by Jenni James
“And what did I say?”
“That you didn’t want a boyfriend, so I hung back and we were just friends. Until last year.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Last year?”
The bell rang, and it was like I came awake. Suddenly, I realized I was still sitting in the cafeteria, talking to Maxton, and I should have been halfway across the school by now. Dr. Applewood did not take kindly to anyone being late to biology.
We dumped our trays and headed to my locker. I handed over Maxton’s things, and then grabbed mine. Then we sort of stared at each other for a minute. “We’ll talk later,” I said, hoping to regain some sort of normalcy.
“Okay.”
I backed up to shut the locker and head to class just as Maxton moved forward, so I accidentally pushed the door into him. “Sorry.”
He laughed. “No worries.”
What was he doing?
I moved him out of the way and shut the door right as Maxton leaned in and kissed me. Gah! It was by far the most surprising thing that had ever happened to me at school. And it was totally awkward, but not horrible. Just not expected, I guess.
He pulled back and smiled. “See ya later.” I watched as he walked down the opposite way I was going. When did his shoulders get so broad?
I closed the locker and then slumped into it. I was completely clueless about what to do next. I’d never expected one guy to kiss me, let alone two.
My phone vibrated, and I pulled it out to see another text from Bryant.
Still miss you. I think I need to do something to fix this.
My heart leaped into my throat, and a huge smile made its way across my face. And I might have giggled. All right, I admit it. I totally did. But then I remembered Maxton, and suddenly everything seemed much more confusing than it was supposed to be.
The warning bell rang, and everyone cleared out of the hall. Then out of the blue, Bryant turned the corner, and he stopped.
He laughed, and then covered his mouth and gestured for me to come to him. I had to head that way anyway, so I did. “What are you doing here?” he asked.
“I was gonna ask you the same thing.”
“I thought you were supposed to be in the science wing.”
“I am.”
His gaze swept over my features. “Did you get my texts?”
I sighed and bit my lip. My stupid smile would not leave my face. Everything about him was so much more exciting than I could ever have imagined.
He looked up and down the nearly deserted hall and pulled me into a small alcove by the
drinking fountains. Then he leaned down and hugged me really tight. “That’s better. Now one more for the road.” He hugged me again. “Bye,” he whispered and then swiftly walked out of the alcove and toward his class as if nothing had happened.
“Bye!” Grinning like an idiot, I stepped out and then booked it down the hallway. I was going to be late. Totally late, but in the rules of lateness, this had to be worth it. Bryant Bailey was totally adorkable, and I loved it.
It wasn’t until my last class, Algebra II, that I had a chance to text Bryant back. After the test, we had about twenty minutes of free time to chill and talk, or whatever. I stared at the phone at least ten minutes before I had the guts enough to text something. It had to be fun, but not crazy, and kinda flirty too. My anxiety levels went haywire as I pushed send.
I like your way of fixing things.
I swear not even ten seconds later, he replied.
Do you? I miss you again. We should probably fix that.
I tried not to chuckle out loud. It was hard. After a minute or so, I answered back.
When? Where?
My, aren’t we eager? Methinks the lady doth loveth my presence.
. . .
What is this “. . .”? Are you blushing too much to answer properly?
I rolled my eyes. No.
Liar.
I blushed even redder. It’s not nice to tease girls.
I know, but it sure is fun. Meet you at the park near your house.
Uh, when?
After school? I don’t know. How about 3:45?
I thought of all the chores I had to do and the odds of actually being able to leave the house once I got home. There’s no way. I can’t. :(
Hmm… How do you get to school? Walk? Bus?
I could probably leave early tomorrow morning and not ride in with Kaitlyn and Jayda. Maybe walk.
Okay. What if I walked you to school?
I thought he lived about two blocks behind us, and school was about half a mile or so down the road. Would we take the back roads?
Of course.
Then all at once, I had a better idea. What are you doing right now?
Waiting for the bell to ring. You?
Yeah.
Can we meet now? Are you walking home?
No. I have my car. Want a ride?
Too obvious. Besides, we’ve got a problem. Well, I do.
What’s that?
The bell rang, and I scrambled to finish the text. Maxton thinks I’m his girlfriend. I quickly stuffed my backpack and headed out the door—right into Bryant.
“Are you his girlfriend?” he asked casually, walking next to me.
I looked straight ahead. “No. At least, when he asked me a couple of years ago, I told him no. But now he thinks we are. And I don’t even know why.”
“Have you guys kissed?”
“No. Well, yeah. Today.”
“Wait. What?” Bryant stopped in the middle of the busy hallway and then brought us into an empty room and shut the door. “When did he kiss you?”
“After I told him about us getting to know each other more.”
Bryant looked shocked. “What? You told him? After you said we couldn’t tell anyone and had to be secretive and all that?”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it—he looked so funny. “He’s my best friend. He could totally tell something was up by the way I was acting. So after he hounded me, I finally shared my news, since I figured he deserved to know more than anyone—except it backfired on me.”
“What’d he say?’
