She threw her head back and laughed. “Uh, what?”
“Are you second guessing this because you still have feelings for Tanner?”
Her mouth dropped open, her kind eyes hardening. She blinked at me. Then she blinked again. Seconds turned to minutes and an anxiety I’d never experienced before hit me.Can I handle if she has feelings for someone else? Even if this is fake?
“Why would you ask that?” she said, after minutes of silence that stifled me. She was never quiet. Ever. She was my Gabs. Her eyes were not soft now.
“Tanner told me you had a thing last year. You were involved. I thought you would’ve told me, but since you didn’t, I’m assuming you still have feelings for him.” My voice sounded foreign to me. It was hard, angry and rough.
She crossed her arms and her entire face hardened. It hurt. I couldn’t blame her, though. I was verbally attacking her and I couldn’t stop. “If you do, I don’t care. But don’t do anything about it until the six months is over. You know what’s on the line for me.”
Liar, liar. I fucking care. I can’t fucking stand the thought of her and Tanner.
She sucked in her bottom lip, nostrils flaring out to a dangerous degree. Her hand twitched and I prepared for a slap to the face. I deserved it. But she closed the distance between us and kissed me.What the fuck?
It was rough. Passionate. And angry? Her teeth clamped down on my bottom lip so hard it hurt. When she released her grip on me, she lifted her mouth close to my ear to whisper, “You’re a fucking idiot. We have an audience andthatis the only reason I am not smacking you in the face.”
She clenched her fists at her sides, but her eyes gave everything away. Sadness, regret and disappointment. Then she walked out and left the cake. Warning sign. Gretaneverleft a dessert behind.
Chapter Eleven
Greta
I slammed my forehead onto the table once, twice and a third time. Maybe, just maybe, if I hit it hard enough, the overwhelming doom would go away. I hit it again but remained in the same place.Too damn bad we aren’t wizards.
“G?” Callie bounced around the apartment in her running clothes and smelled like outside. “Was someone knocking?”
“Nah, that was me.” I did it again. “I’m having a pity party. Want an invitation?”
“Are there free drinks?” She chuckled and sat across from me. “What’s wrong?”
“All these scholarships for future teachers. I need to win some. Then, there is financial aid and the applications suck. My parents make enough right now so I won’t get help. They won’t have this much after the forced retirement and after my brother’s divorce is finalized. I’m stressing.”
“Shit. That sounds like a lot.” She rubbed my back. “God, your back feels like rocks are in it.”
“It’s my tension. I carry it around with me all day like your damn fanny pack.” I cracked my neck and she worked on the knots. Bless her little athletic training hands. “Am I having a quarter-life crisis?”
“No.” She stopped massaging and smacked my neck. “You get ten more minutes of feeling sorry for yourself. Then I’m going to force you to run with me.”
“No. Not the R word.” I pushed myself up and scanned all the documents on the table. “Fine. You win. I suck.”
She ran her finger over her chin and studied me. “Does this have anything to do with Aaron?”
“Oh. Him.” I grunted. I hadn’t seen him in six days. Six days. Because of baseball. He was expected to get back tomorrow, the day of my official performance. I was anxious and nervous and desperate to see him. We hadn’t ended on good terms. Not at all.
I commented on all his posts like we’d planned. I posted my own pictures of us and everything. But he’d been playing baseball out of town all week and hadn’t had time to text. Not that I was waiting for texts. That would be needy. I still hadn’t received an apology from him and I needed one.Like I have feelings for Tanner when my world revolves around Aaron? Psh.“I’m still upset with him.”
“Girl, I would be too!” She sighed. “Zade’s called me each night, but it’s for minutes. I feel pathetic. Missing him so much. It freaks me out. What the hell am I going to do when he’s off pitching in the majors some day? Will he forget about me?”
My heart folded. Callie was feeling insecure and that took priority. I preferred to focus on the problems of everyone else because I was a mess. “Cal, you and Zade are going to do whatever it takes. He loves you. You know this.”
“Yeah, but he seems so sure about our future, like it’s no question we’ll make it. How can he be so damn sure?”
“You’re going to do whatever you need to. My parents always said relationships, good ones, take work. It’s not all rainbows and fairy dust and shit.” I patted her hand. “Him playing baseball is a part of who he is. You’ll adapt to it, just like you adapted to school here. And look how well you’re doing here.”
“God. You win the best friend award.” Her eyes didn’t hold the same amount of worry. “I’m an asshole. You were stressing and I made it about me. Talk to me, Goose.”
“Uh, it’s stupid.” I stretched my arms, procrastinating. Callie was relentless. “Aaron and I have always been close. When we’re talking or hanging out…it’s never weird. I mean, the couple of staged kisses we had were a little shocking.”
