Page 26 of Best Friends

Chapter Seven

Two weeks later…

Jesse stood at Hayden’s front door, waiting for Clay’s car to pull up. He’d pestered Benji until he’d gotten the details about Hayden’s flight back home. Any minute, Clay would pull up and Jesse would get answers.

For questions that had kept him up long nights for the past two weeks.

As minutes turned into nearly an hour, he started to worry. Had something happened? Was Hayden not coming home?

Finally, he saw Clay’s car in the distance and let out a shaky breath. He felt his heart quickening in his chest, and knew there was a damned good chance this could all go sideways.

That seemed to be par for the course, as of late.

As soon as Hayden grabbed his bags from the back of Clay’s car, he turned and headed for the front door.

And froze as soon as he laid eyes on Jesse. He was silent as he stared.

Clay got out of the car. “You need me to come in?”

Jesse frowned. What the hell was that about?

“Nah,” Hayden said over one shoulder. “I’m good.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah,” Hayden answered before turning to Jesse. He marched closer to the door and passed Jesse without a word.

“Hayden?”

“Why are you here?” Hayden asked without turning.

“I have a better question. What the hell’s going on?” Jesse asked, spinning to look at Hayden’s back. He heard Clay’s car backing out of the drive behind them. “You’re angry… you take off for a couple of weeks without a word—besides telling Clay to deliver a message you should have. I thought we were friends? What have I done to piss you off?”

“Nothing,” Hayden said over his shoulder. He unlocked his door and opened it a crack.

His jaw was tensed. He was angry.

Why?“That’s bullshit,” Jesse said.

Hayden spun to face him. “No… it’s not bullshit. I am pissed at you… for doing nothing. Absolutely nothing… but that’s a me thing, not a you thing. I’ll get over it.”

Jesse saw the pain in Hayden’s face, and it nearly broke him inside. Yet it couldn’t stop him from asking a question, one he knew could either escalate the anger… or diffuse it some.

“Who’s the girl you’ve been pining over?”

Hay’s head whipped up. A frown marred his handsome face. “What?”

“Benji and I had a beer the other night… and he told me he gave you some advice for a woman you’d been pining after. You never told me about her… and I thought I was your best friend, so I would’ve known, right? Who is she?”

Hayden stared at him silently.

“Benji told you to take the plunge. Let her know you were interested. So who is she?” Answer me, goddamnit.

“I never told Benji it was a she,” Hayden said, capturing Jesse’s stare.

Jesse drew in a shaky breath.

“But something tells me you can guess who it was… which brings me back to that same question. Why. Are. You. Here?”

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