“He wanted to know if I’d told you I already had a boyfriend.”
“And?”
“Well, I froze. I wasn’t expecting that, and I didn’t want to hurt his feelings and everything was just weird. Then the bell rang. And I guess because I told him I kissed you this weekend, he felt the need to kiss me. So he did. In the hallway, by my locker.”
“You let him kiss you in front of everyone?”
“I didn’t know it was going to happen. I told him we’d talk later, and I don’t know—I feel like everything in my life has flipped one-eighty, and I don’t know what to do.”
He was quiet for a bit and then said, “Well, I think you know exactly what you should do.”
I looked up at him. All of a sudden, he was a whole lot closer to me. “What?”
“I think you should take a minute and think about which one of us you want more.”
“What do you mean?” My rear end bumped into the door, and Bryant rested his arm above my head. I could smell his cologne, and it was making me forget pretty much everything else.
“Well, in my opinion, good ol’ Max has definitely got a lead on me.”
“Why would you say that?”
“Because you actually like to talk to him. You’ve been friends for years.” He leaned in closer, and my eyelids fluttered shut from his nearness. Then he whispered, “And he’s your type.”
My lids flew back open, and I stared at his nose before looking into those dark, smoldering eyes. I hadn’t ever been close to him like this—not touching, yet so intense. My whole insides were squealing over the tension between us. His lips were mere centimeters away from mine. “Why would you say that?”
“Because he loves everything you do.”
“How would you know? You don’t even know everything I do.”
I gasped as Bryant’s lips moved up and skimmed my
nose. He was really good at soft kisses. “I don’t, but I bet he does.”
“Ugh.” I growled under my breath. “Why are we discussing Maxton right now?” Good grief—what did I have to do to get the guy to actually kiss me?
He chuckled quietly and kissed my forehead. “Because I like torturing you.”
“You’re very good at it,” I grumbled.
Pulling back, he looked into my eyes again, and I swear I melted. Right then and there. “When you’re deciding between us, I want to give you something to remember me by.”
“What?” I winced. “You’re not serious, are you? You really want me to decide? What if I’ve already made my decision?”
“Nope.” Bryant kissed my nose again. “Then you haven’t given Maxton a chance. And I want you to.”
If I wasn’t completely melted into goo, with only the door propping me up, I’d have seriously considered decking him. “What kind of twisted, melodramatic nonsense is this? Maxton and I have been friends for years. That’s it. Just friends.”
Bryant silenced my rant with a slow kiss on the cheek. I took a ragged breath. Who knew being kissed on the cheek could feel like that? But when he pulled back, he still insisted on this stupid Maxton thing. “I’m serious, Indy. I think it’d be good for you.” His dark eyes found mine again, and I could hardly breathe. “I’m amazed at this attraction I have for you. It’s all I can think about.”
Eeeh! He felt it too. I grinned. Until his next words.
“But it probably isn’t healthy for either of us right now.”
“What—why?” I barely recognized my whiny voice.
“Because this is coming on too strong, too fast.” He took a deep breath. “If we’re meant to have something here, nothing will stop it. But I can’t . . . you shouldn’t . . . we’re not ready for this.”
Of all the nerve. After begging me to give us a chance, and now this? He thinks we’re going too fast?
“Okay, wait. I can see you’re getting mad. Let me finish. I know relationships. I know how this works. When it comes too fast, it leaves just as quickly. Indy, I have a feeling you’re going to mean more to me than something fleeting and quick. And you . . . you’ve only begun to heal from your past. You’ve got to get to know yourself. So I suggest that we take a step back. Let Maxton in. Let him show you what it’s like to date someone your type. And then, once you decide for yourself which guy you’d really rather be with, I’ll be here. Waiting for you.”
I couldn’t help it. His annoying suggestion was making me snarky. “And what if it isn’t you? What if this decision to walk away before anything’s begun hurts so much that I’m not willing to risk it again? What then, Mr. Confident Bailey, positive that when I’m ready, I’ll come running back to you? What then?”
He grinned, a slow, smug grin. “Oh, you’ll be back. I’ll make sure I’m not too far away. Don’t worry.” And then he gave me a long bear hug. . All perfect and wonderful and melty. “And that’s to make sure you won’t forget me, either.”
“I hate you,” I said against his wonderfully cologned chest.
“I know.” He laughed and pulled away, that gorgeous gaze locking with mine again. “Trust me, okay? I care too much about us right now. So go, learn—find you. Find out about life—grow. I’ll be here. I’ll be the friend you can vent to. I’ll be your Maxton.”
I rolled my eyes to break away from his. “You’re so full of it. I already have a Maxton! Why do I need another one?”
He shook his head. “Oh, no. Maxton is long gone—you’ll see. He’ll never be the same again now.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN:
All at once, I felt the heavy weight of the world settle on my shoulders. “Oh. I hadn’t thought of that.” Bryant was right. I knew he was right. I’d just lost my best friend. I moved forward, wrapped my arms around Bryant’s waist again, and squeezed tight. “Don’t leave me. I’ll need a friend more than a boyfriend or anything else.”
