Page 24 of Heat Advisory

I tried dating other women, telling myself it was just infatuation. That if I found someone new, I’d get over her, but no one ever held my attention like she had.

Hell, even when she was tutoring me, talking about schoolwork—literally the last thing I ever wanted to think about—she managed to keep my attention at all times.

No one challenged me like she did. Most women saw the uniform first, the sexy, glamorous life of it. Cora was the only one who had ever seen me—and that was the part no other woman could seem to fill.

There were hundreds of times my fingers itched to ask Morgan for Cora’s phone number, but I never did.

What would I even say? The longer it went on, the more I struggled internally with how to message her out of the blue when I hadn’t given her an explanation.

We were headed to the AAA World Series, and I had wanted my sister to bring Cora with her. I wanted to see her in the stands cheering me on. I wanted her there to celebrate with me.

The stadium lights flared to life as the cab pulled up, and I realized the cruel irony of it all.

I was finally living my dream, and the one person I wanted to share it with most wasn’t there.

Turned out that chasing your dream didn’t mean you stopped missing the people you left behind. Success never felt so lonely.

9

“Warning: Some men leave scars. Other men leave hickeys. Choose wisely.”

—It’s science

Cora

It was time. I had waited long enough. I knew the longer I waited, the more antsy Iris would get, and she would eventually just hop on a plane or get in her car and drive up here.

I picked up my phone and texted her back.

Me:

I should have listened to you and Nancy and let him drive me. That way, when he didn’t show up, I could just sit alone at my place rather than alone at the restaurant like a fool for 30 minutes.

Five minutes later, my phone buzzed and Iris’s name showed up on the screen as a FaceTime request.

Since I was just sitting on my couch, I decided to take the call. What I hadn’t expected was both Iris’s and Nancy’s faces to pop up on screen.

“What happened?” Iris asked, shock and a little bit of anger on her face.

“Tell us everything,” Nancy all but demanded.

I explained what had happened this morning, trying to look at Nancy’s face or down at my lap instead of looking at Iris. She was terrible at hiding her emotions. She had one of those faces that couldn’t hide a thing. You knew exactly what she was thinking without ever saying a word.

“I’m sorry, Cora. I…well…” Iris said, causing me to glance up and see the look on her face.

“Iris, you’re doing it again.” I sighed, wondering if it had been a bad idea to accept the video call.

“It’s true, dear,” Nancy added, looking at her. “Your mouth can keep quiet, but your face cannot.”

“Do you want me to come up there?” Iris asked. “I can work remotely, and that way you don’t have to be alone.”

“I appreciate it, but it’s too far to drive. Plus, what about Hector? I’m pretty sure you should be spending time with him right now.”

“Hector is still at work, but even if he wasn’t, sister problems take precedent,” Iris argued, making me give a small smile at the fact that I was blessed to have been given such awesome bonus sisters in my life.

“Exactly. Iris, get your car. I’ve got matches and rope. We ride at dawn!” Nancy’s exuberant call to action caused Iris to throw her head back and laugh, but I just gave a weak smile since I wasn’t entirely sure Nancy was joking.

I watched as Nancy’s face left the frame and Iris’s gaze turned to follow her, and then she just shook her head and grinned as if she didn’t know what to do.