Page 57 of Rebel Heart
Understanding dawned. “I see. Do you do these frequently?”
“Not all the time, but there’s some regularity to it. We’re actually getting ready to go on a small two-week tour,” he shared.
“Oh?”
“Yep. Vic, Talon, Jamie, and I are going to be in Richmond, Baltimore, DC, Philly, and New York. We leave on Saturday.”
Two weeks.
Just when I thought we were getting somewhere with mending things between us and forming a solid base for a friendship, he was leaving.
“Well, that sounds… busy. But I suspect you’ll have fun.”
“Yeah, we always have a good time.”
“I’m just a bit disappointed,” I confessed.
He grew alert, his body tensing. “Why?”
My lips curved into a lazy smile. “How will I practice my skills if you’re not here?”
“So, come over.”
“What?”
“You can take the board with you, and whenever you want to practice, even when I’m away, just come over and use the trampoline. I don’t mind.”
I blinked rapidly. “Are you being serious?”
“Yes.”
Beau blew my mind. I really was at a loss as to how a guy who claimed he didn’t believe in love seemed to have so much to give, even if he didn’t do it romantically. He had the capacity for it, and I truly believed that was more than enough to get him to a place where things could be different for him.
But it wasn’t my place to say.
And I certainly wasn’t interested in doing something that would ruin whatever this new thing was that was developing between us.
“I appreciate that offer, Beau, but I’m not sure how useful that’ll be when there’d be nobody here to critique me.”
“You could call me to talk about it,” he offered. “And you can send me videos of whatever you try.”
I smiled at him. “That’s sweet of you to offer, but I’m not going to bother you while you’re working.”
“If I’m in the middle of something, I can just call you back. You wouldn’t be bothering me.”
I tore my attention away from him and looked up.Only a few random white clouds dotted the bright blue sky above us.
What was I doing here?
What was I doing to myself?
I’d spent a couple of weeks now trying to do everything I could to forget about Beau. Now I was here on his trampoline after having spent hours learning to skateboard from him when I knew he had no interest in anything romantic happening between us.
But it had been such a wonderful day, and I still enjoyed every second of being around him.
“I had a really great time today, Beau. Thank you for this.”
In a move I hadn’t expected, he reached out and curled his fingers around my hand. I could feel his stare on me, but I couldn’t bring myself to look at him. I stayed just as I was, on my back on that trampoline, staring up at the sky with Beau’s hand holding mine. It was so quiet, so peaceful, and the most content I’d felt since before I’d kicked him out of my place weeks ago.
