Page 31 of Can We Skip to the Good Part?
It became apparent an hour later that tonight’s book club chat would take a back seat to the group’s own personal catch-up session. This brand of detour tended to happen every six weeks or so. There was something to be said for spending a couple of hours decompressing together. Max enjoyed those nights every bit as much as their more focused meetings. That’s what made the book club so awesome—the group friendship and the bond that only seemed to grow the more time they spent together.
She was already on the way to her car, feeling so much lighter than when she’d arrived, when the sound of her name caught her attention.
“Max!” Ella yelled a second time and came bounding down the slightly sloped driveway. “Wait a sec.”
The cold wind hit her face, making her shrug further into her coat. “What’s up?”
“Gah!” She laughed as she approached. “Why in hell is it this cold? It’s barely October.”
“You’re not in Tulsa anymore.” She offered a slight smile.
“Never have I been more sure.” She exhaled and relaxed her own grin. “I just wanted to thank you privately.”
Max turned her face to the side and regarded Ella, whose own coat was thin at best. It made her want to take off her own and hand it over. “Thank me? For what? You need a bigger coat.”
“I was just thinking that. I’ll put it on the 'someday when I'm employed' list. For the grapes. You didn’t have to do that, ya know.”
She shrugged, trying to downplay. “You looked like someone who would give them a good home. Grapes deserve the best.”Vulnerability wasn’t in her comfort zone, and she’d do anything to wiggle away from it.
“Also, I owe you an apology.” Why were Ella’s blue eyes so luminous at night?
“Oh, I like that.” Max straightened, waiting to hear what was next.
“I thought you might.” Ella studied the treetops as Morgan and Ariana headed to their cars parked along the curb.
“It’s too cold for any human! Also, don’t look so serious over there,” Ariana called.
“We’re talking about foot photos, so we have to,” Max called back.
“I will murder you in your sleep,” Ariana returned.
“I will wait for you all night.”
Max took a moment to enjoy the exchange and waited until they could recapture their privacy. Once the others were tucked away in their cars, she turned back to Ella, whose eyes once again made Max’s bones go to liquid. She wasn’t sure she would ever get used to their effect. She also wasn’t sure she wanted to.
“Back to what I was saying. I probably rushed to judgment when I realized who you were.”
Max nodded. “I get it. You were expressing your loyalty to Rachel. That meant slamming the door in my face on anything between us.”
“That’s a brutal piece of imagery.”
“Just being honest.”
“She’s mybestfriend,” Ella emphasized. “I didn’t have much choice. But I can see now that maybe some of the things I was told were slanted, influenced by the hurt Rachel was combing through at the time.”
Max crossed her arms. “I think that’s entirely accurate.”
“Doesn’t mean I can kiss you again.”
She felt her lips pull to the side. “No? Because we were pretty good at it.”
“Likely award-winning, but it’s probably best we not talk about it anymore.”
“You’re the one who brought it up.”
“Stop pointing out the obvious.”
Max could do this all damn day. There were people in this world who threw sparks when they were within feet of each other, and not just through physical chemistry. The two of them had a give-and-take that made more than her body wake the hell up. Ella made her mind come alive. She made Max wonder if romance in all of its pageantry might be real after all. Because who else could make her feel so many little and big things at once? “How do you do that?”
