Page 66 of Houston, We Have a Problem
“There’s nothing to talk about,” Chad says, growling the words. “She’s just a woman who was in the house next to mine, and she clearly doesn’t know what she wants. No one can be perfect, but she expects a relationship to be rainbows and sunshine and no bad days. Good things take work, and patience, and sacrifice. Running away from her problems isn’t going to get her anywhere.”
“Yep,” I say with a grin. “You don’t want to talk at all.”
He rolls his eyes, leaning his back against the stairs and stretching his legs out. He lets out another groan as he covers his eyes with the back of his wrist. “I messed up. A lot. I thought I would have this kind of thing figured out by now, you know? I’m not getting any younger.”
“Yeah, you’re right. You’re ancient.”
He kicks my foot. “Shut up. I just mean it should get easier.”
“I don’t know. I’ve had more relationships than I can count, and I’ve never been more terrified of messing things up.”
Chad doesn’t look at me. “How long have you been in love with her?”
So maybe I’m not imagining things. If Chad sees something there, it must be real. “I don’t know. It’s only been a couple of weeks, but I feel like I’ve known her my whole life.” Talking to her on the porch after trivia night was one of the best nights I’ve had in a long time, and she’s even easier to talk to than Jordan. It’s so easy to imagine us staying up late and talking like that every night.
Just as easy as it is to imagine waking up every morning next to her.
“Why do you think she doesn’t know anything about baseball?” Chad asks.
That’s a strange question, but it’s pretty in line with the way Chad operates. Except, usually when he asks things likethat, he’s digging for a secret. But there’s no secret here. I don’twantthere to be a secret. I want to get over my issues and trust Darcy because she hasn’t given me a reason to do otherwise. Even the Jesse thing panned out.
“Because we’ve talked about it,” I say, frowning. “She uses all the wrong terms, and she came to a Little League game last week and looked totally lost.”
Darcy stands in the kitchen, munching on her apple as she watches Jordan attempt to get two apples at once. There’s something in the way she’s holding the fruit that pricks at something in my mind, but I can’t quite place it. Pretty sure Chad is just making me paranoid.
Chad sits up again, following my gaze. “She can definitely hold her own against our chaos,” he says. “And she’s different from the women you usually bring around.”
“That’s why I like her.”
“What about that reporter?”
I tense. “How do you know about—”
Chad laughs. “Do you really think I wouldn’t get a play-by-play of trivia night from Micah? She may have been reading things wrong—”
“Wouldn’t be the first time,” I grumble.
“—but she said there was some serious tension between you two.”
I appreciate the fact that he didn’t throw the wordsexualin there even though odds are high that Micah did when she was describing the night’s events. She wouldn’t be wrong, but I think there’s a very fine line between attraction and hatred. This week, I crossed that line.
“I’ll admit Tamlin is beautiful,” I say before Chad can call me out on it. “And she’s a genius. Plus, she played baseball in high school, which is hotter than I’d care to admit.”
“But?” Chad prompts.
“But we’re meant to be friends. She’s almost too perfect.” I won’t even get into that switch she makes when she’s on camera. I haven’t seen that side of her lately, but I can’t forget how easily and quickly she can become something else. “It’s almost like she’s not real.”
“Hmm.” Chad’s fingers tap his pocket, where his phone has miraculously remained all night. His gaze is in the kitchen as he gets a thoughtful look on his face.
I know that look a little too well.
I wince. “Don’t,” I beg. “Don’t go digging into my life. I’m having a hard enough time trusting Darcy to begin with, and I don’t need you putting thoughts into my head.”
“I thought we were talking about Tamlin.”
Great. He’s already got me saying things I didn’t want to say. Jordan can know that I’ve had some doubts—doubts that Darcy unknowingly soothed when she mentioned Jesse—but Chad? Chad is a fixer. He can’t leave something alone if it isn’t working, which likely explains why he’s back here instead of in Laketown with the mysterious girl who got him all ruffled.
Not everything needs fixing. The flaws are what give something character.
