Second Chance (45 page)

“Hey, you
,
”
she says
.

I
acknowledge her with a
half grin
.
I love having her here on my bed
.
Her elbow
resting on
my knee
.
I hate that I love it
.
 

“
Kari
’s fine
.”

I
blink
at the ceiling.

“It wasn’t poison oak
,” Dylan says
.
“You were right
.
I
t was just a reaction to field grass or something blooming on the path that brushed h
er leg
.
The doctor prescribed
cortisone
and
Advil
.
She was hungry, so
I treated her to Starbucks on the way home.”

I squeeze the icepack harder against my shoulder and thank Dylan for taking her to the emergency room
.
I tell her I owe her one
.
She’s quiet for a mome
nt and I finally meet her eyes. There’s a
deep crease between them
.
She’s upset about something
.

“What is it?”
I ask.

“
Kari
’s not such a bad gir
l, you know
.
She
was just
scared
today
.
”

I shrug
.
I was scared too
.
It’s not every
day someone tries to push me o
ff the side of
a cliff
.

“I don’t think hi
king is a white trash date idea,” she adds.

I exhale
loudly
.
“Give it a rest, Dylan.”

“I’m just saying.”

“It wasn’t hiking,” I say
.
I sit up on my elbows and stare at Dylan
.
“It was watching someone have a nervous breakdown for
two
hours straight
.
Her autobiography could be titled
Borderline Psychotic
.”
I flop back down on the bed and stare at the ceiling.

“I’m done,” I say.

Dylan looks down at me
.
“Done?”

“With dating
.
It isn’t worth it
.
It shouldn’t be this painful.”

“You’re a little young to retire in the dating department.”

“I suck at it.”
I rub my hand over my face
.
“It shouldn’t be this much work.”

Dylan shakes her head
.
“Not if it’s the right person.”

I can feel her eyes on me
,
but I refuse to meet her gaze
.
She sums up my entire dilemma in one sentence
.
 

Dylan’s voice softens
.
“
Kari
’s really beautiful.” 

I s
mirk at this observation
.
“
B
eauty has its limits,” I say
.
“
Her
s
ends
on
the surface.
”
 
 

Dylan’s quiet and she taps her feet to the music
.
She leans against my leg
.
It makes my whole body heat up
.
I have an urge to grab her
arms
and pull he
r
on top of me
.
I clench my fingers
tighter around the ice pack
instead.

“So, is
Kari
your type these days?” Dylan asks
.

“What
do you mean
?” I ask.

“You know, petit
e
,
big boobs, wears short-shorts
.”

I narrow my eyes at this question and I know what Dylan’s getting at
.
All of those features are the exact opposite of her
, l
ike I’m trying to avoid every aspect of Dylan
.
Find her complete opposite
.
Stay the furthest away from her
that
I can
.
In a way, maybe I am
.

“I don’t have a type.” 

Dylan
’s
hair
falls over her shoulder and
brushes the
skin on my chest and it makes
my stomach tense up
.
I glance at her but
she’s oblivious
to
her affect on me
.
She’s looking away from
me, absorbed in her thoughts
.
I touch some of her hair and
it feels light and warm, like
silk
.

Maybe that’s why I’m so attracted to Dylan
.
She’s so unaware
.
She doesn’t even try to catch my attention
.
She doesn’t try to be sexy or force herself to look just right
.
She just is
.
And it makes me
crave
her that much more
, b
ecause she hides all of that sexiness under the surface
.
It’s more of a challenge to pull it out
.

I curl my fingers around her wrist
and she looks down at me
.
  

“You know why I asked
Kari
out, don’t you?”

She
raises a single shoulder
.
“Because
you like
her?”
 

I close my eyes and
shake my head
.
“I’m trying to
avoid
you.”
I’m surprised to hear myself admit it out loud.

Dylan
pulls
her arm out of my
grasp
and
leans away from me
.
“I get it, Gray
,
” she says
.
“You’re over me
.
Congratulations
.
But you could at least be honest with me
.
You could have told me you had a date today.”

I
look up at her
.
“You
believe
I’m over you?” I ask
.
Did I fool one of the most perceptive girls I’ve ever met?

She says it’s obvious
.
“You should see the way you look at me sometimes
.
Like you despise me
.
Like it makes your skin crawl
to be in the same room with me
.
I hate that I have
that effect
on you.”
 
She looks down at
the empty space between us
.
“You were right
.
I waited too
long and I’m trying to bring the past back instead of just accepting
this is over
.”

I feel my chest ache
.
Finally, all this acting paid off
.
Then why do I feel sick about it
?
Maybe I want
ed
to hurt her, because she hurt me
.
I want
ed
her to see what it’s like to feel powerless
.
To love somebody and lose them
.

Her eyes meet mine and they’re
filled with sadness
. T
his has gone on too long
.
It’s time to stop
thinking so hard and move
.