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“Boy, do I know that,” Tam said dryly.
“Then you should know that once I’ve taken that step, there’s no going back.”
“I know,” she said, much quieter this time.
“Tam.” He waited for her to look fully at him, none of this flitting around thing she did with her eyes sometimes. “I’ve taken the step. I’m fully committed. I’m not going to go back and forth anymore.”
She nodded, though a healthy portion of fear rode in her eyes. He felt it stinging way down in his soul, and he had the sudden urge to offer up another prayer. Instead, her phone rang, a shrieking, piercing sound that made them both jump.
Her phone sat on the desk in front of her, and he looked at the screen. He saw Hayes’s name there about the same time Tam did. Her gaze flew back to his, and time froze.
Blaine wondered if she’d have ever confessed her feelings for him if her ex-boyfriend hadn’t been coming back into town. Would he have ever recognized his feelings for her? Would he have ever acted on them even if he had?
Her mouth moved, and he blinked. Time moved forward again. “Should I answer it?” she asked.
“Sure,” Blaine said. “You didn’t last time, so maybe see what he has to say.” Blaine already knew what Hayes Powell would say. He’d tell Tam how much he missed her, and that he was sorry. He’d talk her ear off about his amazing job in California, and in some strange way, he’d get into her good graces again, and ask her to dinner.
In less than ten minutes, Blaine thought.You wait and see. Ten bucks says he asks her out in under ten minutes.
He couldn’t really bet against himself, and he took another bite of his sandwich as she swiped on the call. Anything to make it look like he didn’t care that she spoke to her ex-fiancé.
“Hayes,” she said, plenty of venom in her voice. Maybe he’d lose his own bet.
His heart boomed in his chest in a strange way, because he’d just told her he was ready to take the first step to take their friendship to the next level. The very next thing she’d done was answer the call from Hayes.
“No,” she said, turning away from Blaine in such a familiar gesture that his chest squeezed. Someone had wrapped him in a rubber band and was twisting it tighter and tighter.
Tam reached up and tucked her hair, and though Blaine couldn’t see the smile on her face, he knew it sat there. He’d seen her duck her head, tuck her hair, and giggle whenever Hayes called so many times he’d lost count.
“Ten seconds,” Blaine muttered to himself. Whatever magic powder Hayes Powell had been dipped in couldn’t be sold at stores. If it could, Blaine would’ve bought some a long time ago.
Some people just had charisma. Cayden was like that. Trey sometimes too, especially if he was in a good mood. There was a reason they did a lot of the work around the ranch that required them to deal with other people. They were very, very good with people—and Hayes was just like that.
Tam paced away from Blaine, and though the shed wasn’t that big, he couldn’t hear what she was saying. He felt like a fool, sitting there listening to the woman he’d kissed twice in the past couple of weeks talking to her ex.
You’re thirty-eight, he told himself.Do something.
He was tired of sitting around, waiting for life to happen to him. Maybe it was time for him todo something.
Blaine shoved the last of his sandwich in his mouth and stood up. He wiped his hands, finished eating, and started toward Tam.
“…that’s all I’m saying,” she said, her voice low. He wasn’t sure if it was flirty or not, because he could hardly hear much past the beating of his blood through his veins. “Yeah, I think—”
“Hey there, sugar,” Blaine said in a loud voice, taking the phone from her with a single swipe of his hand. “Who you talkin’ to?” He put the phone to his ear as if he’d just come upon Tam.
He stared into her shocked, wide eyes as he said, “Who’s this?” He sounded happy, but he was decidedly not as confusion and frustration swirled within him.
“Blaine,” Tam said, and he couldn’t tell if she was happy about what he’d done or not.
“Who is this?” Hayes asked, his arrogance thick even from a thousand miles away.
“Oh, I asked you first,” Blaine said though he was too old to play games. “Tam looked a little upset, and I thought I’d take over.”
Hayes said nothing, and Blaine’s nerves rattled through his bones. “The screen says Hayes,” he said. “Are you seriously calling the woman you ditched over a year ago?”
“Who are you?” Hayes asked again, but Blaine wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of telling him. If he did, Hayes would know Tam was just hanging out with her best friend.
“I’m her boyfriend,” he said, making his voice hard. “I’d really appreciate it if you deleted her number from your phone and stopped calling.”
