Despite the recent strain that’s plagued our friendship, he knows me well.
“No!”
“Yeah, you are.” He pulls back, giving my ponytail a little tug before releasing it. His distance is a relief, and a disappointment. “You didn’t get in trouble with your dad, did you?”
“No,” I lie again.
“’Cause it was no big deal, right?”
My shoulders rise, then drop.
“I mean, I know I acted like an ass,” he goes on—at leasthecan speak the truth. “But things between us aren’t gonna be weird, are they?”
Not weirder, I guess.
My palms have gone clammy, and eye contact is nearly impossible. I gather the wee bit of poise I’ve managed to preserve in the wake of this hellish exchange and use it to strengthen my voice. “Please, Max. Give me a little credit.”
“Yeah, okay,” he says, sounding uncertain. “Me stopping by, the kissing, all of it… It’s gonna stay between us, right? I mean, it’d suck if Becky found out because”—he glances at me briefly, uncomfortably—“well, you know.”
Becky’s the last person I want to talk about. The last person I want tothinkabout. She and I aren’t friends, but I feel like a jerk for letting Max kiss me while they’re together. He may’ve been drunk, butIwasn’t, and I’m hardly going to go blabbing about the indiscretion I helped facilitate. It’s freaking embarrassing.
“I’m not proud of what happened,” I tell him in a chilly tone. “So don’t worry. Becky won’t find out.”
“Hey, don’t get all angsty. It’s just—”
“I’m notangsty, and you don’t have to explain. She’s your girlfriend—I get it. Besides, it was no big deal. You said so yourself.”
“Oh, come on. I didn’t mean it like that.”
The last few minutes catch up to me in a rush of anger, and I swivel in my seat to face him squarely. “God, Max! Just let it go, okay?”
I’m expecting him to counter, and I’m hoping he’ll apologize, but he doesn’t respond at all; he just stares out the windshield, unaffected, and I’d like to strangle him. Instead, I follow his gaze. Leo uses a giant hand to snatch Kyle’s pass from the foggy air. He’s laughing, as usual.
Max checks his watch, then retrieves his bag. “You need a ride home?”
“I’ll ask Leah to take me.”
He stills, one hand gripping the door handle. “Jilly.”
I meet his gaze and his expression, now the opposite of unaffected, startles me. It’s identical to the one he wore last night, when our kiss met its abrupt end. Frustrated, contrite, yet not entirely regretful. He holds it—mouth tight, brows drawn, eyes swimming with emotion—ensuring that I bear its full weight. Then he shutters all those feelings inside and graces me with a cool smile. “See you around.”
He slams the truck’s door and heads toward the guys. Jesse launches a pass in his direction and he leaps, snagging the ball from the air like an NFL all-star, graceful and agile, and I almost forget about his mention of Becky and his insensitive reminder that she remain in the dark. I almost forget about the asshole comment he made regarding my so-called angst. And Ialmostforget about the chills I felt when he twined my hair around his hand, and the warmth that erupted in my chest when I thought he might kiss me.
Almost.
5
I CLIMB DOWN FROM THE TRUCK.I’m shoving thoughts of Max into the darkest recesses of my mind, looping one strap of my bag over my shoulder when, from a good fifty feet away, Leo calls, “Jill! Go wide!”
My bag whacks my hip as I whirl around. A football rockets through the air, a blur of russet leather speeding toward my face. With a gasp and a quickness that surprises me, I dodge it—barely. It whizzes past my ear, bounces on the asphalt, and rolls under the bumper of a nearby Kia.
“Jesus, Leo, watch it!” Max shouts. “You almost took her head off!”
Leo chuckles. “Aw, come on, Jill. You’re supposed to catch those!”
I stoop to retrieve the ball. “How about a little warning next time?”
“Seriously,” Kyle says. “Bruise my best friend’s face and I’ll be forced to bruise yours.”
