Page 29 of Right Place, Right Time (Second Chances)
Chapter Thirteen
Kate
I set my phone on the coffee table and sigh. Looking up at the ceiling, I will myself not to cry. I’ve already done enough of that.
Jay is avoiding me. Two days I’ve been calling him and no response. Sometimes the voicemail picks up after only one ring, like he’s declined the call instead of letting it ring out. I left a voicemail yesterday because I’d wanted to see him again…pick up where we’d left off at my apartment the night before. Then I got the news from Casey this morning that her father had passed away. Now I simply need a friend.
I thought that’s what Jay and I had set out to be…friends. Sure, the other night may have complicated that a bit…but our attraction to one another is unavoidable and surely it was going to culminate at some point. It was to be expected. I just can’t believe he’d play the avoidance game. I thought we’d made progress as friends even before we’d gotten intimate. It’s kind of funny considering all the times we’ve been together he’s been so concerned about not being good enough for me.
Way to prove your point.
Message received.
I have an exam in one of my classes that I absolutely cannot miss and hadn’t been able to reschedule, so I’m not able to fly out for Casey’s dad’s services. It breaks my heart that I can’t be there for my friend, but I know her mother will take good care of her. She needs this time with her mom anyway. There’s been too much distance between them—physical distance. Casey hasn’t been home to South Carolina in the almost three years we’ve been here. Not that I’m one to talk. The difference is…Casey’s parents actually want her there.
But that’s a wound for another time.
The wound I’m focusing on now is the one that Jay Spencer has left on my heart. No, I’m not in love with the guy. That would be foolish considering we barely know one another. But, besides Casey, he’s been the only real friend I’ve had here in California. Pathetic, right? Considering we’ve only just reunited. I was real with him though, through my letters years ago and our recent talks. It was different from the acquaintanceships I keep with fellow students for the sake of appearances and study groups. They’re all convenience friends…convenient for the sake of school, not my personal life.
Not to mention Jay is gorgeous and sexy and the things he can do with his fingers and tongue…
I digress…
I lean back against the comforting couch cushions and close my eyes. Try as I might, I just can’t stop my thoughts from turning to Jay. The way he makes me feel…physically and emotionally…it completes me.
Hecompletes me.
How cliché.
But seriously…he’s everything I hadn’t known I’d been missing in my life.
I don’t know why he even moved to California if he’s going to act like a big freaking baby and hide from me when things get a little too hot for him to handle. What a chicken shit. He came here for me, for crying out loud. Then he makes the grand gesture and cowers…what the hell is that about?
I open my eyes and sit up straight. No. I’m not going to let him pull that. If he wants to back away from me and pretend that we’re nothing…not even friends…he can do it to my face. I look at the clock and see that it’s almost four. I never asked, but I assume Jay works nine to five, so I’ve got time to get to his shop and patiently wait for him to clock out so we can have a little come to Jesus meeting.
I think he’d said his boss’s name was Leroy, so I type “Leroy” and “motorcycle repair shop” into the search engine on my phone. Almost immediately I have a hit for a shop in San Jose.
“Bingo!” I jump up from the couch and grab my bag from the table by the door. I slip my feet into my flip flops and do a quick face check in the small mirror over the table. I’d been crying, so I make sure my eyes aren’t too puffy and I don’t have snot on my face. My hair could use some work, but otherwise I look okay, so I pick up my keys and open the apartment door, stepping right out into a firm, solid chest.
“What the…?” I look up and my eyes widen. Jay. Here. On my doorstep.
“Going somewhere?” he asks with a smirk.
Oh no, he doesn’t. He doesn’t get to act all cute. I lift up my chin in defiance. “Yeah, I was going somewhere.”
He takes a step back and raises his arm as if he’s letting me pass. “Don’t let me stop you.”
I narrow my eyes at him and take a step forward so we’re only about a foot apart. Then I point my finger right into his sternum. “I was going to see you.”
His eyebrows draw together. “See me? Where?”
“Leroy’s,” I tell him, giving him a smirk of my own.
His eyes widen, and he starts shaking his head. “You can’t go over there.”
“Well, obviously. Because you’re here.”
“No, Kate. I mean anytime. That’s not a good neighborhood, and you don’t need to be wandering around it.”
