“Did you work together?”
“No.”
“How did you meet him?”
Wade shifted in his seat.“He lived across the street from me.I was obsessed with sports as a kid, maybe because my home life was… not ideal.I played outside from dawn until dusk, and so did he.I’d never met anyone as competitive as I was, who played as hard as I did.He was, like, my soul mate.”
She smiled at the phrase, which men rarely used to refer to each other.
“He enlisted right out of high school.Then he met Natalie and fell hard for her.By the time I graduated from UT, he was married with a baby on the way.”
“Were they happy?”
Wade nodded, his expression bleak.“Before he left, he asked me to take care of Natalie and Marcus.I agreed, of course.I never thought he wouldn’t come back.”
“When did you fall in love with her?”
His gaze sharpened.“Why do you think I fell in love with her?”
“Did you?”she pressed.
Instead of denying it, he shrugged.“We became friends after Mike died.For me, it grew into something else.”
“Not for her?”
“Not for her.”
“Did you tell her how you felt?”
His mouth twisted wryly.“I did, but it was too late.”
“What do you mean?”
“One of Mike’s comrades came to Texas to pay his respects, and they ended up together.She’s engaged to him now.”
“You’re kidding.”
“No.”
“Is he a good man?”
“He’s okay,” Wade said begrudgingly.
Meredith fell silent, trying not to be fascinated by Wade Hendricks.She failed miserably.
“So, what’s your story?”he asked.
“My story?”
“Don’t pretend you don’t have one.”
She pulled her gaze from his.“I don’t know what you mean.”
“You’ve lived thirty-five uneventful years?”he said in a mocking tone.
Meredith set down her teacup, conflicted.He’d just opened up to her about his dead best friend and an unrequited love.She felt guilty for lying to him about her age, among other things.“I ran away from home when I was seventeen.”
His brows rose with surprise.
