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“Seeing as you come here every night, it wasn’t hard to deduce where you might be.” He sat down beside me, and I could feel a hum coming from him even with several inches between us.
“Just say whatever it is that is bubbling up inside of you.” I knew that whatever it was, I wasn’t going to like it.
“You didn’t run the last couple of days.”
“You’re still showing me those stalker tendencies. And how do you know? Are you sitting up in your room every minute of every day watching for me?” I kept looking out at the water wishing it was warm. What I wouldn’t give to be floating while looking at the stars while pretending I was swimming in them.
“Because you only run at night, and usually once it’s dark. What I’m not going to tell you is how I know when you leave. Are you going to tell me why you haven’t been running?”
“Why would I, when you won’t tell me how you know when I leave? Did you put a tracker in my shoes?”
He laughed deep and hard, lying back in the sand. “Not even remotely.” We were silent for a long moment before he sat up and scooted closer. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“Talk about what? I’m fine. I just didn’t feel like running.”
“But you did after waking up at my house in the middle of the night?”
“So what? There’s no law saying I can’t run at three in the morning. I felt like running, so I did. If I knew you would magically wake up and join me, I would have just gone home.”
“That’s not what I’m saying, and you know it. You could have stayed.”
“I’d already imposed enough. Your sister would get the wrong idea about us if I stayed.”
He jerked back before leaning forward and wrapping his arms around his bent knees. “Payton liked you. She told me so in the kitchen when we were getting the food. But make no mistake, it was me who found you first.”
“Oh, I won’t forget. It wasn’t your sister who stalked me down to the beach,” I sighed and turned to look at him for the first time since he arrived. “You don’t have to keep following me. I promised I wouldn’t go back into the water, and I meant it. Even though I hate my life, I’m not suicidal.” I traced shapes in the sand with my finger. “You should have stayed all nice and warm inside your house.”
“I can’t do that,” was his simple reply.
“Why not?”
Turning away from me, Slade looked out at the water and shook his head. “I haven’t figured it out yet, and I’m not sure I’ll tell you once I do figure it out.”
“Why not?” I repeated my question.
“Because you’ll probably run away, and I won’t be able to catch you.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
SLADE
“I don’t understand.” Her voice was quiet, trembling.
“Neither do I,” I answered truthfully because I had no idea what was happening to me or between us. I was ninety-nine percent certain Harley wanted nothing to do with me. She’d pushed me away time and time again, except for the few times she didn’t. She tolerated me when we had lunch with each other and let me follow her on her runs, but that was about it. Except that tonight, she sought me out. She rang my doorbell, ate dinner with me, and watched a movie. A movie she promptly fell asleep during, but it didn’t matter.
Her body deflated, and I knew I wasn’t going to like what she had to say the second she opened her mouth. “Slade, don’t get invested in me. You’ve known all along that I’m leaving. Why do this to yourself?”
“The better question is, why do this to yourself? I understand there are problems between you and your mom. Ones I know nothing about—” I scooted closer until we were all but touching. “— But why leave when you have someone right here who cares about you?”
Her head was already shaking even as she shifted the smallest fraction closer to me. I didn’t think she even realized it. “You don’t even know me. How can you care?”
“I’ve cared from that very first night.”
“But why?” Her trembling hand reached out, but she quickly dropped it to the sand.
Picking up her tiny hand in mine, it felt cold. I tried to infuse my warmth into her. “It’s not something I can explain. I just do, so accept it.”
A small laugh escaped her. They were few and far between, but I liked hearing the sound. In fact, I wanted more of it. I wanted to hear it every day.
