Beyond Repair (9 page)

“Do you have any idea what time it is?” Zoey snapped as she answered the phone.

Frowning, I glanced at the digital clock on my cable box. “You’re giving me crap for calling you at nine thirty?”

“This is my special time when I have no one in my face and I drink wine and watch crappy reality TV.”

“I’m so sorry; I didn’t realize that
Soccer Moms
renewed for another season.” She did have a good idea with the wine, though. I made my way to the kitchen and pulled a bottle I had opened a couple of nights ago from the refrigerator.

“Watch it once! Then we’ll talk.” She was so protective of her reality TV friends.

I bit my lip to hold back my laughter as I held up the bottle to eye level. After verifying that the thin brown thread I had tied around the bottle after the last time I drank was intact, I snapped it apart and pulled the cork out. “Well, I have something to tell you about me and Chris. But listen, I totally understand if listening to ladies fighting with each other outside of their minivans is more inter—”

“No, no!” Her voice raised an octave, and I knew I had her full attention. “Tell me.”

“I found his credit card in my couch, right before he came home, and went outside to give it back.” I paused to take a sip of my wine. “He wound up coming in for a little while to … um, talk.”

“Yeah? Yeah? About what?” She was so excited for me. It was fun to finally talk about guys again.

“Oh, nothing big. But Mia woke up so Chris left.”

“That’s
it
? I paused my show for that boring story?” She sounded pissed. I made a mental note never to call her during drunken reality TV time again.

“No, that’s not
it
. God. He texted me to see how she was, I texted back that she was already asleep, and then …”

“Well?”

“He came back over and started kissing me.”

Zoey screamed so loud that I held the phone away from my ear. “Calm the hell down. You’re going to wake your kids up.”

“I know, I know, I’m just so happy for you. I’m so glad you’re moving on, and you finally … well, I’m just happy.” She took a break from her rant and caught her breath. “So, are you going to go out—hey!”

“Zoey?”

Kyle’s voice came through the phone. “He kissed you?”

I should have known he’d jump in. “Yeah. He did.”

He didn’t say anything for a moment. “You were okay with that? You’re going to try to make this work?”

I was a little offended by his question. “What’s with you? I know he’s your friend, but I’m your frigging sister-in-law and you know this is a big deal for me. Do you really think I’d do something like that and then ditch him?”

“No, but I know this much. Chris doesn’t have it in him to get attached only to have you freak out. Just like you don’t have it in you for the same thing to happen to him.” He sighed. “I’ll be asking him the same thing, don’t worry.”

“No, don’t. I’ve got this.”

“Brooke?”

“Yeah?”

“If you’re ready, then I really am happy for you. Here’s Zoey.”

My sister’s excited voice came through as if he’d never taken the phone from her. “So, are you guys going to go out?”

“Yeah, on Saturday night.” I couldn’t help smiling as I answered her. “Can you watch Mia?”

“Sure, she can sleep over.”

“Thanks … I’m exhausted, but I’ll talk to you more tomorrow. Sorry I made you miss your show.”

“That’s okay; they were just yelling at each other next to their minivans.”

We disconnected, and I went to work closing the wine bottle. I put the cork back in and pulled two hairs out of my head. I tied them together and wrapped the long string lengthwise around the bottle, tying the ends securely at the top of the cork.

I stared at the bottle. The hair was barely visible. If anyone opened it, then I would know because my hair wouldn’t be there anymore. Such a gross thing to do, but I couldn’t help myself. I put the bottle back in the refrigerator and headed upstairs for bed.

Chapter Eight

M
IA CLUTCHED THE PILE OF
envelopes and brushed her fingers over the top one as she looked at the name. “S is for Sidney.” She raised her eyes up at me to verify.

“You’re right, that is Sidney’s. Go ahead and put it in her cubby.”

Mia and I slowly worked through the pile of party invitations until there was one in each cubby. She looked at the last envelope. “R. Who’s that for?”

“Oh, that’s for Ryder. I meant to leave that at home.” I put it in my purse. “We’ll give it to Chris later, okay?”

She nodded as her eyes moved across the room, landing on a table with kids coloring. “I want to color! Mrs. Myers has castle pictures.” Her voice rose in her excitement and it sounded scratchy.

