Jacob shook his head and climbed out of his truck. Hallie didn’t realize she’d dodged a bullet with him. That was why she wasavoiding him. She might be feeling embarrassed for confessing her feelings and that was normal. But if she knew just how much of a shadow clung to him, then she would have turned the other way.
Hallie was all sunshine and rainbows. She could find the bright side in every situation. She was the perfect hype man when it came to preparing for a competition. That was why he missed her. She was yin and he was yang. She was light and he was dark. She was all smiles and he was serious.
They completed each other but not in a romantic way.
Definitely not a romantic way.
Because she might possibly be his best friend and he’d never want that to change.
Jacob headed inside and dropped his keys in the bowl on the table near the door. He flipped on a switch and glanced around the clean space. It had never felt cold before. Quiet, yes. But cold? He fought a shiver and moved toward the thermostat. Maybe the AC was on too high.
But no, the temperature was set to a comfortable seventy degrees. Being up in the woods, the trees offered most of the climate control and the air conditioning didn’t have to work too hard.
He tapped at the thermostat then sighed and moved into the kitchen to fix a snack. With a turkey sandwich in hand, he glanced around the empty space. It was just how he’d left it and yet something was off. Jacob couldn’t put his finger on it and that bothered him to no end. Maybe he needed to hire someone to come out and clean the place up, air it out while he was gone on his trips.
But no, that didn’t seem like it’d solve this nagging feeling.
Maybe it wasn’t the house that was bothering him. Maybe it was that strange empty feeling he had. Or the sense that something big was going to change in his life.
He shuddered.
Jacob refused to lose a friendship over this. He should have gone after Hallie that night and made sure they were in a good place. He shouldn’t have listened to Brent when he told him to give her space. Hallie wasn’t that kind of person. She had a need to settle things when times got tough. It was that whole mentality of not going to bed upset.
And he’d done that. He’d been the one to tip her life on its side and all the contents had come out.
He dropped his half-eaten sandwich on the plate he’d left on the counter and brushed the breadcrumbs from his fingers. Jacob didn’t have feelings for her. But that didn’t mean he didn’t care for her. He’d make this right one way or the other.
Pulling out his phone, he scrubbed at his jaw. All he knew was that he needed to get her to agree to hang out with him. If they could just be in the same place and he could get her to talk to him, then maybe he could put her at ease and make the whole situation less awkward.
Jacob:Hey, can we talk?
The second he sent it,Jacob regretted it. That sounded ominous while at the same time made it seem like he could have changed his mind. Hallie could read it either way.
Dang it!
Jacob:Saw you at the arena, but you left before I could say hi.
He scratchedthe back of his head and then groaned. What was he doing? When the message showed as read, his heart dropped.
Making a mess of things, that’s what. Jacob tossed his phone aside and sighed. He’d track her down in person. They had to figure this out because heaven knew he needed his friend more than he’d wanted to admit.
CHAPTER THREE
Hallie losttrack of how many times she’d read Jacob’s message. He rarely messaged her. Usually, she was the one sending funny memes or little notes of encouragement and he shot back messages of thanks.
Occasionally he wanted to hang out and would let her know where he was going to be that night and tell her she should show up.
But this?
The messages he’d sent last week were so out of character. And she knew she was completely to blame. She’d messed up their dynamic and now he was feeling how strange it was between them.
She could kick herself for all of it.
Her focus snagged on the book she’d purchased and she glowered at it. “This is your fault,” she muttered. “I should have never even picked you up.” She rolled over onto her bed and brought a pillow to her face before she let out a disgruntledsound into the feathery softness. “Great, now I’m talking to inanimate objects. I’ve officially gone crazy.”
By now, everyone in her family knew something had happened between herself and Jacob. Her cousins were aware because Caleb couldn’t keep his mouth shut. Not after he’d used up all his ability on lying about his fake marriage to Sammie that he didn’t want to be so fake after all.
The looks she was getting from her cousins bothered her the most because they were friends with Jacob. She could practically see the pity in their eyes whenever Jacob’s name came up which was frequent now that Brent’s folks were warming up to the rodeo again.
