Page 10 of The Try Line

My mother decided that the grandparents should all stay at her house, so instead of staying in my old room, I got shuffled. Now, I am staying with my sister. Andhim. Of course, neither my parents or sister know anything, so they can't be expected to understand that I can't stay in that house. It’s bad enough that I’m going to have to be in the same time zone with him, but under the same roof?

I can't.

My phone pings with a text from my nephew.

Jase: Mom has the guest room all ready for you.

Jason: Why are you still up?

Jase: I’m waiting up for you. Duh.

Fuck.

I know he's excited. And, truthfully, as painful as this visit is, I'm excited to see him too. We've managed to keep a close relationship despite the ocean between us. We talk face to face a little less since he became a teenager and suddenly became too cool for our weekly video chats, but we text constantly and keep up with each other.He's a good kid. He deserves to have his favorite—okay, only—uncle here to help him celebrate a momentous occasion.

It took years for me not to want to cry whenever I looked at his face. He looks so much like his father, only with my family's trademark blue eyes and a reddish tint to his dark hair. We bonded over our love of sports and comic books, and he talks to me about girls even though he knows I have no experience with them. He's graduating at the top of his class and got a full scholarship to play rugby at a prestigious university. He's going places, and I'm excited to be here for this milestone. But at the same time, just being on the same continent ashimhurts already.

I've not spoken to Mik once in all this time. Any time he's walked in and found Jase video chatting with me, he's turned and walked the other way. Janel always makes excuses for him missing family calls. She knows we had a falling out, even if she doesn't know what happened.

It's been easy to avoid each other since I moved overseas. Nearly four thousand miles didn't make it hurt any less, but at least I could pretend. At least I didn't have to watch while my best friend and the man I loved got married and raised a family with my sister. At least I didn't have to say the wordsbrother-in-lawwhen it should have been so much more.

Jason: ETA 25 minutes. See you soon, bud.

CHAPTER 2

MIK

He’s here.

In my house.

I can feel his presence like a warm front. It’s heavy and oppressive the way the weather has been lately. The house is too humid to breathe in, and I haven't even had to come face to face with him yet. I’m not going to survive this.

I'm not sure what time he got in last night. He was originally supposed to land yesterday morning, but there were delays due to the shitty weather we've been having. Which seems appropriate, since storms always remind me of him. And wouldn’t you know it, the forecast is showing more storms for almost the entirety of his visit.

Most of the day went by in a haze. My nerves got the better of me, and I feigned a migraine so I could drug myself to sleep. But I felt his presence even through the fog of a drugged sleep, and I’ve been awake since the moment he stepped inside this house.

Now it's five in the morning and I'm so jittery, I'm surprised Janel isn't yelling at me for shaking the bed. She’ll probably sleep late,considering she stayed up to get her brother settled into the guest room.

Right down the hall from us.

I need to get out. To move. To run. It’s already hot and muggy outside, and with the heat index climbing, it’s only going to get worse as the day goes on. If I want to get out, I might as well go for a run and try to work off some of this nervous energy now while I still have a chance of staying upright afterwards.

Seven miles later, which is a lot more than I normally run, I come face to face with the man himself. I'm hunched over at the bottom of the porch steps, sucking in harsh breaths, red faced with sweat pouring over my face and body. It’s too humid to get a full breath, and I’m dangerously close to heatstroke in my running clothes and the rising temperature.

A tingle makes its way down the back of my neck, like I'm being watched, and when I look up,there he is. Leaning on the porch railing with a mug in his hands, watching me silently.

And he's… fucking gorgeous. Still. So gorgeous the air seems to get even thicker, and dizziness threatens to make my knees buckle.

Jason Reinier is all grown up, andfuck. He's bigger and broader than I remember, and he seems taller, too, but that's probably just because he's standing several steps above me. I can barely stand to look at him. It’s like staring into the sun. But I also can't look away. My retinas burn, but I take in every burly inch of him.

His strong jaw is covered with a short beard that can't decide if it wants to be red or blond. His hair, which is a lighter shade of the same reddish blond, is closely cropped on the sides and a bit longer on the top, flopping over his forehead in a fashionably casual way. Those bright blue eyes are too much to look at, so I avert my eyes to the rest of him. My eyes wander down his fit body, and I swallow thickly.

He's wearing a fitted t-shirt and athletic shorts that stretch around his wide, muscular thighs. Fucking hell, those things are the size of both of my legs put together. He could crack my head like a walnut. I have to look away. That is a very awkward visual to be having while you're being stared down by someone who hates you. And he still does, if his glare is anything to judge it by.

Jason doesn't react to seeing me at all, staring back at me with an intensity that scorches me from the inside out. I feel threatened, like some kind of prey that's been cornered. His gaze demands that I maintain eye contact and face my torment.

All at once, I feel and remember everything. I feel shame. And heartache. And anger. The despondent anger I felt when he left and moved so far away. The way he just left, leaving me drowning. My entire world was crashing down around me, and he didn’t so much as spare me a conversation. After everything we shared, the years of friendship before the hours we spent professing our love for each other… he just gave up on me without thinking twice.

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