I frowned after Mia spoke. “Does your throat hurt?”

“Nope.” Her voice still sounded rough, but she was dancing around, practically pushing me out the door so she could go color.

I laughed. She sure was acting like herself. “Those must be some pretty castles.” I crouched down, and she pulled me in for a hug. “Have a fun day.” I kissed the top of her head. “Love you.”

“I know. Can I color now?”

“Go for it.” She headed toward the table, and I walked to her teacher. We greeted each other, and I told her about Mia.

“I just noticed her voice sounds a little funny, but she says she feels fine. Call me if she mentions anything, okay?”

Mrs. Myers agreed, and I gave a little wave as I headed to my car.

Instead of driving home, I pulled my phone out of my bag. Mia was probably fine, but it never hurt to try to diagnose an illness on the internet.

I did a search on strep throat because there someone in Mia’s class had that every other week. Hoarseness was not a side effect. I searched for symptoms of laryngitis next:

The main symptom of laryngitis is hoarseness.

Bingo.

If you have laryngitis, then you can remedy it through home treatment. Rest your voice, use a humidifier or vaporizer, and drink plenty of fluids.

We could do that for today and see if it got any better before I called her doctor. I made a mental note to dig the vaporizer out of the closet later and drove home.

* * *

I was surprised to see Chris’s truck when I pulled into my driveway. Even more shocking was him leaning against it. I drew my breath in. He always looked good, but for some reason, the worn jeans and old t-shirt with the work boots were really doing a number on me. He straightened as I pulled up, and my memory drifted to the night before. I shifted my weight in my seat as I flashed back to feeling his mouth hot against mine and immediately tried to put the thought out of my mind. He ran his hand over the top of his head, making his hair stick up even more as his body tensed and he looked down.

This couldn’t be good. I opened the door and slowly stepped out. “Hey.”

He moved his gaze from the ground and back toward me again. “Hi.” His chest rose and fell as he stepped closer. “I wanted to talk to you. About yesterday.”

Oh
. I could only nod at him, disappointment flowing through my veins as I realized what had happened. He was emotional last night, kissed me when he wasn’t thinking clearly, and now he regretted it. How could I have been so stupid to think that a guy like that would want a train wreck like me? And her kid?

He rubbed the top of his head again and let out a breath of air. “If you felt sorry for me, and that’s why you kissed me …” He stopped talking as our eyes met.

I was shocked he thought I kissed him because I felt
sorry
for him. “Hold on. What?”

“I was just thinking this morning about what happened. You found me crying, I told you some pretty depressing stuff, and then I came back and just went for it without asking how you felt.”

God, he had just as many issues as I did. I jumped in. “I haven’t kissed anyone in fi—in years.” The words flew out of my mouth before I realized what I was saying, and I barely caught myself from revealing too much. “Trust me; it wasn’t because I felt sorry for you.”

He blinked. “Years?”

“Yes. Not since before Mia was born.” Since a few months before Mia was conceived, actually. But I kept that to myself.

He studied my face for a moment. Maybe to see if I was being sincere. Or he could have just been thinking about what a loser I was because I hadn’t kissed anyone in so long.

“I kissed you because I wanted to.” I stepped closer to him, closing the small distance between us. I wanted to say more—tell him what a beautiful person he was, that he was the only one I was attracted to, trusted, and could see myself falling for.

But it was too much for me to acknowledge right now. The feelings that were forming, the flipping in my stomach, and the flush of heat I felt every time I saw him; I needed time to adjust to everything.

I had many fears from what Pierce did to me, but my history with relationships sucked, too. There were many bitter memories I hadn’t thought of in forever.

Chris continued to look at me, his blue eyes thoughtful. After a moment, he said, “You’re the first person I’ve kissed in two years.”

My mouth dropped open. I knew from Kyle that Chris was off relationships, but I really couldn’t believe he hadn’t gotten
any
action at all in the last two years. “Did you have a bad breakup or something?” It wasn’t fair of me to ask, since I’m the Queen of Secrets, but it slipped out.

