LITMIR.BIZ

       Chapter 4

      Angela half stumbled, half walked out of her bedroom while trying to slip her foot into one of the heels she wore at the bar. Neither Cory nor her neighbor, Nate, appeared to notice as she entered the living room. They were deep in conversation about Cory’s first week of basketball camp and the greatness that was Isaiah Reynolds. For what seemed like the millionth time.

      “Okay, enough about the Jacksonville Gators,” Angela said. She pulled dangling silver earrings out of her pocket, flipped her hair over her shoulder and put one in her left ear.

      Nate looked at her as if she was crazy. The muscle in his jaw worked as he chewed gum. “Why? I want to hear what’s going on.”

      “For what? You aren’t going to get any trade secrets about the team from what Cory sees at a summer camp.” Angela put in the right earring.

      “You don’t know that.”

      Angela rolled her eyes. Nate may have been the twenty-seven-year-old owner of an office building in downtown Jacksonville that he’d had the brilliant idea of converting into a shared office space he leased to entrepreneurs who couldn’t afford their own office areas, but when it came to the Gators, he was a kid. His toffee-colored eyes sparked with excitement and he’d actually put away the cell phone that seemed to be glued to his hand most of the time to talk with Cory about the Gators. Nate was a good friend, and an even better neighbor. Angela was eternally grateful he’d agreed to watch Cory some nights when she worked at the club.

      “I do hear what’s happening, Aunt Angela,” Cory chimed in a tone that indicated he was “in the know” of all things Gators. “Isaiah says I have real talent. He told me that if I keep practicing, I have the potential to go far. He also said that the team is excited about their new recruits and hope to make it back to the playoffs this year. Did you know we’ll get to visit the coliseum and tour the locker room?”

      Nate sat forward in the chair. “Are you serious? If you need a chaperone for that, I can go with you.”

      Her heart fluttered every time she thought about the brief encounter with Isaiah at the center on Monday. Had he flirted with her, or had she misunderstood? All she could think about was how much she’d liked his touch. The seductive way he’d called her Angel. She was losing her mind! Which meant all talk of Isaiah needed to stop. It didn’t help that he stopped to chat when she picked up Cory, or that sometimes their conversation still felt a little flirty.

      She spun and went into the kitchen. She snatched a bag of marshmallows off the counter, stomped back into the living area and tossed the bag at Cory. “Here, eat those. Maybe that’ll keep you from talking about the Gators for a second.”

      Cory’s dark eyes brightened and he ripped into the bag. He grabbed three and shoved them into his mouth. “Thanks,” he said around the wad of marshmallows.

      Nate gave Angela a perplexed look. “Why do you want him to stop talking about the Gators? This is a great opportunity. Let the boy enjoy it.”

      “Yeah, Auntie, let me enjoy it,” Cory mumbled.

      She grabbed a small black-and-blue book bag from the chair and slipped it onto her shoulder. “I want you to enjoy camp. That doesn’t mean I want to hear about it every second of the day.”

      Nate’s eyebrows rose. “Why not?”

      “Because she likes Isaiah and I think he likes her, too,” Cory said with a mischievous grin before stuffing three more marshmallows into his mouth.

      Nate’s eyes widened. “Wait, what?”

      Angela glared at her nephew. “Don’t you have a princess to save in a video game or something?”

      Cory shook his head. “No, but if you admit I’m old enough to stay here alone while you work, then I’ll drop the subject.”

      Angela gritted her teeth. “Cory,” she said in a warning tone. She was not having this argument again. She was new to this parenting thing, which meant he got a babysitter whether he liked it or not.

      Cory’s grin was filled with teenage manipulation. “I’m old enough.”

      “You’re still a kid. A kid I’m responsible for.” She pointed to his room. “Go save the princess.”

      Cory huffed and she waited for the argument, but his phone buzzed. He looked at it, then jumped up from the couch. “I gotta take this.” He was down the hall and out of the room before she could ask who was on the phone.

      Nate chewed gum and smirked. “You’ve got something going with Isaiah Reynolds?”

      Angela wished she had another bag of marshmallows to throw. Dang teenagers and their big mouths. Cory was only in this camp for one month. She could avoid showing how much she wanted to swoon over Isaiah for one month.

      She looked around for her keys. “What? No.” The keys were on the end table next to the couch. She snatched them up.

      Nate leaned back on the couch and crossed one ankle over the other knee. “Then why does Cory think something is going on?”

      “He recognized me from the club.” She looked toward the hall to make sure Cory wasn’t coming back. Cory knew she was a bartender; he didn’t know where she served drinks. “He came into Sweethearts after they won the championship.”

      Nate nodded his head as if everything suddenly made sense. “Ahh, so he’s trying to get you in bed.”

      Angela slapped Nate’s arm and laughed. “No, he’s not.”

      Nate scooted away and shrugged. “That’s what it sounds like to me.”

      “Regardless of what it sounds like, we can’t hook up even if I wanted to. Cory would get kicked out of the camp and I’m not going to ruin his summer more than his parents already have.”

      She was Cory’s support system for the summer. As much as the idea of being responsible for a teenager scared her, she wouldn’t let fear keep her from doing her best to smooth out this rocky patch.

      “You’re not going to disappoint him,” Nate said. “There aren’t many people who would take in their brother’s child without one word of complaint. I haven’t heard you say a single negative thing since Heather dumped him on you.”

      Nor would she. Of course she was mad Heather dropped off Cory and then hadn’t called since, but the idea of Cory thinking she resented having him brought back her own ugly memories of her aunt’s daily reminders of how much of a burden she and her brother were.

      “He wasn’t dumped on me. I’m his aunt and I can handle things. I’m not upset about having Cory here. I’m going to do everything I can to make sure he’s happy and comfortable until his mom returns.” If she returned. Heather hadn’t set a definite return date. Her brother had four more years until she saw him.

      “You aren’t the least bit worried about what will happen if she isn’t back before school starts?”

      A

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