“To remain friends.”
I pulled him over to the side when one of the other tenants approached the elevator.
“To remain what we were. You’re my older brother’s best friend. That’s it. We weren’t friends, Tackle.”
He shook his head. “Nope. This is what you said, ‘Let’s walk away while we can still be friends.’ Those were your exact words.”
“You knew what I meant.”
“Sure did. So here I am, inviting my friend out for breakfast.”
I stared up into his big green eyes, wondering if there would ever come a time I could say no to this man and actually mean it.
“Come on, you know you’re hungry.”
I was, actually. More, I was beginning to feel a little nauseous. If I didn’t eat something soon, it might get worse. “Breakfast, and then I have to head home.”
“Not a problem. I’ll be happy to drop you off.”
“What? No. Tackle, you can’t drop me off.”
“Of course I can.”
I folded my arms. “And what do you expect me to tell my mother when she sees your car?”
“Tell her I was in the city anyway, so I offered you a ride.”
“That makes zero sense. I have my car and—”
“Can we eat first and argue about how you’re going to get home later?”
I rolled my eyes. “Sure.”
Tackle took the bag off my left shoulder, slung it over his, and then held my hand with his right one.
“Friends don’t hold hands.”
“Oh yes, they do. Haven’t you ever seen Halo and me? We hold hands all the time.”
“You’re such a weirdo.”
“You love that about me.”
That was almost enough for me to wrench my hand from his. Yes, I did love that about him. Just like I loved everything about Tackle Sorenson.
He dropped my hand and put his arm around my shoulders. “Don’t freak out, peanut. I was just joking. Friends don’t love friends, right?” Before I could answer, he winked. “Or do they?”
After breakfast, he talked me into going shopping with him. “While I survived the plane crash, the clothes I took with me to South America didn’t. I need to replenish.”
We’d just stepped out of the department store’s revolving door when I heard Tackle’s cell vibrate. Like every other time he received a call when he was with me, he ignored it. On one hand, I could look at it as him being polite. On the other, I couldn’t help but wonder what he was hiding. Every time I insisted he just answer the damn thing, he ignored me, so I didn’t bother repeating it. Until, less than five minutes later, while we were in the men’s department, looking at shirts, it happened again.
“That’s it,” I said, setting the button-down shirt I had in my hand back on the display table. “I’m going home.”
When I walked away, he grabbed my arm. “Wait. Why?”
“You don’t even take it out to see who it is, which to me, means you don’t want to risk my seeing it either.”
“I don’t check, because I know it isn’t important.”
“How do you know?”
“Tell me you don’t have certain ringtones for certain people or types of calls.”
“I do, but your phone didn’t ring; it just vibrated.”
Tackle sighed and pulled the phone out of his pocket. “Look,” he said. “Unknown number.”
“But you didn’t know that.” I kept walking to the store’s exit.
“Tell you what, if I get another call, I won’t ignore it.”
I shook my head. “We shouldn’t be doing this anyway.”
“Doing what?”
“Hanging out. I made myself clear last night, Tackle.”
The playful look on his face turned into a scowl, or was it a pout? He put his hand on my shoulder, then slid it to the back of my neck. When he brought his forehead to mine, I almost wrapped my arms around his waist. “Sloane,” he murmured right before brushing my lips with his. “Please.”
I pulled back. “Please, what? What are you asking of me?”
“I don’t know exactly. All I do know is that I can’t stay away from you. Whatever it takes, I’ll do. Just please don’t kick me out of your life.”
Even when he was being a jerk, I couldn’t say no to him. When he was sweet—vulnerable—like he was now? There was no way I could deny him. I sighed. “This is a bad idea.”
When his look changed to hopeful, I wanted to slug him. “Do you always get your way?”
He shook his head. “If I did, I would’ve woken up this morning with you naked beside me.”
“Tackle—”
He held up one hand. “Honesty, remember? I’m not going to lie and say I don’t want to kiss you right now, but I will resist since I know it isn’t what you want.”
I brought my lips to his in a chaste kiss and then twisted out of his hold. “Come on, let’s finish shopping. I’m getting hungry again.”
12
Tackle
After we ate a late lunch and went back to Sloane’s friend’s apartment, she decided to take a nap before driving to her parents’ house.
“I don’t know why I’m so tired,” she mumbled when I lay down on the bed, beside her. She yawned and rolled to her side. “You don’t have to stay.”
I went out to the living room and grabbed a throw I’d noticed on the back of the sofa. In the short time it took me to do that, Sloane had fallen fast asleep. I covered her with the blanket and lay back down beside her.
As much as I wanted to touch her, caress her cheek, I didn’t want to wake her, so I kept my hands to myself and thought about our conversation from earlier in the day. “What are you asking of me?” she’d said. I didn’t have a good answer then or now. I knew this, though. If Sloane wasn’t Halo’s younger sister, I’d want to date her, see where that took us. At the very least, spend a few months enjoying each other’s company and bodies.
Would the fact that her brother was my best friend really preclude that? He might be uncomfortable at first, maybe even angry, but he’d get
