Law #3: Don't Fall for the Athlete: Sweet Second Chance Romance (Laws of Love) by Agnes Canestri (black books to read txt) 📗

Ellie’s eyes flick to me. “Doesn’t your mom love hoedowns?”

“Yeah, she does,” I murmur, “but maybe because of her ankle, she decided to sit this one out.”

Martha stares at me and, for a second, I feel that she wants to tell me something. But she gives her curls an imperceptible shake and holds out the keys to me. “Want to hold on to these?”

“I have my own set, but thanks,” I say.

“Okay, then. I turned the AC down so the house will be nice ’n’ cool when Cristina is back.” Martha gives me a hasty smile that doesn’t wrinkle her cheeks, then whips around and hurries down from the porch.

As soon as she’s out of earshot, Ellie peers up at me. “I didn’t remember Martha being this…fidgety.”

“Yeah. She wasn’t really herself,” I say.

Ellie opens her arms. “Perhaps it’s just the weather getting to her. It’s a dry heat today.”

I shrug. “Could be.”

Today turned out to be rather hot even for Kingman’s standards—almost as torrid as if we were still in Phoenix. But a tiny voice reminds me of how Martha’s embarrassment started when I’d questioned her about Mom’s whereabouts.

That isn’t a good sign. 

Before I can ponder more about this, Ellie touches my elbow, and an electric current jolts me out of my thoughts. “What shall we do now?” she asks.

“Let me call Mom to see when she’s coming back,” I murmur.

I try three times, but I can’t get through to her.

“Mom’s phone is disconnected,” I say.

“Maybe it overheated and died,” Ellie says. “Mine does it all the time.”

“Yeah, maybe,” I murmur.

“Want to head back home?” Ellie asks.

“Out of the question.” I can’t shake the feeling that something was off in Martha’s explanation. I’d love to look into Mom’s eyes and hear her tell me about her day. “We came here so I could speak to Mom about my childhood. Didn’t you say it was important for my therapy?”

“It is.” Ellie nods, but her forehead is pulled into a concerned expression. “But it would mean that we have to—”

“Spend the night here, I know.” Yeah, another good reason for staying is my wish to extend this private time with Ellie.

“I’m not sure,” Ellie rubs her chin. “I told Cora I’d be back tonight. Of course, I could call her, but it still would mean that…”

“Worried we’ll bump into other people we know?” I recall how Ellie hoped our trip would keep us under everyone’s radar.

Ellie rolls her eyes and cocks her head toward Martha’s house. “I don’t think anyone else counts at this point.”

She’s probably right. Martha’s a chatterbox. It’s only a matter of time before the entire town will know we drove to Kingman together.

“At least your parents are on vacation,” I offer her. “Nobody else is aware that we had a fallout in the past, right? So they won’t wonder why we’re on speaking terms again.”

She nods. “Yep.”

She looks as if she’s considering my suggestion for real, so I’m bold enough to push my luck even further. “We could even check out the town dance and meet any gossip Martha comes up with head on.”

I don’t know why my voice sounds so husky suddenly. Perhaps because the image of Ellie in a checkered flannel shirt tied above her hips and knee-high boots creates an odd buzz in my chest.

Ellie’s lips curl up. “I haven’t been to a town dance for ages.” She pauses, then shakes her head. “But we don’t have any of our stuff with us.”

I shrug. “We can buy toothbrushes at the supermarket. As for clothes, I’m sure your mother kept many of your old outfits. If I recall well, she’s as much of a hoarder as Mom.”

“And you?”

Her question sounds more as if she’s looking for excuses. I can hear in her eager undertone that the mention of the dance is weakening her mental defenses.

It was sneaky of me to propose the dance. First, because Ellie’s got a passion for country music. Second, if I take her there, it would be almost as if we were on a date…

A date with Ellie? Do I really want this?

Since I’m not ready to face the answer to my own question, I point at the house door. “Mom stores all my college clothes and some of my father’s old things in the basement. I’ll surely come up with some cowboy accessories.”

I grin at her, and she smiles back.

The sizzles passing between us raise the temperature on the porch to an unbearable sultriness.

Since Ellie doesn’t withdraw her gaze like she did in the past days when our gazes locked, I speak up about the crazy idea that pops into my mind. “Would you mind if I slept in your parents’ house, too?”

Ellie’s jaw drops. “Why?”

Because I hope we might pick it up where we left off when Laia interrupted us?

“Because…well, I don’t want to scare Mom when she comes home. She doesn’t know we’re here. Suppose she arrives late and hears me snoring. She might call the police without checking who I am.”

Ellie studies me.

Does she see through me?

If we go to the dance, there’s little chance that we’ll go to bed before Mom and Wendy get back from Prescott.

She chews on her lower lip, then nods. “Fine. We can both stay at my parents’. You can take Devon’s old room. Now let’s find you some fine clothes for tonight.” She pats her stomach. “It’s already lunchtime, and I’m getting hungry.”

I want to pump my fist into the air, but instead, I restrain myself and say, “Sure. After that, I’ll drive you to Burney’s, and we can share a large Banana Munchkin as a dessert.”

Chapter 26

(Ellie)

I pace aimlessly around Wyatt’s mom’s living room, which looks like a small museum dedicated to Wyatt’s sports achievements.

“I’m almost done,” Wyatt shouts from the basement, where he went down to find suitable clothes for the dance.

“Fine,” I yell back. I stop in front of a glass display cabinet positioned beside the southern windows. The shelves are filled with awards Wyatt’s