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“After our run, if you want to see it. It’s not much.”
She casts me a suspicious look but doesn’t object, and we set off toward the running path down the street.
“I know. You invited me here because you need a roommate to help pay for that money pit. You’re trying to sell me on the area as part of your pitch.”
That’s so far away from my real motive that laughter breaks my stride, and I have to pause to catch my breath.
“What?” Hollie stops to face me, hand on her hips.
“The house is covered.” I smile and shake my head as we pick back up.
“I’d say your dad was feeling generous, but that place seems like more of a punishment than a reward. Did you piss him off?”
“He pissed me off, but that has nothing to do with the house. It’s not his or mine. It’s Wes’s.” We round the corner and cross over a little footbridge to get to the other side of a tiny stream.
“Wes could probably afford much better, why would he buy that place?”
“It’s got good bones.”
“Whatever,” she snorts, not interested in the house now that she knows I’m not looking for a roommate. “What did Colt do for you to willingly move into that place while it’s under construction?”
This is it, the moment of truth. I force my voice to stay as even as my stride. “He convinced Wes that we were too young to be serious about each other before Wes left for college and encouraged him to let me go so he could focus on football.”
I make it four or five steps before realizing Hollie is no longer beside me. Stopping abruptly, I put my hands on my head to catch my breath and turn around. She’s several yards back, chest heaving, mouth hanging open in shock. Before I can say anything she breaks into a grin and starts laughing, bending at the waist as she grips her sides.
“Oh my gosh, you totally had me there. You sounded so serious, I almost bought it. How did you say that with a straight face?”
My stomach sinks. I’d rather she reject the idea than dismiss it as impossible. Now what?
“Seriously, what’d Colt do to make you give up the good life in favor of a construction zone?” she rests her hands on her hips, trying to catch her breath.
“I told you.” I turn and resume running.
“Hey wait.” Hollie jogs to catch up and falls into pace next to me. “You told me you had a thing with your stepbrotherin high school. Even if that were true, I don’t buy that Colt would say anything. You didn’t talk about him much back then, but I know he wasn’t the fatherly type.”
“He wasn’t, until one day he was. And don’t call Wes my stepbrother. It’s misleading.” I remember when he and I used to insist on that term as a way to show we weren’t related by blood. Now even that word feels tainted.
“How is that misleading? It’s the literal term for two people whose parents got married.” Hollie pants next to me.
“That makes it sound like we grew up together, which we didn’t.” I steer us toward the fork in the path that’s the quickest way back to the house. “Besides, He was legally an adult by the time his dad married my mom.”
“Fine, you didn’t grow up together. You’re very touchy all of a sudden. Is this your way of telling me you don’t want to set me up with Wes?”
“No.”
“I mean, he’s easily the hottest man I’ve ever seen, but if it bothers you, forget I said anything.”
“Okay.” I increase my pace, desperate to get back to the bubble where Wes and I can exist alone.
“So really, how did Colt piss you off?”
“He stole eight years of my life, made me afraid to trust men and nearly cost me Wes.” Once again, I don’t break my stride as the truth comes out. If she thinks it’s another joke I’m not sure I can stomach it.
“Nearly cost you…Hey, isn’t this the way back to the house?” Hollie asks as she registers our surroundings. “I thought we were doing at least six miles?”
“I’m not in the mood to run anymore.”
“What? Why?”
