Page 34 of Moving Forward

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

MAX

“Oh my god, your phone is a freaking light show. Turn it off!” Ellie grumbles into her pillow.

“Sorry.” I wrestle with my covers to get to my phone.

“Don’t people have the common courtesy to know that you like your sleep? That I like my sleep?”

My heart flutters when I see it’s Cain. He could call me at four in the morning and I wouldn’t care. Well, I probably would, but if he had a caffeinated beverage to make up for it, I could be swayed to look the other way.

I answer the call, my hands shaking. No one’s ever gotten me this nervous before. I can barely hold myself together around him, especially after our sunrise adventure. Strange that someone I can be so comfortable with can also make me a nervous wreck. “Hi.”

“Hey,” Cain replies tiredly. I left him quickly yesterday because I still had to plan the rest of the bachelorette party with Zoey and Erin. He asked for my phone number, which caught me off guard. I fumbled like an idiot trying to figure out how to add a new contact, dumbstruck. It took several tries for my clumsy fingers to enter his number right.

“Hi,” I repeat.

“You just said that!” Ellie alerts me, flopping onto her side so she can see me. I stick out my tongue at her; I feel like a teenager again.

Cain chuckles as he says gruffly, “I’m growing on her, aren’t I?”

“Is Cain growing on you?” I ask her.

She rolls her eyes and answers dryly, “Like an infected hair on a mole.”

“Gross,” I mumble, and tell Cain, “She’s trying.”

“You’re who matters,” Cain says to me as if it’s the one thing in this world he’s absolutely sure of. “Sorry to call so late. But I was wondering if you’ve still got plans to move your things back home?”

Heat creeps up my cheeks. I don’t want to answer around Ellie. As far as she knows, I’m heading home for my parents’ thirtieth anniversary, which was really in March. She doesn’t know my parents are coming up with Grandpa’s truck to help me move my things back home. I want to keep it that way for now. Luckily, she takes my expression to mean something else and stumbles out of bed.

“Alright, alright, I know when to clear a room. Besides, Danny is probably going through withdrawals without me. I’ll give him a call and see if he’s still up.”

When the door closes behind her and I hear her footsteps retreat down the hall, I tell him that yes, those are still my plans.

He’s quiet for a moment, then lets out a slow breath. “Let me drive you.”

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