Page 33 of Falling Back to You

Going for the weakest link.

CAL:

i can outbench all of you

GREYSON:

Don’t make claims you can’t back up.

SHANE:

And Grumpy makes an appearance at last!

CAL:

dude youre my other half. we practically count as one unit

GREYSON:

Never say that again. I already have a better half, and she looks way better than you.

CAL:

im crushed

and we share a face so are we both ugly?

Chapter eleven

Cal

If I thought my life would continue per the status quo after the bomb dropped yesterday, I was sorely mistaken.

A man couldn’t simply go back to normal when the love of his life reappeared.

Noelle Shepherd was back in town. To stay. And my siblings’ running commentary wasn’t helping matters.

The whole affair had me up in my head. I mean, I hadn’t even noticed that Khia waltzed downstairs in a Tigger onesie, sequined cowboy boots, and a tiara. There hadn’t been time to have her change before I dropped her off at Brett and Laura’s for the day.

Hopefully my morning workout and practice would help matters, blowing off steam by getting the adrenaline pumping. It was better than ruminating on brown eyes and curls I wanted to run my fingers through.

I slammed Van into the boards as we fought for the puck during a scrimmage.

“What’s wrong with you?” he grunted, shoving me back and stealing the puck.

Taking my frustration—and was that hope?—out by pummeling my teammates wasn’t the best solution. But it felt pretty dang good.

My ex-fiancée was in town. We were grown-ups. We could exist on equal planes of civility.

Until she started dating someone.

Was she dating someone now?

And why did I want to punch this metaphorical man in the nose?

That did it. I needed to go on a date. Rip off the Band-Aid. It didn’t mean I had to marry the woman, but it would be good for me to engage in grown-up conversation that wasn’t with one of my sweaty teammates or nosy siblings.

A date.