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hiking, and he was nice enough to help me out with the cactus.”  She took another bite.
    “And is he cute?
    Nicole’s shoulders sank.  “It doesn’t matter. He has a fiancée, Sarah.  He was just a nice guy.  A friend.”
    Smacking her on the head, Sarah lamented, “Of all the guys you could have met, you find the one who has a fiancée?  What is wrong with you, Nicole?”
    Nicole fidgeted with the salad a bit longer before setting it on the coffee table and staring off into space.  “I wish I knew.”
    “But he was cute, right?” Sarah asked, smirking as she leaned back, her head close to Nicole’s as though they were conspiring.
    Nicole laughed.  “Hell, yeah.”  Once the giggling had stopped, she turned to her best friend.  “Besides, he seems like a wicked cool guy friend, if you want to know the truth.”  She pulled the scratch paper out.  “And I got his email and cell number just to, you know, keep in touch.”
    Snatching the paper from Nicole, Sarah unfolded and read it.  “Jordan Carroway.”  She arched her eyebrows at Nicole.  “Why am I picturing a guy that is about 6’2" with dark brown hair and amber eyes?”
    “Because you know me too well, that’s why.”  She took the paper back and wished the blush would leave her.  She didn’t even have to close her eyes to see him--the way his lips turned into a smile, and the sound of his robust laughter.  She could remember well how his hand had felt around her ankle.  Even the pain of the spines hadn’t overcome that sensation.
    Sarah frowned and scrutinized Nicole’s expression before sitting up straighter and pasting a serious expression on her face.
     “You know, if you think you have feelings for this guy, you could just be honest.  What could it hurt?”
    Nicole launched herself from the chair.  “What could it hurt?  Are you kidding?”  She paced the living room, her arms folded across her abdomen.  “He’s getting married next month, Sarah.  He’s planned a life with somebody, and if he’s happy, he deserves to have that happen.”  She gritted her teeth.
    “But what if he’s not happy?” she argued, taking another bite of her salad.  “What if he’s just been confused into thinking he’s happy and years down the road you both regret not admitting how you really felt?”
    Nicole shook her head and pointed accusingly at her friend.  “You always do that.  You want to believe every guy is a romantic.  Just because Jordan gave me his number to call him as a friend, it doesn’t mean anything.  Pulling cactus spines out doesn’t mean he likes me.  It means he’s considerate.  The last thing I need is to say that maybe I have feelings for him and provide everyone lots of conflict and sleepless nights.  It’s better if I just keep my mouth shut and move on.”
    Nicole stormed out of the room, and Sarah sat there, still holding her fork.  She winced at the sound of a bedroom door slamming and shook her head.
    “Yeah, well, Nic--if he’s anything like you, I don’t think anybody is going to move on any time soon.”  She looked down at her salad and took another bite.
    * * *
    Jordan sat in the back yard of his rental house and watched the sun slowly sink toward the horizon in a fiery burst of orange and pink clouds.  He leaned back in the lounge chair, enjoying the soft breeze stroking his skin, and even though his gaze turned toward the sky, his mind drifted back to yesterday and a weekend PE class that had once seemed trivial.
    Of course, yesterday, before he’d met Nicole, everything had focus and he'd known what he wanted, but everything had blurred afterward, and now he wasn’t sure.  He’d talked to Alyssa a couple of times since and pretended nothing was wrong.
    Had she not been so wrapped up with wedding plans, she might have been able to tell his tone was off, but somehow she'd missed it, and he was grateful.  He watched the sky burn itself toward darkness and felt the night