Taylor quickly got up from her seat and took him by the hand. “We’ll be back,” she called to Samiah and Daniel.

She waved at London as she passed them on her way back to the table, a fresh drink in her hand.

The crowd was happy to make room as their beloved Diesel Dixon made his way onto the dance floor. Taylor leaned her head against his chest while they rocked back and forth to the sad love song.

“You know,” he whispered into her ear, “you’re not the only one who got a call yesterday.”

She lifted her head to look at him. “Who called you?” she asked, her brow arched in inquiry.

“The son of my old football coach at Katy High School. He was just hired as the athletic director at a school in Round Rock.”

“What did he want with you?”

“He wanted to know if I was interested in an assistant coaching job.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. “High school football?”

“Maybe,” he said with a shrug, but the excitement sparking in his eyes told her all she needed to know. He wanted this. “I’ll have my hands full getting Silas’s foundation off the ground, but by the time football season rolls back around, the foundation will be in the hands of the administrator.

“And that’s not all,” he continued.

He let go of her hand and reached behind him, pulling something from his back pocket.

“What’s this?” Taylor asked before recognizing the brochure for Southwestern University that she’d picked up when she visited the campus.

“I’m thinking of checking out their Education Department. I know I have the marketing degree, but a second degree wouldn’t hurt, especially if I join the coaching staff at that high school.”

A slow smile drew across Taylor’s lips. “Are you saying there’s a possibility we’re going to be college sweethearts?”

He grinned. “I know it wasn’t part of our dating playbook, but it’s not as if we haven’t revised it before.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and linked her fingers behind his head.

“I think it’s time we throw that playbook out the window, Twenty-Three. We don’t need it anymore. We’ve got this.”

Acknowledgments

My dearest Tamara,

Never in a million years did I imagine that I would dedicate a book to your memory. You are and will forever be so much more than just a memory.

You are my big sister, my staunchest cheerleader, and my very best friend.