She squeezed soap onto her loofah and winced when she rubbed it over the reddened skin. Apparently, she'd stood too long under the stream and was now tender. She welcomed this pain as well. She thought she deserved it for how she acted the night before.
After her infernal shower, Bailey went through the motions of getting ready. She didn’t much care today and her outfit showed it. She’d combed through her shoulder length hair and thrown it into a bun. Her clothing was a pair of shorts and a shirt that she thought might be dirty but didn’t care enough to change out of. She toyed with the idea of blowing Karlie off and hunkering down in her apartment to avoid everything, but that wouldn’t work. Karlie had a key and wasn’t scared to use it if push came to shove.
With a sigh, she slipped into a pair of sandals, grabbed her wallet and was out the door fifteen minutes before their meeting time.
It was still warm out, so when she unlocked her car she lowered the top and put it in gear before turning toward downtown. She drove leisurely, in no rush to meet Karlie and have the impending conversation. It was so nice out, she wanted to just keep going, keep driving, hoping that eventually her problems would become a distant memory in her rearview mirror, much like this little town would.
But she couldn’t, so she pulled into a spot a block down from Common Ground and heaved herself out of her car to meet her friend. Each step closer felt heavier than the one before, until she felt like she was moving through water.
She paused outside the door, peering in the glass windows and spied Karlie sitting at a table toward the back that was partially hidden by a fake tree. Her back was to Bailey, so she couldn’t see her standing on the sidewalk, which suited Bailey just fine.
She glanced back at her car and the overwhelming urge to bolt spiked again. Tamping it down, she took a deep breath and pulled her big girl panties on. It was time to face the music, so to speak.
With a push, the door opened and the bell tinkled, announcing her arrival.
Chapter Five
Bailey
Karlie turned at the sound of the bell and smiled. She envied her friend’s ability to be so carefree when she felt so terrible. Bailey tried to smile back, but the way Karlie’s face fell told her she hadn’t succeeded. She coughed lightly as she wound her way through the tables to where Karlie was sitting.
“You’re early,” Karlie said, smirking as she comically checked her watch.
Bailey shrugged as she sat heavily across from Karlie. “Don’t get used to it.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t.” Karlie joked as she turned her attention to the open menu spread in front of her.
A waitress stepped up the table, stalling any further conversation, and Bailey scrambled to figure out what she wanted. Once she took their coffee and lunch orders, the waitress left them alone again. Bailey’s eyes darted around the restaurant, taking in the empty tables and the artwork on the walls. She glanced at Karlie and saw she was still staring at her, so she looked at the counter where their waitress was busy making their drinks.
The whirring of a grinder broke the quiet of the restaurant, and the smell of fresh ground coffee wafted across the space to them. Bailey took a deep breath and relaxed slightly. She didn’t know what it was, but the smell of coffee just helped her relax.
Silence descended over them and Bailey finally turned to face Karlie who was still staring at her from across the table with a placid expression etched across her face.
“You done avoiding me now?” she asked, cocking a brow.
Bailey shrugged and dropped her gaze to the table.
The waitress came back with their drinks, asking if there was anything else before disappearing again. Bailey grabbed her cup and wrapped her lips around the straw, greedily sucking the cold coffee down. Since she had lain in bed so long this morning, she hadn’t had any caffeine and she was definitely starting to feel the withdrawals.
When the straw made a sucking noise, Bailey sighed in satisfaction as she placed her now empty cup down.
“Jesus. You couldn’t pace yourself?” Karlie asked, looking at Bailey in mock horror.
Bailey just shrugged. “What? I can’t help that coffee is the divine nectar of the gods and that I hadn’t had any, so I had to drink it in one go.”
Bailey saw the waitress and waved her hand in the air to get her attention. “Can I get another, please?” she asked, holding her glass up.
With wide eyes, the waitress nodded her head and walked off. Bailey chuckled at the look on her face.
“Well, she probably thinks you’re a bit weird now,” Karlie said.
