She didn’t seem bothered by being in my space. I was glad I’d made myself clear at the dinner party because I wasn’t sure I could behave. She leaned in until her lips were a breath away from mine. I froze out of desperation to feel her lips press against mine. She cupped my chin to keep me still. My body swayed slightly forward as though magnetically drawn to hers, as though the universe had plans for us, and for a moment we kissed. But it wasn’t a kiss. It was a reminder of our youth. I pulled away before it became a part of our future. I was fully prepared to pretend it didn’t even happen.

She pulled me back. “Sutton. I want this.”

Even though my blood pounded and I wanted her to fully kiss me, I stopped her. “This can’t happen. I can’t do this again.”

“But things are different now. Give me a chance to explain things, will you?”

God, those pleading blue eyes always made my knees weak. “Nothing good will come of this.” I was hyper aware that I didn’t say no.

A knock on the door separated us quickly. Emily, one of the trainers, poked her head in. “Oh, I thought maybe you needed some help.”

Parker held up the makeup stick and calmly said, “We’re doing a pretty good job over here.” She stepped away and pointed to me. “What do you think?”

Emily smiled and nodded. “Nailed it. It looks like you got this, Coach.”

I took the opportunity to step farther away from Parker. “I can put on my lip coloring but thank you.”

She respectfully backed away, too, as though it finally sunk in that she had been in my space too long. “Of course.” She gave me a quick up-and-down and smiled. “You look great. You’ll be a big hit with the kids.”

Parker left when Emily did. When she closed the door, I sprawled out in a chair to shake off the nervousness. Crowbar must’ve sensed my mood because he slid off the couch, stretched, and moseyed over to lick my hand. After thirty seconds of trying to understand what just happened, I gave up, knowing I had somewhere to be. I slipped the large dog head into position, careful not to ruin my awesome face paint job, and tapped my leg for Crowbar to follow. I attached a small saddle I made of two plastic pumpkins to Crowbar. He was going to be a hit. I’d been getting emails all week asking if Crowbar would attend the trick-or-treat event. According to Hayley, I was getting thousands of likes for every photo of him she posted. He had a bigger fan base than I did.

When I entered the cafeteria, Brandon saw me and immediately pulled his twins over to meet me. “You look amazing.” Brandon laughed.