He nodded as he broke eye contact. “Yeah, that and some other stuff.”

I didn’t press for more information. He just looked defeated, and I wished I could go back in time and not ask the question. “I’m sorry I asked.”

I tried to think of something more than that to say while he looked down, as if he were mourning something. All I wanted to do was make him forget about her and for him to make me forget about my past. I took another step closer, the distance between us disappearing. He finally looked at me again and the sad expression melted from his face, anticipation taking its place.

Feeling a mixture of so many different things, I was nauseated in the best way possible. I needed nothing more at that moment than to feel him against me, taking me back to last night when everything was perfect.

I put my hand on his arm, letting out an involuntary sigh as I looked up at him. God, he was so frigging tall. He leaned down toward me. I stood on my tiptoes …

And got the worst cramp in my foot ever. “Shit!” I exclaimed as I tipped over into him.

Strong arms wrapped around me. “You okay?”

“Foot cramp,” I replied through gritted teeth while I moved my foot, trying to relieve the pain.

His arms tightened as he lifted me up, somehow unlatching the tailgate on the back of his truck at the same time. My flip-flops fell off my feet as he set me down. I instantly tried bending my foot against my hand, but Chris took over and started doing some weird massaging thing with his thumbs. The pain got worse at first but quickly dulled.

I let out a breath. “Thanks. I’m sorry. That came out of nowhere.”

“No problem.” He was still rubbing my foot, staring at it, and I suddenly got worried.

“You’re not … into feet, are you?” I asked, my memory flashing back to the guy Zoey set me up with a few months ago.

He dropped my foot. “No!”

I covered my face with my hand. “Sorry. I suck at this kind of stuff.”

“At getting cramps?”

“No, at initiating stuff and saying stupid crap.”

“Nothing you say is stupid.” He took my hand off my face and laced my fingers through his. “And I’m not into feet. Promise.”

He was so frigging cute; I didn’t even care that he was holding my hand after touching my foot. “Good,” I whispered, cautiously putting my other hand on his shoulder. His eyes burned into mine, making me lose all my hesitation as I pulled him toward me.

Our lips met less aggressively than they had the previous night. Everything was soft and gentle, until Chris’s hands knotted in my hair, coaxing my head closer to his. I responded by wrapping my arms around him, gripping him tighter. We broke apart to breathe and I lazily opened my eyes to find him smiling at me. “You don’t suck at initiating at all.”

I grinned back at him. “So, we’ve kissed twice. The first time I was sitting on a counter, now I’m on your truck. Is this going to be our thing?”

“I didn’t plan it; it just happened both times.” His eyes traveled down, then back up to mine. “Do you like it?” he asked in a low voice.

I nodded because I actually did like it. Chris being strong enough to move me didn’t freak me out at all because he would never use it against me.

“Then it’s not going to be the last time,” he muttered. He leaned in and gave me a soft kiss with just lips and rested his head on my shoulder. He took a breath. “You smell good.”

I was still dazed from the “not going to be the last time” comment, so I started blabbering. “Zoey got me into this shampoo that smells like—”

“Outside on a perfect day. That’s what your hair smells like. Like some flower and air.”

It was lilacs. And I thought air didn’t really have a smell, but I let him continue.

“It’s all of you. A beautiful day, dryer sheets, and something else I haven’t figured out yet.” He breathed in again.

My heart was a bass drum in my chest. I should have said something back, but my brain was too blissed out to remember how to form words. I could only run my fingers through his hair as he leaned against me, breathing deeply.

After a few moments, Chris’s phone buzzed, and he pulled away. We looked at each other, and he gave me a half smile before checking his message. “I have to go to work. Some of the guys I hired need me for something.” Regret laced his soft voice.

Stupid work. “I better get started, too,” I said, sliding off the truck.

“What do you want to do tomorrow night?” he asked, shutting the tailgate.

“Anything except Pizza Castle.”

He laughed. “Do you want to go to Parked? I’ve never been.”

Parked was a restaurant that had opened up a few months ago. You ate in old cars reconfigured to have tables in them. The coolest part was that it was a movie theater, so you also saw a movie. “That sounds great. I went about a month ago with Mia; you’ll like it.”