Bailey shrugged. “Let her think that. Appreciating coffee isn’t weird.”
“Hmmm…”
They sat in silence until the waitress returned with Bailey’s refill. She watched her warily as she set it down, looking worried she’d have to fetch another. Bailey briefly considered draining this one too just because she could, but the girl really did look worried about making another one, so she didn’t. She slowly backed away before turning, constantly glancing over her shoulder as she walked back to the counter.
“So, want to tell me what’s going on?” Karlie asked.
Bailey shrugged and avoided Karlie’s eyes. “Nothing.”
Karlie snorted. “We’ve already had this conversation. I’d like to not have it again. You already know that Jax texted me to tell me about Harry’s hangover.”
Bailey pursed her lips and ran a finger through the condensation on the outside of her glass, gathering it together before drawing shapes.
“Not much to say.” She flicked her fingers and flung the water onto the table.
“I find that hard to believe.”
Bailey finally looked up and met Karlie’s eyes. She thought she might see some anger, but instead, she was met with concern and that threw her for a loop. She could deal with anger. In fact, she expected it after last night’s debacle. But concern? That was a different ballgame, one she wasn’t sure she knew how to play.
She sighed. “I’m not sure where to start really.” Her gaze dropped again.
“Wherever you think is necessary. I mean, I’m assuming last night was probably the culmination of several things.” Karlie’s chair creaked and her foot brushed Bailey’s leg as she moved.
“Last night?” Bailey asked as she looked up, a cold sweat breaking out. Did Karlie already know?
Karlie’s forehead wrinkled as she looked at Bailey. “Yeah…” she said slowly. “Whatever happened with you and Harry.”
Bailey slumped as she realized Karlie didn’t know already and that she was reading too much into the entire situation.
“Ummm…well…I guess I should fill you in on this summer.” Bailey already dreaded filling Karlie in on the backstory since she’d kept it from her for so long.
Karlie’s eyes brightened a bit. “You’re finally going to tell me what’s been going on with the two of you?!” Bailey nodded and Karlie bounced in her seat a bit, clapping her hands together quickly before leaning on the table to encroach on Bailey’s space. “Tell me more!” Karlie whisper-squealed.
Bailey’s eyes widened and she leaned back at the sudden intrusion. She cleared her throat and straightened. “Well, we’ve been on and off again all summer.” That should shock her enough to put a stop to the conversation.
Karlie sat up and waved her hand in the air. “I already knew that.”
“You did?” Bailey asked, confused. That certainly backfired.
Karlie nodded. “Yeah, I mean, come on. You two have been all over each other at shows and neither of you have looked at another person in ages. It wasn’t too far-fetched to realize the two of you were bumping uglies again.”
Bailey wrinkled her nose. “Don’t call it bumping uglies ever again.”
Their eyes met and they dissolved into laughter. After a few moments, they got themselves under control. “Yeah, I mean, we’ve been screwing all summer. Nothing serious.”
“Is it ever?” Karlie asked nonchalan
tly, sipping her coffee.
Bailey narrowed her eyes at her, sure there was something implied in there, but she wasn’t sure what it was. Choosing to dismiss it, she waved her hand and continued. “We’ve just been having a good time.”
“A good time.” Karlie nodded along, like she understood what Bailey meant.
“Yeah, just meeting up when we feel like it. No pressure to do anything. It’s been nice.” Bailey bobbed her head at her words.
Karlie nodded. “No pressure. Sounds awesome.”
Bailey opened her mouth to respond but paused as she thought about Karlie’s tone. “Are you being sarcastic?”
Karlie shrugged and looked away, sipping her coffee again. Bailey narrowed her eyes as she studied Karlie’s face. She had an expressive face that usually gave everything away, but apparently she’d learned to mask some things because Bailey couldn’t tell if Karlie was being sarcastic or genuine. She chose to believe Karlie was genuine.
