Page 31 of Lines We Cross
I shrugged, feeling like a bad friend for not telling them earlier. “I don’t know. I guess I was so shocked I wanted to keep it my little secret for a day or so before I told you guys. But afterward he just looked at me and walked away. I went to his house the next day and his mom told me he’d already left for baseball training camp.” I looked at them in turn, letting the pain seep into my voice. “He just left me like I didn’t even matter.”
“Oh, honey,” Ava sighed.
They both pulled me into a group hug, the old hurt still there but dulled over the years.
When they let me go, I grabbed my wallet and put my hand on the door handle. “See why I don’t trust him?”
I got out and they followed me into the house. Kadee rented a room from me and Ava was spending the night. Lacey was crashing at her place, too tired after a show to deal with our craziness.
“I don’t know. Seems like you might both be older and wiser now. Things could be different.” Kadee was entirely too optimistic when it came to men.
“You’re exactly right. I’m older and wiser now. I don’t fall for that crap anymore,” I said with more confidence than I felt. I’d just have to fake it until I made it.
Who needed a stupid man anyway when you had your best friends?
12
Max
“You ready to go on a run?”
Rae stood in the doorway of her house, her hair adorably mussed. Her flannel pants and tiny tank top were a huge distraction, so I attempted to stare at her face with every ounce of self-discipline I possessed. A line etched across her cheek told me she’d just woken up with her face mashed into a pillow. She reached up and rubbed her eyes, nearly hitting her head on the door she still held open.
“What?” she mumbled, a tiny wrinkle between her eyebrows.
I wanted to laugh, she was so adorable, but I knew she wouldn’t take it very well. After last night’s dance, I’d had to back off entirely or I would have hauled her off the dance floor and into my truck to steam up the windows. I didn’t think we were ready for that by a mile, so I’d tried to put my attention on everyone but her.
She had no idea what she did to me. Her body had melted into mine as I whispered in her ear. That tough facade she always kept up around me had faded away, leaving me with the soft and sweet Rae I remembered from when we were kids. But she was so much more than that too. Now she was a woman, complete with her own successful business, a house, and a circle of friends who watched her back because they knew how special she was. I wanted to get to know the woman. Maybe even woo her a bit.
“Thought we could get a workout in together to make up for the missed PT sessions. Hit the high school track, maybe climb the bleachers a few times. What do you say?” I rubbed my hands together, warming them up in the early morning crisp air.
She yawned and I memorized the way her eyes watered and her mouth formed the cutest little “o” imaginable. Ava stumbled up behind her, a huge smile forming when she saw me standing on the little welcome mat outside the door that said “hope you brought wine.”
“Max! What a surprise. You here to see Skylar?” She propped a hand on her hip and gave me a saucy wink. I really liked Ava.
“I sure am. Trying to convince her to go on a run with me.”
Rae jumped in. “Sorry, I don’t—”
“Ohh, boy, what good timing. She was just telling us last night that she planned to go on a run today.” Ava clapped her hands after she talked over Rae.
Rae gave her the death glare, but I didn’t care. I’d take all the help I could get setting things up so Rae would give me the time of day. I didn’t know why she had an aversion to being around me, but I hoped to get to the bottom of it on our run. I intended to stay in Nickel Bay, which meant I had my sights set on Rae.
She let out a long-suffering sigh and finally let go of the door. “Okay, fine. Let me go get dressed.” She shuffled toward a hallway and I let my self-discipline slip enough to check her out while her back was turned.
Ava elbowed me in the stomach. Hard.
“Oops, sorry about that,” she said sweetly and then leveled a warning glare that made my blood freeze. She flounced off to fold the blankets on the couch where she’d obviously spent the night before heading to the bathroom to run the shower. I glanced around the tiny living room, taking in all the framed pictures of Rae with Emerson and their parents on the walls.
Rae came back down the hallway in a different T-shirt and a pair of short athletic shorts. She was still barefoot, her toenails painted a bold pink. Her brunette hair looked brushed as it swung free around her shoulders. She plopped down on the couch and proceeded to put on her socks and shoes.
“You got that knee taped up?” Her voice was still morning-rough.
I shook my head. “No. Should I?”
She looked me up and down and I wondered what she was thinking. “Probably for the best.”
I sat down and grabbed the tape on her coffee table. Leave it to a physical therapist to have athletic tape just lying around the house. I eyed my knee and then flipped the tape over.
