Page 19 of Attraction & Repulsion

Mercifully, the elevator dinged and the door opened, letting Carson inside to escape the awkwardness. And as the doors closed on Will’s longing face, Carson silently thanked Jax for unknowingly helping her dodge a bullet.

Chapter seven

The next day when Carson stepped through Raegan’s front door, her best friend shoved an arm full of deflated balloons at her, commanding her to inflate and decorate. Carson was happy to oblige, but her lungs were even happier when she spied the helium tank sitting on the kitchen table.

“You’ll never guess what happened this week at work,” Raegan said, fretting over the pasta salad in the kitchen. “First, a little girl throws up all over the X-ray machine. And I meancoversthe machine in vomit. Then the next day, another little girl bites my dental assistant.”

Carson laughed over the whirring of expanding balloons.

“It’s not funny,” Raegan whined. “My assistant threatened to quit.”

“Come on. You have to admit it is kind of hilarious.”

Raegan wiped her hands on a rag before tugging down the white cover-up she wore over her mocha-brown swimsuit and adjusting her gold necklaces. “You’re right. It is a little funny.”

The door to the garage opened. Hunter squeezed himself and the two bags of ice he was holding through it. “This is all they had. Apparently, the whole town needed ice today.” He hefted the bags onto the countertop, the ice crunching within the plastic. “Hey, Carson. Happy birthday to me, right? Have to go get the ice for my own party.”

“Oh, get over yourself, and take these to the coolers on the back porch.” Raegan patted his back while waving him off with her other hand.

The doorbell dinged.

“I’ll get it,” Carson offered, having just finished tying the last balloon.

One by one guests filtered in. Somehow Carson became the party usher, welcoming those who arrived and showing them to the backyard where the festivities were taking place.

“Food is ready,” Raegan reported, entering from the backyard with an empty dish that had once held raw meat and placing it in the sink. “Go get a hot dog before the carnivores out there eat everything.”

The sun was high in the sky, beating down on the party. Some guests—the carnivores—were already overfilling their plates, the paper goods bending underneath the weight. The pool was also overfilled. Water sloshed out and Carson wondered if there would be any left after the party.

Stomach rumbling, she snatched herself a plate and squeezed between two meaty men. The sliding glass door squeaked, and when she glanced up, Jax was just stepping onto the back porch. For a brief second she made eye contact with him, and the spoon full of fruit she was holding slipped from her grasp and clattered back into the plastic bowl. The newly formed smile beaming on Jax’s face faded when a set of abs in only swim trunks pulled him in the opposite direction of her.

Satisfied with a hot dog and blueberries she had fished out of the pile of fruit, she searched for a space to eat. The tables were full, but it was too beautiful of a day to go back inside. Not daring to eat in the pool area for fear of being drenched, Carson chose to sit on a patch of freshly mowed grass, balancing her plate on her crossed legs. The blades poked her thighs through the bike shorts she wore, along with the spirit jersey she’d purchased during a San Diego trip with Luke the summer before theaccident.

As she picked at her food, Carson tried to decipher the game being played in the pool. At least, she assumed it was a game, as there was a red ball being thrown around with shouts of victory and moans of defeat. After a minute of spectating, she concluded it wasn’t the first time this game had been played.

Every once in a while, her eyes would wander to find Jax. The last two times she had snuck a peek, he’d been sitting in a small circle of friends, laughing with a plate of food in his lap. Once he caught her staring, to which she gave him a smile and a small wave. After that, she tried to avoid looking in his direction all together. Except her eyes would betray her and sneak a quick glimpse at him. And every damn time, he was sneaking a glimpse back at her.

Eventually Raegan found her, plopping herself down on the grass “Having fun?”

“I’m enjoying the water Olympics.”

“Boys.”

Someone must have scored a goal, or whatever they were calling it, as the pool erupted with hollers.

“My neighbors are going to file a complaint,” Raegan mumbled. “How was that legal something something convention?”

“Western Legal Professionals Convention,” Carson corrected her.

“Whatever, same thing. Anything exciting happen?”

Carson could still feel the unpleasantness of her and Will’s exchange, the flowery cologne and the graceless handshake. Will’s hand was nothing like Jax’s. His was clammy and limp, while Jax’s was warm and strong.

“I got asked on a date.”

Raegan’s head turned so fast, Carson thoughtshe was going to snap her neck. “What?”

“An attorney from California was there. Will. He wanted to take me out to dinner,” she said, rubbing her hands up and down her bare legs.

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