Page 43 of The Other Room

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“Dude. What is up with you?” Aaron asked.

I stared at the old drink ring stain on the wooden bar at the Sister Bay Bowl and shrugged. “Nothing.”

“Nothing? This is the least amount of words I’ve ever heard from you in a five-minute span. Like ever.”

I looked up to see his blue eyes boring into me, a quizzical look scrunching up his face.

“Nothing, man. Just tired. Been working hard on Jo’s place is all.”

The same scrunched look remained while he stared me down.

Laughing, I lifted my hand. “Promise. All good.”

His eyes narrowed a little, and he stroked the long red beard that swallowed up most of his face. “Mmmhmm.”

“Just tired,” I lied. I couldn’t very well tell him the real answer.

I almost kissed Jo, and she bolted away and then avoided me like I had the plague for three days.

“All right, then,” he said, but his tone lacked conviction.

Attempting to pretend like everything was normal between us, like she hadn’t shattered my soul when she’d run off from our almost kiss, I had done my damnedest today to act unaffected. I’d put on a performance worthy of an Oscar while I’d played the part of the old friend. The old friend who wasn’t dying to press her back into the sand and cover her lips with mine.

But if keeping her in my life meant spending the rest of mine pretending we were just friends, then that’s exactly what I planned to do. Would it be painful? Oh God, yeah. Excruciating? For a while. Okay, a long while. But eventually I’d grow numb to it and being next to her without pulling her into my arms wouldn’t feel like a task more difficult than scaling a rocky cliff with my bare hands. It would be painful, yes, borderline unbearable, but I would endure it until I could quiet the screaming inside me.

I’d done it when I was fourteen, and I could do it again.

I hoped.

Inviting her to drinks tonight had been part of my ruse to act normal, to keep from spooking her into avoiding me again. But the minute the words had rolled off my tongue I’d wanted to shove them back in. A night of just the two of us sipping on cocktails was more than my body could endure this soon after I’d almost gotten to kiss her. A temptation too strong while I still felt the power of her pull.

So, I’d called in reinforcements. Tony and Aaron. Jake and Cassie were out of town for a couple nights or I’d have dragged them here, too. The more bodies I could keep between me and Jo the better. And I’d decided to take our evening up to the Sister Bay Bowl, the local bar and bowling alley, because if anything could douse the attraction I had toward Jo, it was bowling shoes.

My gaze drifted over to the door again, then up to the clock hanging on the wall. She should be here any minute. When I looked away from the clock, I saw Aaron’s interrogating stare boring into me.

“What?” I defended against his silent accusation.

His eyes narrowed into slits. “Nothing.” But his gaze remained, and I worried any minute he’d figure out what thoughts were running a marathon through my mind.

The door opened, and I whipped around to see Jo walking in.

My God is she beautiful.

And not in that overdone kind of way like so many girls I saw these days. Her beauty was natural. Effortless. No harsh makeup chiseled lines into her face masking the features I didn’t think could ever be improved. When she looked over and saw me staring, I forced a smile and waved. It was time to step back out onto the stage and put on another performance where I starred as the platonic best friend. Too bad it had quickly become my award-winning role.

“Hey, Jo!” I called.

She smiled back and walked over, sliding into the stool beside me. “God, I need a drink. My feet are killing me.”

“Hey, Jo!” Aaron leaned around me and rapped her on the shoulder.

“Hey, Aaron! Didn’t know you guys were coming out tonight.”

“Hell, yeah! Now that you two have a sweet pad in Sister Bay we’re planning on coming to town more often.”

“No complaints here.” She smiled and gave him a fist bump.