Bailey opened her mouth to retort but refrained when she noticed their waitress weaving through the tables with their food. They were silent as she placed their lunches in front of them: grilled chicken salad for Bailey and a chicken Caesar wrap for Karlie.
They ate in silence for a few minutes before Karlie asked, “So, how does all the ‘no pressure’ of the summer make last night happen?”
Bailey shifted in her chair, suddenly uncomfortable. The food she’d eaten settled heavily at the bottom of her stomach. “Well…we might have been making out on the couch.” Karlie nodded and indicated for Bailey to continue. “And…we might have been working towards full-frontal action.”
Karlie dropped her half-eaten wrap on her plate to stare at Bailey. “Get on with it. You’re leaving something out.”
Bailey pushed the lettuce around on her plate before saying, “I might have freaked out a bit about our intimacy and kicked him out.”
She glanced up at Karlie, whose eyes were narrowed. “You might have?”
Bailey swallowed around the thickness that had formed in her throat and dropped her fork to the plate with a clang. There was no way she was finishing her food now. “Yeah.”
They looked at each other for several moments before Karlie asked. “What freaked you out?”
Her friend carried on eating like Bailey wasn’t having a conversation that made her sick to her stomach, and she wasn’t sure how to handle that.
Bailey shrugged. “Hard to say. The thought of being with Harry just sorta freaked me out.”
“Hmmm…when you say freaked you out, can you be a bit more specific?” Karlie looked at her expectantly as she chewed.
Bailey nibbled her bottom lip as she thought of how to articulate where she was mentally. “I’m not sure I can really explain it,” she finally said. “We were there, doin’ our thing, and suddenly I just got freaked out about all of it. How I was feelin’ and everything.”
“How you were feelin’? How was that?”
Bailey’s gaze dropped to the table. “Content.” She mumbled.
She glanced at Karlie through her lashes. Karlie was still staring at Bailey, but now she was looking at her like she was crazy.
“You freaked out because you were feeling content?!”
Bailey winced as Karlie’s voice rose at the end. She glanced around them and saw they were still the only ones in the restaurant. Even still, she motioned for Karlie to quiet down and leaned over the table a bit. “That’s the only way I know how to describe it.”
“So, let me get this straight. You kicked Harry out before sleeping with him again because you felt content with him?” Karlie continued to look at her like she was crazy.
Bailey slowly nodded. “That sounds about right…”
Karlie sighed and shook her head. “You really surprise me sometimes.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Bailey asked, not sure Karlie meant it as a compliment.
“It’s just…you have this great guy that is so obviously head over heels for you and you just…push him away. Repeatedly.” Karlie definitely sounded exasperated by the time she finished her statement.
Heat rose on Bailey’s cheeks, but not in embarrassment; in anger. “What do you mean I ‘push him away?’”
Karlie cocked a brow at her. “Exactly what I meant. When the two of you start to get close and move toward what might be classified as a relationship—as in boyfriend and girlfriend—you usually freak out and push him away.”
“I do not!” Bailey was indignant now.
“Hmmm…let’s think about this, shall we?” Karlie challenged Bailey with a fierce look.
“Yes, lets.”
Karlie held up a finger. “You pushed him away in college because you claimed you weren’t ready for a long distance relationship. You said it was too much work.”
Bailey nodded. “Yeah, it’s the truth. We both had busy lives with our classes.”
Karlie just hummed at her and held up a second finger. “When you moved here with me after graduation to start teaching, the two of you fell into bed again, but that lasted only a few weeks before you said you needed to concentrate on your career.”
Bailey’s head bobbed again. “Yeah, as a first-year teacher, I had to concentrate fully on my curriculum. Not to mention, the time I devoted to coaching.”
Karlie held up a third finger and continued. “At the end of that year, you started up again. This one lasted about a month I think. At the end of it, you said you couldn’t fully devote yourself to anything because you were stressed about your second year.” Bailey nodded and opened her mouth to say something, but Karlie continued speaking. “However, a week after breaking it off with Harry, you were seeing someone that lived in Raleigh.”
