Page 4 of The One With The Secret Crushes

"You look like shit."

I had the very best of friends. "Thanks?"

Travis Montgomery rolled his eyes. "No seriously, what is going on with you, Scottie?"

I looked around the offices of Outdoor Experiences of Lost Creek, or ODX for short. Travis spent two days a week in the offices helping with the business side of the operation and the rest of his life outdoors. Lucky for me, ODX was right next door to my bar and I could bother him all I wanted to on office days.

"I haven't been sleeping well."

"No shit. You should come on my hike tomorrow. Get out and away from work for a day."

Usually I had no problem taking Travis up on his outdoor adventure offers. We grew up hiking, rafting, and climbing together with our friends Digger and Huk. Travis and Huk made it their lives to be outdoors at all times, while Digger went to work for his dad, and I went to work at the saloon after a short detour through culinary school. When Huk moved away we kept up our routine, eventually adding poker nights to our rotations of activities. It wasn't the same without Huk, but there was nothing we could do to bring him home, so we made the most of our slightly off-kilter friendships. Lately I hadn't been in the mood for much of anything except cooking, and even that was proving frustrating.

"I'll think about it." It wasn't a terrible idea. I needed to do something to get me out of this funk and pushing my body to the limit was guaranteed to earn me a good night of sleep.

But all I really wanted to do was walk into the Lost Creek Cabin offices and ask Mackenzie why she was avoiding me like the plague.

"Was I a dick in high school?"

Travis balked. "No. Where the fuck did that come from?"

I shrugged. There had to be a reason Mackenzie hated me. She wouldn't make eye contact. If she saw me in the distance she changed her course. It was so fucking obvious it had to be intentional. Considering we hadn't really spoken since the day she left for college, whatever I'd done had to have taken place back then. "I dunno. Been contemplating life or some shit."

Travis grunted. "You know, I've noticed something."

Well that couldn't be good. "Okay?"

He shuffled a stack of release forms into a folder and set it aside. "You became a grumpy ass around the time Mack moved back."

I looked to the ceiling for patience. "I'm always a grumpy ass."

"True. But your mood has been decidedly awful for approximately six and a half months."

"Approximately?"

He leaned back in his chair and set his boots on the corner of the desk before threading his fingers behind his head. "Let me lay this out for you, buddy. In October you learned Mack was moving back and that her dad was dying. You were both sad and excited. You got a haircut, you fuckingshaved." For some reason he cocked an eyebrow at me. "You started dressing nicer."

"Is there a point to this?" I already knew all of this. I'd just been hoping no one noticed.

"And then she was here and your mood went south fast and has stayed there ever since."

A man didn't walk around with a spring in his step when the only woman he'd everwantedwas ignoring him. It was just a scientific fact.

"And you're a good dude. Her dad was dying. You gave her space. You let her mourn. But man, something has to give. You're a pain in the ass and Joanne won't shut up about how she has to get Mack a social life."

It was tricky being in love with a woman who didn't know you were in love with her. Even trickier when she worked with your best friend's sister.

"I also happened to notice the frequency of your visits to these fine offices escalated exponentially when Joanne started working with Mack. Me thinks someone is hoping for information."

"Me thinks?" But yes, dammit, I was hoping for information. Every little morsel he dropped I ate up and asked for more.

How is the new job going? Does Joanne like working with her best friend? Tell them to drop by the saloon after work. Drinks on me.

I was a fool. Of course Travis noticed. It wasn't like he wasn't well fucking aware of my crush on her in high school. She was two years younger than us and I treated our friendship with caution. Mostly because losing her friendship would have gutted me, but also because the age difference felt insurmountable at the time. She'd lost her mom and with it some of her core teenage experiences. She was playing catchup and the last thing she needed was an upperclassman drooling all over her while she did it.

"If you want the inside scoop, just ask." Travis spread his arms out wide, a stupid smirk on his stupid face.

Fuck it. "How is she?"

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