Caroline turns around slowly, a teasing grin on her lips as she quirks an eyebrow. “You okay? Too intimidated by me kicking your ass in the game earlier?”

She expects her comment to make Jared flip her off with a laugh or something, but he reaches up to scratch at the back of his neck in a trademark move of discomfort. He does laugh, but it’s weird. “I just wanted to double check. Hannah’s divorced, like, officially, right?”

The question catches her off-guard like a punch to the stomach and she just stares for a long moment.

Jared rushes to explain. “I mean, I just was wondering. She’s pretty – well, pretty. And she’s pretty awesome, right?”

“Right,” she echoes, faintly. So faintly, because her heart has plummeted to her stomach.

“Yeah. I just don’t want to make any kind of move without knowing that she’s really, you know, divorced. But they’ve been separated for a long time, right?”

“Right,” she echoes again, staring at Jared and not really seeing him.

He squints at her, taking a step closer, which knocks her somewhat out of her stupor. Well, she still feels like she’s been slapped in the face at the same time that someone threw a bucket of ice water at her. But she manages to shake her head.

“Um. The divorce isn’t final yet, but it will be, soon. It’s… all in place.”

She can hear her own voice, but can’t register the words as she stares at him. Jared wants to date Hannah.

God. Ugh. God.

How did she miss that? She tries to think about the family gatherings Hannah’s been to in the last few months, and… okay, she guesses she knows they’ve spoken at them. Earlier, Jared had made Hannah laugh while she’d been joining the kids in a rousing game of freeze tag. Caroline remembers because she can pinpoint Hannah’s laugh anywhere – the full-bodied one where her smile gets so bright it sparkles. She’d nearly been out because she was supposed to have been frozen, but couldn’t help but look over at Hannah when she’d started laughing.

She wanted to see the smile that always accompanied that laugh.

She just hadn’t factored in the Jared aspect of it, and when she thinks about that moment, he had been the one talking to Hannah.

Jared has a small, rare smile on his lips. “Okay. Good.”

“Good!” She doesn’t even have it in her to cringe at herself for the outburst. Not when she feels this I want to be sick feeling inside. She slides her hands to her waist, tapping her fingers there as she forces in a deep breath. “Yeah, I just, I wouldn’t take it personally if she doesn’t… reciprocate. She’s had a tough time.”