I fidgeted as I sat in the car outside the school. I didn’t need to get here this early, but I wanted to make sure I was there to pick up Hunter on time. If I was being honest with myself, it was to make sure I got a chance to see Autumn as well.

I tried not to let that thought stick in my brain too long. I had done a decent job throwing myself into work the last few days, not calling or texting her, waiting for her to reach out to me so we could set up something to do together. I was looking forward to seeing her again, but I also needed a little time to cool off before I let my head get the better of me. The last thing I wanted was to fuck things up with the woman who was trying to help me get back on the dating scene. Even though I was beginning to wonder if it was just her I wanted to date at this point.

Hunter was at an after-school club, hanging out and doing some arts and crafts with his classmates. He hadn’t been that keen on going, but I had insisted that he at least try something out to see if he could bond with the kids around him over something new. He had grudgingly agreed to go on the promise that I would take him out to Dandy’s at some point soon. If it meant that he actually had the confidence to go up to those kids and hang out with them this time, I was all for it.

Raymond had offered to pick up him, but I had declined, even though it would mean me coming out of work early to get him.

“I know he’s nervous, and I just want to be there for him.” I shrugged. “Besides, it’ll give me a chance to catch up with Autumn again and see what we’re doing next.”

“Oh, yeah, how was the weekend?” Raymond wondered. “You didn’t mention it after you came back. Did it go okay?”

“Yeah, I think it went pretty well.” I nodded. “She and Hunter got on well, and I think she had a good time.”

“Why just think?”

“I guess she was a little shocked by how… you know the kind of lifestyle I lead,” I replied. “She told me she wouldn’t want to come out on the yacht for a date. Said she was worried that’s how I’d attract women who only wanted my cash.”

“Well, that’s probably not bad advice.” He tapped his fingers on his chin. “I mean, you are fresh back on the scene, and you don’t want to get taken advantage of by someone who sees dollar signs when they look at you.”

“I’m sure that’s not going to happen.” I brushed that thought off. “She knows me well enough not to set me up with anyone who might pull shit like that.”

“Oh, so she knows you well, does she?” Raymond teased, and I gave him a hard look.

“Seriously, dude, there’s nothing happening between us,” I repeated myself firmly. “I don’t know how many times I’m going to have to say that to you. Or Hunter. He thought the two of us were dating as well.”

“Then maybe you should bite the bullet and get it over with.” He cocked his head at me. “Would that be so terrible?”

“I’m not just going to date her because you think I should!” I protested, but I was laughing by now. “Jesus, Raymond, you really want me to settle down already, don’t you?”

“I want you to have what I do with Olivia,” he replied, and I saw his gaze soften as he said her name. I knew how much he adored her, had adored her since the moment they set eyes on one another, and he had made that clear from the start. He wanted me to feel the same way. That was sweet when I thought of it like that.

But either way, I wasn’t going to have a happily-ever-after with Autumn. It was clear that the lifestyle I lived was pretty much incompatible with the one she did, and I was going to have to be fine with that. She was entitled to her opinions on my life as I was to mine on hers, and that was totally all right.

I forced myself to get out of the car and stroll toward the door, my head feeling a little fuzzy around the edges, and I did my best to keep myself calm as I headed in her direction. I was just a friend, checking in on another friend. It was casual, that was it. What any friend would have done when given the chance to drop in on an acquaintance. So why was my heart racing, and why were my palms starting to sweat?

I made my way to her classroom and knocked on the door. Her voice came from inside, sounding tired.

“Come in!” she called out to me, and I pushed open the door and waved at her. She beamed when she saw me and got to her feet to give me a hug.

“Holden!” she exclaimed happily, winding her arms around my neck as though on instinct and briefly holding me closer than she needed to. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m picking up Hunter from this after-school club I enrolled him in.” I shrugged, ignoring the stirring in my stomach at her closeness. “Thought I would stop in and see you while I was here.”

“Well, I always appreciate the visit.” She faux-curtsied, and I chuckled.

“I told him to find me in your classroom. I hope that’s all right,” I explained. She pointed to the one adult-size chair in the room other than her own, propped up underneath the whiteboard, and I grabbed it and brought it over to her desk.

“So what are you doing working so late?” I wondered aloud, and she shook her head and sighed deeply.

