Page 31 of Rematch
“Max is spicing it. We haven’t actually hung out. He’s come by my window a few times and we had dinner with our parents. That’s it.”
“Hold on, we’re not going to speed by the window part. Someone’s got a real-life Romeo on their hands.”
I rolled my eyes. “The bottom line is: nothing has happened between us. Max was just trying to get under Carter’s skin.”
Gianna nodded. “I see, I see. So, this type of behavior isn’t new?”
I shook my head. “In high school, he used to chase boys off like it was a sport.”
She laughed. “Sounds like he still has feelings for you.”
“No,” I replied quickly. “Max is just overprotective. Always has been.”
“Or…he wants that old thing back.”
“Gi, Max and I are friends. I’ve made that very clear to him.”
“But, are you both alright with being just friends?”
“Yeah. I mean, we have to be. I’m dating Carter, and Max…” I sighed. “I feel like I don’t even know who he is anymore.”
“I didn’t ask if y’allneededto be. I asked if that’s what y’allwant.”
“Gi, we are in a carnival booth, not a therapist’s office. Can we not talk about this right now?”
“Sure,” she said with a shrug. “But you can’t keep running from the answer. No matter how fast you think you are, it’s going to catch up with you.”
“I know,” I murmured. And based on the brief interaction I saw tonight, it was catching up faster than I expected.
Chapter 14
Max
“Take a picture, it’ll last longer,” I heard Tony tease.
Since we returned to our booth a few feet up the aisle from Audrey’s, I’d barely taken my eyes off of her. We’d gotten a lot of the high-school and college aged trainees to volunteer to help with our booth. Most of them needed the community service hours for their projects or resumes, and this was a perfect way to gain some. They all practically set-up and ran the booth for us. All Tony and I had to do was supervise.
The break was nice. Especially since I had a lovely view of Audrey’s smile and her hip hugging jeans. She seemed like she was having a ball running the booth with her friend. They hyped up the younger children to do their best and cracked jokes with the older ones when they missed. The wind carried her laugh, filling the air like sweet music. It’d been a minute since I’d seen her so happy. Joy always looked so beautiful on her.
Without breaking my stare on Audrey, I flipped Tony off.
Two other women wearing the same tee shirts as Audrey and her friend, Gianna, came over. They all conversed for a brief moment, and I heard Audrey say, “Thank you!” as she moved out from inside the booth.
She and Gianna linked arms as they started walking down the path towards the other rides and attractions the carnival had to offer.
I hopped off the booth ledge I was sitting on. “I’ll be right back,” I told Tony.
“Lord,” he mumbled. “Here y’all go.”
Ignoring him, I headed out of the booth and followed after the girls. I stayed more than a few steps behind, keeping a close eye on Audrey’s ponytail of bouncing curls.
They finally stopped in front of the food booth Benny was running. Audrey chatted with her father for a few minutes, notably shaking her finger and tilting her head in disapproval a few times.
While I watched their conversation, I spotted a funnel cake station with practically no line. I quickly hurried over and purchased one.
By the time the cashier handed me the sweet treat, burning the palm of my hand through the paper plate, the girls were on the move again.
They walked for another few minutes towards the field serving as an impromptu parking lot. I thought about speeding up, so I could catch Audrey before she left. But, they stopped a few feet before the rows of cars.
