Page 21 of Lines We Cross
Rae scrambled to grab the closest log and set it up perfectly on the tree stump where I warmed up my shoulders with a few practice swings. Leave it to a girl from a small town to know how to chop firewood. She didn’t want to actually do it, but she knew how it was done.
“Step back, sweetheart, and let me do the dirty work.” I gave her an exaggerated wink and swagger. Even though she snorted and rolled her eyes, she stepped back and wisely gave me room.
Another couple came up and got started chopping their log on another tree stump next to us. The guy was jacked and looked mid-twenties. The competitive fire in my belly flamed higher and I went to town chopping that log in record time.
When there was nothing left but little pieces, I threw the ax down and got busy picking up the pieces to put in the finished stack of firewood. I glanced over at Rae to see why she wasn’t helping. She just stared at me, biting her lower lip, in some sort of trance.
“You gonna help me or just stand there looking pretty, Rae?”
That snapped her out of it, and with a frown, she let her lip go and leaped forward to grab the last of the firewood. When we passed the other couple, just now finished chopping the log, I smirked at the muscular guy while he glared back. Men got it. Everything was a competition.
We moved quickly on the trail through the forest, several racers far enough ahead we knew we were on the right path. The next obstacle must have been far away, so it looked like we had an extended period of walking ahead of us.
I glanced at Rae and looked away, not sure what topic to bring up that wouldn’t have her reverting back to Devil Rae. I felt her glance at me and I pictured her with her teeth biting into that lower lip of hers. I’d kissed that lip just the one time, but it was burned into my memory like a brand into the hide of cattle.
We coexisted in this atmosphere of ease as we helped each other with the obstacles, yet we knew there was so much below the surface we both wanted to talk about. At least, I hoped she wanted to talk about it too. I didn’t think my attraction to her in high school had been one-sided. The silence wasn’t awkward, more like a new normal. Several obstacles later, we had a final stretch to navigate and then we’d be done with this race.
I’d been holding my tongue for long enough. I was a “say it and be done with it” kind of guy, but the way she’d gone off on me the other day at therapy had my tongue tied. I looked over my shoulder and only saw one couple behind us—they were geriatric, which explained why there was someone slower than us in this race—far enough away they wouldn’t overhear. I threw caution to the wind and tried to make right with the universe.
“Hey, I wanted to apologize for kissing you at graduation.” I glanced over at just the right time to see her stumble.
Her face went pale as she stared straight ahead. “Apologize?” Her voice came out wobbly and at a decibel that would have had the Wilsons calling the cops on me when I was growing up. It was fine for their rooster to wake the neighborhood at sunrise, but the second your conversation got animated after ten at night, they were picking up the phone to call the sheriff.
I glanced over my shoulder again, but the other couple seemed oblivious, too busy making out against a tree. I would have looked longer, the sight particularly engrossing since they were pushing seventy, but alas, this conversation with Rae was more important.
“Yeah. Um, I know I shouldn’t have done that. You being Emerson’s sister and all. Figured maybe that’s where some of this hostility was coming from.”
She snorted. Again, loudly. “Seriously? You think I’m mad because you kissed me when we were kids?” Her cheeks turned bright red and she spun to face me, just twenty feet before the finish line.
Uh-oh. Shouldn’t have gone there, Duke.
“I haven’t even given it one thought since you’ve been gone. Not one!” She flung her hands in the air and I dodged accordingly.
“So, what’s with the ‘mad at Max’ routine, then?”
She shook her head and looked over my left ear. “You don’t get it.” Then she took off toward the finish line, the last of the racers coming in to cheers from the remaining spectators. Which included all three of my buddies, some friends of Rae’s, and my parents. Oh, and her parents too.
I followed after her, wincing as my knee told me I was going too fast. “We have to finish together, Partner!” I called after her.
She stopped one foot away from the finish line, waiting for me while staring straight ahead, oblivious to the cheers from the sidelines. Not one to back down even in the face of Devil Rae, I put my arm around her shoulders and pulled her into me, a big grin on my face that was sure to make her mad. We only made it across the finish line because she shoved me away from her and then I pulled her with me. I bet we were the least graceful finishers of the whole day.
“I got your epic finish on camera!” Kadee cheered.
“That’s my boy!” Mom yelled, her Russian accent loud and clear, which meant she’d hit the beer garden during our race.
Heath, Ryder, and Jase stood off to the side, their faces all holding smug little smirks like they thought they knew everything. Rae tried to tug away from me, but I followed, not disengaging like I knew she wanted me to. She led us to her parents, who hugged her, which I did step away for out of courtesy to my elders. Then Anna hugged me and Rae gave her mom the stink eye, probably for being kind when Rae obviously had some sort of chip on her shoulder about me.
“I love that you got Skylar Rae out there, Max.” Mitch, Rae’s dad, clapped me on the shoulder, completely oblivious to the frosty looks Rae threw my way over his shoulder.
I shrugged. “Just wanted to step up and help her out. I was wearing the right shoes, after all.” I turned my gaze to her and lifted an eyebrow. Her cheeks heated and those eyes snapped at me, daring me to push her further.
The meaning of my subtle dig was clear. That guy friend of hers was worthless and I’d do my best to prove it to her. Even if she didn’t want me, I couldn’t let her settle for an idiot like that. Emerson would have wanted better for her and I owed him at least that much.
“I’m buying everyone a round of beer. We placed bets on when, or if, you guys would finish.” Ryder came up from behind, throwing his arm around me. He flung his hair out of his face with a jerky toss of his head like a true Belieber. “Hey, Skylar. Looking good, woman.”
I jabbed my elbow into his ribs, not appreciating his tone nor the leer on his face.
“Dude!” He grabbed his side, but couldn’t have been that injured since he was hugging Rae in the next second. Hugging her a little too long, if you asked me.