Bailey cringed at that. She’d forgotten that part of their history. It wasn’t one of her finer moments. She and Harry hadn’t spoken for a while after that.
Karlie held up a fourth finger. “As I’m sure you remember, the two of you didn’t talk for a while after he found out you lied to him, so I don’t think it was until your third year that the two of you hooked up again. Except, this time, there was no prolonged period of togetherness. It was just a whenever, wherever thing.”
Bailey nodded.
Karlie dropped her hand and looked at Bailey. “Would you like me to continue?” Bailey shook her head. “Good, because I think I’ve made my point,” Karlie told her, pausing to sip her coffee. “Every time the two of you come together, you end up breaking things off for one reason or another.”
“All valid reasons,” Bailey interjected.
“Sure,” Karlie said, nodding along, “to you. But they’re just excuses. Have you ever noticed that Harry doesn’t date?”
Bailey’s forehead wrinkled as she considered her words. “What do you mean? Why would I notice that?”
Karlie glared at Bailey and she was taken aback. She’d never seen such a fierce look from her best friend. “Why would you notice? Are you serious?”
Bailey nodded carefully, not sure where this was going.
Karlie pinched the bridge of her nose and breathed deeply for several moments before continuing. “Ever since the two of you first started dating, Harry has dated no one else.”
Bailey shook her head, not believing it. “Nope, not true. He’s dated plenty.”
“Name one.” Karlie looked at her in challenge, pursing her lips as she waited. She looked so sure of herself and Bailey wanted to prove her wrong.
Bailey opened her mouth, a name on the tip of her tongue, but she paused, unsure of someone she could name. She snapped her mouth shut and looked at Karlie sullenly.
“Well?” Karlie prompted, a triumphant look creeping across her face.
“I can’t think of anyone,” Bailey mumbled.
“What was that? I didn’t hear anything?” Karlie cocked her ear and pantomimed that she couldn’t hear her.
“I can’t think of anyone!” Bailey said louder.
Karlie looked at her smugly. “Exactly. You can’t, becau
se there isn’t anyone.”
“So?” Bailey asked.
“So? So?! That means everything! Harry has it bad for you! He’s just waiting for you to realize you want to be with him.” Karlie’s voice rose again toward the end of her impassioned statement.
Bailey shook her head, refusing to believe what her best friend was telling her. “That is so not true. He is not waiting around.”
Karlie cocked a brow at her. “Are you sure? I mean, that guy has always been there for you. Couple that with his nonexistent dating life and you’ve got a recipe for a lovesick man.”
Bailey rolled her eyes.
Karlie shook her head and sighed.“You know, you don’t have to believe me.” Karlie drained the last of her coffee before pulling her wallet out. “But I think you need to do some serious thinking. Think about your relationship with Harry. And, yes, while you want to say it isn’t, it is a relationship. You need to decide and you need to do it soon.”
“What am I deciding?” Bailey asked her, confused.
Karlie threw some cash on the table before standing and hoisting her purse onto her shoulder. “You need to shit or get off the pot. If you don’t want to be with Harry, that’s fine. But you need to tell him that so he can move on and find someone that actually wants to be with him.”
Karlie turned on her heel and wound her way through the tables and out the door, leaving Bailey gaping after her.
There was no way that what Karlie said to her was true; absolutely no way. Harry was in no way waiting for her. Frustrated, she jerked her wallet off the table and pulled some money out to cover her lunch. She threw it on the table and stood, pushing her chair back with a loud screech.
Uncaring that the staff was staring at her, she strode through the place and pushed through the door into the bright sunshine. Still agitated, she climbed into her car and decided to take a drive to clear her head.
Cranking the engine and turning the music up, Bailey backed out, intent on leaving her problems in the dust.
Chapter Six
Harry
Harry (Southern Sands Book 2) Page 4