“Yeah, it’s the new guy who lives behind us. Asher Sloane.”
Dad’s brows rose. “Asher? I didn’t know he played the guitar.”
“Me, either. But Jordan did.”
Two sets of parental eyes swung to my side of the table. Payton grinned. My brother had a bit of the devil in him, I swear.
I cleared my throat. “I heard him playing the other day. In the back yard.”
Dad’s eyes narrowed as he connected the dots. He remembered me going into the backyard the other day, I knew it. It didn’t matter. He wouldn’t care. Now, he’d be watching, though.
Screw it. Might as well own it.
“As a matter of fact, I’m supposed to meet Asher right now and since it’s Pay’s turn to do the dishes, can I be excused?” Take that, you little traitor!
Payton’s lips thinned. He hated doing dishes.
Dad nodded, watching me closely. I avoided his gaze, but couldn’t miss the smile on Mom’s face. She keeps waiting for me to get a boyfriend. Not that Asher’s my boyfriend! But me showing any interest in a guy made her happy. I’d be getting the third degree later.
I dumped my plate in the sink without even rinsing it off before I headed out the back door. I had no idea if Asher was even out there yet and I didn’t care. I could wait because I had a big thank you to give to a certain teammate.
Asher
Jordan’s body language after our kiss screamed stay away! It took all kinds of will power, but I did it. Even at practice when I could have found my way to her side, I held onto my pride a bit and focused on hockey.
Of course, I did succumb to my own desires at the end when I asked her to meet me in the back yard. I was only human, after all.
I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about that kiss. A melody began to play in my head, lyrics flowed, and after an hour in my bedroom picking, I’d written a song.
After dinner, I grabbed my guitar again and headed for the back door.
“Where are you going?” Dad asked from his recliner in the living room. “There’s a game on.”
I barely refrained from rolling my eyes. “Sorry, Dad. I’m gonna go hang out with Jordan.”
“Who’s Jordan?”
“A girl on my hockey team,” I said before I could catch myself. Crap. I could have explained Jordan in so many other ways, why did I have to say that?
Dad’s brows rose. “Really? I didn’t know there was a girl on your team.”
I shrugged. “It’s not a big deal.”
“No, just surprising. And she lives close by?”
“Yeah, in the house behind ours.”
Dad frowned. “Isn’t that Coach Parks house?”
“Um, yeah. She’s his daughter.” I cringed knowing how he’d interpret the information.
His face smoothed and I knew I’d been right. “Oh, I see.”
“It’s not like that. Jordan’s really good.”
“I’m more worried about you. You ready for your first game next week?”
“Of course.”
“Make sure you are. There’s always someone watching.” He faced the television again, while anxiety swirled in my gut.
I wanted to tell him I didn’t care who watched, remind him I had no intention of playing hockey in college or anywhere else after high school, but that would just start an argument and hopefully I had better things to do. So, I let it go and went into the backyard.
The days we’re getting shorter. The sun had already set by the time I reached the trees at the back of our property. I hoped Jordan would be outside already and tried not to worry when I found our spot empty. Instead, I sat down on the hard seat and played the song I’d been working on earlier, humming along as I sang the words in my head. They weren’t quite ready for anyone else to hear. Especially not Jordan.
I glanced up as I strummed the last chord.
“Hey, how long have you been there?”
“Just a couple of minutes.” She smiled and sat down across from me.
I wanted to reach out and pull her down next to me, but I still held my guitar. I started to remove the strap from my shoulder, but she frowned.
“Aren’t you going to keep playing?”
“You want me to keep playing?” I settled my guitar on my knee again and tried to hold back a smirk.