“You don’t have anyone to turn to, I know. And I’m sorry.” He rubbed my back. “I promise, I’m not going anywhere. And I won’t complicate things more than they are. Let’s find Indy. Then later, we’ll have time for all this crazy talk.”
I took a deep breath and thanked whatever weird part of fate that had sent me this guy. “Fine. Though I’m still not promising anything about Maxton.”
“You will. You’ll like him. And it’ll be good for you.”
“Will you stop with all this good-for-me junk?”
“Nope. Not going to stop.”
“Bryant?”
“Yes?”
“Why did Maxton have to go and ruin everything? Why couldn’t he be happy with being my friend and get excited when I finally began to think of building something new?”
Bryant laughed. “Do you honestly think that guy wasn’t in love with you? He didn’t ruin anything—he only opened the playing field for you.”
“Life isn’t some game! I don’t want to play on a field. I want things easy.”
“No. You want to hide, but you can’t anymore. You need to experience life and move and grow.”
I banged my forehead against his chest, but at the same time, I felt kind of relieved too. He was guaranteeing me a way to have his steadiness in my life—which was what I craved most—without the odd relationship stuff. Maxton, I could deal with. This new super-hot Bryant was a little harder to work out. If I was completely honest with myself, I really only wanted him as a best friend anyway. Well, maybe a best friend I could kiss.
He pulled away and started to open the door behind me. “Come on. Let’s get you out of here before Maxton starts tearing the place down, looking for you.”
“Whatever. He won’t even notice I’m gone.”
Bryant’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re in denial now. Any guy would be searching for you. Trust me on this.”
“I wouldn’t trust you farther than I could throw you.”
He pushed me out into the hall. “I’d like to see you try to pick me up, let alone throw me.”
“I’ve done it plenty of times in my dreams. Just chucked you into the nearest river.”
“Oh! So now you admit that you dream about me?”
“I was not—well, not in that way.” I’d have to learn not to take his bait. We began to walk down the hall, and I knew I was going to have to face Maxton soon. “What do I say?”
Bryant didn’t even ask what I was talking about. “You tell him that you and I had a talk, and you told me that you and he already had a past together.”
“I am not saying that!” I hissed.
“Fine. Then tell him I’m making you decide which guy is better.”
I shoved against his arm. “You’re not helping.”
“What?” He laughed. “I’m giving you ideas here. Can’t you be a little bit grateful?”
“I’ll be grateful when I get away from you.”
“Aha! There she is. There’s my Indy. Gotta love your charm.”
I grinned and turned to chew him out, but—
“Indy! There you are.” Maxton came up to me and wouldn’t even look at Bryant. Which I’m sure made Bryant chuckle. “Where have you been? Do you need a ride?”
Boy, he wasn’t wasting any time staking his claim. I watched Bryant to gauge his reaction, and he nodded for me to accept the offer. I was thankful he didn’t actually push me at Maxton. I took a second to study the big dork, and then, while still staring into Bryant’s eyes, I nodded. It was time to find out who I was, and Maxton deserved a chance to get to know me. The real me. He’d gone out of his way for me the last few years, and it wouldn’t kill me to see where this goes. Besides . . . I grinned. His kiss wasn’t that bad. “Yeah, I’d love a ride. Thanks for asking.”
I turned on my heel and didn’t look back as I headed down the hall with Maxton.
As I climbed into Maxton’s car, I could feel my phone vibrate. I pulled it out and grinned. Bryant.
I’ll call tonight.
***
&n
bsp; Maxton wasn’t too weird on the drive home. I mean, there was definitely a new awkward tension between us, but it didn’t have to be considered bad. He was a lot more confident than I thought he’d be—almost excited, even.
“So, how was school?” he asked.
“Interesting.” I grinned. “Full of all sorts of new ideas and revealing stuff.”
“How so?”
“I don’t know. Just was.” I looked out the window and then asked the question that had been bugging me since lunch. “What happened last year that changed us?”
“Are you talking about how I knew you had a thing for me?”
I closed my eyes and didn’t know whether to blush or wince because something had happened and I still had no clue what it was. “Sure.”
“Don’t you remember last summer?” He glanced over. When I didn’t say anything, he continued. “You were sick and asked me to come over. So I snuck out of my house and stayed in your room and chatted with you all night so you’d feel better. Then I had to get out before your family woke up.”
What? He thought that was the moment when I proved I was in love with him? I was half delirious and definitely not thinking. If I’d been thinking, I never would’ve begged him to come over so late at night.
“Yeah? I remember. You were really great that night.”
He rubbed his lips together and focused on the road. “The thing is, that night I really saw how fun you were. Sure, you were totally loopy and crazy sick, but you were still nice. And for the first time, you showed me how scared you were. It was interesting, seeing this tough girl being so vulnerable and actually needing someone. That night didn’t just teach me how much you needed me—it taught me how much I needed you. We bonded.” He looked at me. “You can’t deny it.”