“I have to take care of putting these grade curves together,” she explained, pointing to papers scattered all over her desk. “Trust me, you don’t want to know. They’re a total pain in my ass, but I can’t get away from them.”

“Dare I ask?” I cocked an eyebrow, and she shook her head.

“Trust me, they’re about the most boring things in the entire world,” she assured me. “I’ve never been less compelled by anything. I don’t understand why they don’t automate the system so we don’t have to spend three years out of every term making sure we have them ready to go. It feels like such a waste of time, but they say they can’t afford it.”

My ears pricked up. That sounded like something I could take on. I leaned back in my chair and shrugged.

“If you want, I could take a look at making a program for you,” I suggested, and she furrowed her brow at me, smiling.

“I thought you designed websites,” she reminded me, and I shrugged and shook my head.

“Yeah, I do, but I had to learn the basics of pretty much everything to do with computers before I opened the business,” I pointed out. “I had to be able to run everything myself, and that included making programs that would take care of the tasks I didn’t want to pay a real human person to do.”

“I’m sure you could do it, and I’m sure it would be great,” she said. “But I don’t think the school board can afford you.”

“You know what? I’ll do it for free.” I held my hands up, and she raised her eyebrows at me.

“What? No, don’t be ridiculous.” She dismissed my offer with a wave. “I don’t see how we could ask you to give up all that time, just for—”

“Honestly, it probably won’t even take me all that long,” I cut her off. “If it’s just a matter of making a system where you can input the data and it spits out a result, I’m sure I could knock that off in my free time. I haven’t done any program design for a while. Could be fun to have something to keep my hand in.”

“You’re serious about this?” She stared at me for a long moment. “For free? You wouldn’t expect anything back for this?”

“Nothing.” I shook my head. “Consider it a donation to the school. I mean, this is where my son learns, and I want to make sure all the teachers aren’t wasting their time on something I could easily take care of in no time.”

“I’ll pass along your email to the school board,” she agreed. “You can talk to them about it. They’ll know more about this than I will.”

“Do that,” I said. “I really want to help you out with this, Autumn. After everything you’ve done for me.”

“Hey, setting you up on a couple of hypothetical dates doesn’t equate to you doing this work for me for free,” she shot back.

“I think I’ll be the judge of that,” I replied firmly, and she smiled at me once more and shook her head.

“If you really can get this thing working, then it’s going to change everything for all the teachers I know,” she told me seriously. “Really, I don’t think I can overstate that. You’re going to change the way the school system in this county works and how time is allocated. It sounds boring, but it’s so important, trust me.”

“I hope I can help.” I smiled at her, and then the door opened and we both turned to see Hunter strolling in. He had paint on his hands and a little smudged beneath his right eye, but he was smiling. So that had to be good news.

“Hey, son,” I got to my feet. “How about we get you cleaned up, and we can head off?”

“Cleaned up?” He glanced down at his hands, as though he hadn’t even noticed. “Oh, right. I’ll be back in a minute.”

And with that, he had darted out to the bathrooms and left the two of us alone again. Autumn grinned at me, getting up and stretching.

“Well, I guess I have a little more free time on my hands if you really are going to be able to do this for us,” she remarked. “So thanks for that.”

“How about you spend a little of it with the two of us?” I suggested before I could stop myself. “I know Hunter had such a good time when we all hung out together last. It’s all he’s been able to talk about since. And I’d love to see you again too.”

“Uh….” She hesitated, and I could see her fighting internally with something I hadn’t seen in her before. I couldn’t put my finger on what it was, but it was clearly unsettling her.

“Hey, Dad, I’m ready to go.” Hunter breezed back into the room, and I glanced at Autumn once more.

“What do you say?” I asked her. “Dinner, my place, this weekend? I’ll cook.”

“Oh, say yes!” Hunter exclaimed. “I want to show you some more of the boats I have in my room!”

She paused for a moment longer and then laughed and shook her head.

“I guess I can’t say no to that,” she conceded.

“Guess not,” I agreed, and I flashed her a smile. “I’ll drop you a text, and we can figure out what’s going to work for the both of us. Sound good?”

“Sounds great.” She planted her hands on her hips and watched us walk out of there. I felt like punching the air as soon as I’d made it outside and out of her sight. Because I was seeing her again. This time, I was going to prove to her I could be as low-key as she wanted.