The Player Next Door

“Lucky car.”

He cocks his head, a flicker of surprise dancing across his face as if he hadn’t expected such boldness from me.

Boy, is he in for a surprise. “What kind of car is it, anyway?”

“A ’67 Chevy Impala. I rebuilt her with my dad when I moved back to Polson Falls.”

“Wow.”

“Is that a genuine wow or a ‘you’re a loser’ wow?” He leans against the hood. “I can’t tell with you sometimes.” His voice is deep and grating, but deliciously so.

“It’s real. I’m impressed. See? Seems you can impress me.” I get lost in him for a moment—in his angular jaw and his full lips, in the way his long legs are stretched out, almost as if he’s inviting me to sidle in between them like I used to do when we were younger. I’d take any opportunity to dive against him back then, to revel in his strength and his warm skin, and the almost overpowering fragrance of Axe bodywash that all the teenage boys used. How acutely I remember what seem like stolen moments now, so many years later.

Shane’s eyes do their own roaming—along the seam of my blouse and the small slit in my skirt, down to my decidedly unsexy sneakers.

Is he waiting for me to make the next move, seeing as he made the first?

“Cody’s inside,” Shane says evenly, as if reading my mind. “I picked him up from Pen’s parents’ house after the presentation. Which was great, by the way. You were great.” He punctuates that with a smile.

I guess climbing onto Shane’s lap probably isn’t a good idea. “So, what was Penelope’s problem tonight?”

His expression turns hard. “What isn’t her problem when it comes to me?”

“I thought you guys were good now.”

“Compared to what we were? Sure. She’s accepted that we’ll never happen again, and she’s moved on with Travis.” There’s a hint of something in Shane’s voice when he says the name.

“Do you not like him?”

“He’s fine. Bit of an arrogant ass. He works at one of those big auditing firms in Philly and loves to talk about how much money he makes and what they’re spending it on next. He’s always trying to one-up me, like he hasn’t figured out I don’t give a shit. I’m not competing.” He shrugs. “But he’s good to Cody, and having him around keeps her off my back most of the time, so I really hope they work out. But she still likes to try to control my life, and she uses Cody as an excuse.”

I hesitate. “Was tonight about me?” About what she saw through the window?

He averts his gaze, giving me my answer.

“Is it because I’m Cody’s teacher or because of what happened between her father and my mother?” I can’t blame her for the former. It was one of my reasons for not letting this happen. But the affair was not my fault any more than it was hers.

He sighs heavily. “She’d come up with some bullshit reason no matter what. She’s always been like that.”

That doesn’t answer my question, but I don’t push it. “So, what’d you tell her?” I hold my breath. Does Penelope have the power to sway Shane’s decision about asking me out? She is the mother of his child.

“I said that we’re neighbors and friends and, if something were to happen between us, we’d take it really slow to protect Cody.”

“If something were to happen,” I echo. Does he remember that kiss in the rain?

He smirks. “She doesn’t need to have real-time updates. It’s none of her business. And there’s no rule against us dating. I’ve already checked.”

That raises my eyebrows.

“I asked a friend’s wife who works for the school board. I wanted to make sure before I made my move.” He smiles sheepishly.

That Shane went to the effort is endearing. Still … “There might not be a rule, but it doesn’t look good on me. And I don’t want my students talking about my dating life, which they’ll do if I’m dating one of their dads.”

He nods, as if he anticipated that. “That’s why we’re going to keep it on the down low until the end of the school year. Cody doesn’t have to find out. I told him we were friends in high school, but that’s all I’ve told him.”

Secretly dating Shane is exactly what I insisted I didn’t want to be doing, back when Becca was teasing me about my crush and I was vehemently denying it. I find myself mulling this idea over through a different lens now, though. There are benefits to this plan. Keeping a relationship with Shane quiet means I don’t have to answer intrusive questions if it doesn’t work out. And being next-door neighbors and childhood friends—if we can call it that—does provide a strong cover story for why we’d be seen together. Plus, Cody lives at his mother’s a lot of the time. We can avoid telling him altogether until it makes sense to. If it ever makes sense to.