Again, I held back my immediate response, and instead of saying, “I plead the fifth,” said instead, “The latter.” Quickly adding, “She came through Cedar Falls. Lives here. Apparently lost her contacts and grabbed my phone before I could respond. When I failed to give her my passcode, and respectfully declined to give it to her, she eventually left.”
Mae blinked. Stared at me.
“I’ve never lied to you once, and don’t intend to start. Even if it’s self-incriminatory. You know everything there is to know about me, good and bad.”
“I believe you.”
“Then what’s with the frown face?”
“I don’t like that I cared whether or not you gave her your number.”
Time to clear the air.
“One—”
“Here we go.” Finally, a smile. “Why is everything a list?”
“Because that’s how my brain works, I guess. One, the kiss wasn’t stupid. Two, it wasn’t a mistake. And three, I like that you care. Correction, I love that you care.”
I couldn’t keep the grin off my face if I tried.
Mae processed that information. I could tell the exact moment she understood my implication. More than an implication. A flat-out admission.
“Do you think it was a mistake?”
She was clearly frustrated. “Yes. No. I don’t know, Beck. It just… happened. I honestly didn’t think it through.”
“Neither of us did. But you’ve thought about it since.”
“I have.”
“And?”
“Well, obviously it’s complicated things. I’ve never watched you give a woman your number, or take it,” she added when I was about to correct her, “and been upset about it.”
I would probably regret asking this.
“Never?”
She opened her mouth. And then closed it.
That was a start, at least.
“I know about the rule,” she blurted.
Well, shit. “Since?”
“Just recently. Delaney mentioned it. She just assumed I already knew. Delaney wasn’t trying to stir up anything?—”
I stopped her. “I don’t blame Delaney. Honestly, I’m surprised you hadn’t heard about it already. Not that I thought one of the guys would mention it but…” I looked at her. This wasn’t a conversation I wanted to have while we were driving.
“Where are you going?” she asked as I pulled over. We were between two houses, the lake on our left, in a neighborhood not far from where my parents and sister lived.
“Just pulling over. This is a conversation years in the making,” I admitted, turning off the engine and facing her. “The rule was real. We made the pact because we were stupid enough to think we could protect ourselves. And that one was specifically for me because the guys knew if you showed any interest in me, inthatway, it would be different. But there’s no protecting myself from you anymore. I crossed that line the second I kissed you. Hell, probably before that.”
“How could we have been so close, me knowing everything about you, like you said, except that?”
Grinning, I reminded her, “I never kept it a secret from you, Mae.”
