“You rang?”
My head jerks up at his voice, and he’s standing at the end of my walk, a little winded.
“I knew you were fast in the pool, but you should think about running track too.”
I stand but all I can do is stare. He just ran after me. The thought sends an electric thrill coursing under my skin.
He glances around, then moves slowly toward me. Where I stand frozen on the stairs, we’re almost the same height, and I feel like I’ve got an entirely new perspective on Marcus. I can see straight into those incredible cinnamon eyes and there’s something in them that hasn’t been there before. Something deep and vulnerable, dark and wanting, but also a little frightened. With every step closer he comes, the air around us becomes more charged, until all the hair on my body is standing on end. He stops in front of me, close enough to reach out and touch me if he wanted.
And God, I want him to.
For several beats of my racing heart, we stand here staring at each other. There are a hundred things I want to ask, to say, but his gaze holds my free will captive. All I can do is wait for him to release me.
“Can we…?” He trails off with a tip of his head at the house.
I finally breathe as I turn and unlock the door, then step inside.
“You weren’t at school today,” he says, following me in. “I was worried.”
I close the door and work to get myself together before turning to face him. “I had a doctor’s appointment this morning, then I took Dad to rehab.”
His eyes widen. “He really went? That’s awesome, Addie.”
“It looks like a decent place, so…” I trail off, my nerves too fried by this entire day to figure out what’s okay to say and what I need to keep to myself.
He glances around as if it’s just occurring to him he’s alone with me in my house, but instead of reaching for the door handle and letting himself out, he stalks closer. He reaches up and brushes his fingertips over the scar above my ear. His touch is so gentle, but it feels like a wrecking ball to my stomach, knocking the wind out of me.
I stand, trembling, as his fingers thread deeper into my hair and I feel his hand fist there. For a moment, my heart sputters with the certainty he’s going to kiss me.
But then he seems to remember himself and lowers his hand. “What did the doctor say about this?” he says as his fingers brush past my wound. “Will I be getting my right wing back anytime soon?”
His words break the spell and I can finally breathe. “The doctor says I can start swimming. No contact.”
Something dark and hungry flashes in Marcus’s eyes, but it’s gone so fast I’m sure I imagined it. “It will be good to have you back in the pool.”
“Yeah,” I say absently, because all I can think about is that I want him to touch me again.
He just stares at me for several beats of my racing heart. “Why did you run?”
“What?” I ask, my brain still not with the program enough to follow his shift in gears.
“Just now, in the park?”
“Oh…” Because I was just about to climb right into you. “You looked like you were…busy.”
“Busy,” he says with a bitter laugh. “Yeah, I guess I was.”
“Is…is everything okay?”
That same dark need passes over his face again. “Nothing I can’t work out.”
“Okay,” I say with a nod. “Good.”
Things have always been so easy between us, and I hate that we’re suddenly so awkward.
“So…I’ll just…” He reaches for the doorknob.
“Have a good weekend,” I say as he pulls it open.
He hesitates without turning around. “Yeah,” he finally says. “You too.”
The door closes and I sink to the floor right here on this spot, because my legs are too weak to even get me to the couch. I lie back on the hardwood and stare at the ceiling, all the possible scenarios playing out in my mind.
Up until today, I never really believed Marcus could want me that way, but now…the quiet desperation in his eyes mirrored everything he makes me feel. What if I wasn’t imagining it? What if he really wants me as much as I want him? If that’s true, and we follow through…so many different paths to the same end.
And it’s not a good one for Marcus.
Chapter 13
Marcus
I take my paycheck straight from the gym to the bank on Monday morning and cash it, then swing by the hospital on my way to school for practice.
I find the billing department and when I reach the front of the short line, I step up to the counter.
“Can I help you?” the woman says.
“I need to make a payment.”
“That part I guessed,” she says, glancing at the wad of cash in my hand. “Do you have a bill?”
I shake my head.
“I need an invoice number to apply your payment to the right account,” she says, giving me a look that screams “what kind of an idiot are you?”