “Fine. I’ll go for one drink , but if he’s there, I’m ditching your ass because I’m not waiting around to find out if his single friends are showing up.”

“Right,” she says, drawing out the i. “What’s got your head in the clouds this week?” She walks in and plops down on the chair on the other side of my desk.

I sigh and angle my head toward the wall he had me pinned against. “Remember when I said you weren’t interrupting anything?”

She nods. “That’s what I suspected.”

I lower my voice to a whisper since she left my office door open. “He had me, like, up against the wall, and I wrapped my legs around him, and…”

“And if your best friend hadn’t come looking for you, you might’ve leveled up?”

I purse my lips for a beat. “No.”

“Lame.”

I laugh. “I mean, there were parents everywhere and I had to get back out to the field. But it was definitely something.”

“Yeah, I figured. I’m sorry again for interrupting.”

I shake my head. “It’s better this way. You know, before we let it get too far.”

She shakes her head all judgmentally, like she thinks I’m making the wrong decision.

I’m not.

I’m not .

The wrong decision would be letting him have his way with me. It would be giving in and getting my hopes up only to have my heart shattered by him.

She has to get back to class, and I have students to work with, but as soon as that final bell rings, I run to my office and get my application up and running. Since it’s an internal position, I just need to upload my new resume and tweak what’s already on file for me. I submit the application and cross my fingers as I say a little prayer that they’ll choose me.

I swing by Mandy’s office, and she’s grading papers. I tell her I submitted the application, and we both jump up and down.

Now that is what best friends are for.

Someone who will cheer for you even though they don’t really want you to get the job since it’ll change the dynamic between us.

Part of me doesn’t want it, either—because I love working with Mandy, and I love the rest of the staff here at Stratford. It’ll be a huge change to flip over to the district office, and I haven’t really taken the time to give that a ton of thought.

This is what I want. This is the career move I want to make. This is what I’ve dreamed of for a long time. So I’m going to give it a shot, and if it pans out, then it was always meant to be.

As promised, I head to the Gridiron with Mandy—but she talked me into an entire celebratory dinner, not just a celebratory drink.

It’s early when we arrive—just after six, and we’re seated at a table near where we sat with the football players the night Mandy met Jaxon. The night Travis kissed me the first time.

I order some boneless wings—mostly because I’m feeling just a little spiteful where my ex is concerned and this was always his favorite place to get wings, and we each get vodka sodas with lime to celebrate.

We finish our wings, which are delightful, by the way, so I guess Owen was right about something anyway, and we each order another drink. She drove, but we agree we can take an Uber home. It’s as we’re both finishing drink number two that a group of sexy men walk by our table toward the corner booth.

They’re all tall and lean and muscular, and one of them stops to sling an arm around Mandy’s shoulders as he gives her a hug from behind. “What’s going on, girl?” he asks.

She grins. “Hey Jax.” She leans backwards for a kiss, and he kisses her mouth upside down. It’s kind of hot from this angle, if I’m being honest.

A sense of disappointment plows through me when I see the group gathered. Jaxon, Cory, and Austin are there, and another guy that wasn’t here last time…but that’s it.

No Travis.

It’s fine. It’s better this way.

I ignore the disappointment.

“Oh shit,” Mandy says as she straightens, and her eyes are on the door.

My heart lifts.

Maybe he did show up after all.

I turn to follow her gaze, but it’s not Travis at all.

It’s Owen.

His eyes land on Mandy first—with Jaxon Bryant still wrapped around her—and they widen a little before they shift over to me.

Two drinks full of liquid courage, I rise to my feet. I make my way across the bar that’s a lot more crowded than it was when I first walked in, and my fists ball up as I clench them, my nails digging into my skin. He’s standing at the bar now, and I walk up behind him and tap him on the shoulder.

He turns around, and his eyes flick to mine. He’s got a little guilt there in his.

“It wasn’t bad enough that you threw everything I own onto your front lawn and changed the locks, but you thought it was okay to keep my ball? I. Want. It. Back.”

He clears his throat as he averts his eyes. “Is Mandy seeing Jaxon Bryant?”

“Focus, Owen,” I hiss. “Why won’t you give me my ball back?”

“Look, Vicky. I miss you, okay? I held onto it because I wanted to hold onto a piece of you .”

“That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard!” I’m yelling, but I can’t really control the volume of my voice. “It didn’t have to be like this! We could’ve been civil, but you decided to act like a total dickwad instead!”

It’s that exact moment that an arm slides around my waist and I feel lips at my temple.

I smell that fresh, clean scent before I see him, and my scent receptors register who it is immediately.

“Hey, babe. Who’s this clown?” I glance over, and my eyes meet Travis’s blue ones. He must see the pure venom in my eyes because he nearly shrinks back a second.

I play along. I have to.

I shake my head, and I lean forward to catch his lips with mine. It’s just a brief, quick kiss, and I try to ignore every butterfly taking flight in my stomach at this moment, but it’s a tough feat. “Nobody, babe. I’m so glad you’re here.”

He leans his forehead to mine. “I missed you.” He moves his arm from around my shoulders and pulls me into him by my hips, and then his mouth moves to mine again.

He’s really laying it on thick, and somewhere in the back of my mind I know I need to thank him for all this, but right now my mind is totally blank as he opens his mouth to give my ex a real show.

I give in for a few beats. Our tongues dance, and I know Owen is watching, but I don’t care. I just want to give in with abandon for a minute even if it is all for show.

Or maybe longer than a minute.

Maybe all night.

I finally force myself to stop this kiss. It’s too good, too hot—and even though I want to keep doing it in front of Owen, I also don’t particularly want to use Travis. Even if he sort of volunteered himself.

I glance back at Owen, and his jaw is clean on the ground.

“Let me know when I can come get that ball,” I hiss at him, and then I grab Travis’s hand and pull him toward the table where his friends are waiting for him.