Page 31 of It's Always Us

“What?” The music dies, and then there’s silence.

“Did you lock the door? If you’re there by yourself, the door needs to be locked so no crazies can get in.”

“That’s only happened once.” I know by the way she says it one side of her mouth is creeping upward.

I long to see her perfect lips. “Are you alone?”

“Yes.”

Thank God.“Is the door locked?”

“Yes. Slade gave me a talking to the other day as well.”

The hairs on my neck prick to life while a roar awakens in my belly. “Slade?” I don’t care for the name or the fact that it’s likely attached to a man who gets to be around her every day.

“He’s a friend. He’s worked here almost . . . ”

She doesn’t have to finish. I know the end of that sentence is something like, almost as long as you’ve been gone. I hit the video button, wanting to see her face when I ask my next question.

It takes a second and her face appears. “Hi.”

A black bandana holds her blonde hair back, the long strands falling around her shoulders. She has a smudge of grease on her forehead, where she scratched and left a mark. A lot has changed, but some things are exactly the same. She’s in her element, and it’s still the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.

“I wanted to see your face.” That earns me a slight smile. “This guy, Slade, do I need to hate him as much as I want to right now?”

Her head falls to the side slightly, and I’m not sure how to interpret that, but I don’t like it.

She shakes her head. “No. He’s just a friend.” Her eyes drop away. “He’s my best friend.”

It’s a punch to the stomach. “That used to be me. You should know I have every intention of shoving him to the side.”

She bites the corner of her bottom lip, and I want to kiss her. “You’ve never been good at coming second.”

“Damn straight, I haven’t. Never when it comes to you.”

Her fingers find her stud earring and twist it as she studies me through the screen.

I head to my bedroom, confident with my plan.

“I know I was an asshole this morning, and what I told you hurt you.” Her fingers continue to twist around and around. “My schedule is chaotic and full, at least until the season is over. You have no idea how much I wish it were different, but this is my life. I have contracts and agreements, and I don’t always have a say in how things go. This is one of those times if I want a chance of signing with a team that’s going somewhere next season.”

I sit on the edge of my bed, readying myself to ask a question I’m a little terrified to get the answer to. I’ve never been one to shy away, and I need to know where we stand.

“Lex, I need you to be completely honest with me.”

Her blue eyes, the color of the shallow waters of the Caribbean Sea, stare back at me. “Ok.”

“I know things aren’t perfect or even remotely close to how I’d like them to be, but do you think you’d consider dating me and getting to know one another again?”

Her brows raise and then quickly move inward. “What?”

“I know we can’t date like normal couples, at least not yet. I can’t be there with you the way I want to be, but I want to date you in whatever way we can.”

“Date?” Her frown hasn’t eased, and I can’t tell if she hates the idea.

“I want to eat dinner with you, even if it has to be over the phone. I want to talk to you before you go to bed like we used to. I want to be the one who knows everything about you again. I want to know your tonesand your breaths and your faces, and I want you to know mine.Iwant to be your best friend.”

Her light eyebrows tip in further. “You want to date me. Like long-distance phone dating?”

---