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CHAPTER TEN

Kelton

I should be sleeping, but instead I’m sitting up, staring out the window. Overlooking the lights of Nashville, nursing a warm whiskey, knowing that tomorrow I’ll pay for it.

“Now I know you aren’t sitting here in the dark worried about tomorrow’s game.” My sister flops down on the couch at my side. “You aren’t the kind of guy that gets nervous. You’ve got the game running through your veins.”

She gets comfortable, tucking her feet up and grabbing the blanket off the back of the couch, pulling it around her.

“You want to talk about it?” I don’t answer. I can’t say what I’m feeling to my sister, not about her best friend. “Okay fine, since neither of you want to address the elephant herd that trampled this trip like peanuts, I will.”

My sister can’t hide her irritation and she is normally a very happy-go-lucky person.

“The two of you need to stop dancing around what happened and avoiding each other.”

“I’m not avoiding her.” Then it hits me. “Wait, she told you?”

“That you kissed her? Or that you took her virginity then ran off to play ball more than seven hours away.”

Instantly the whiskey sours in my stomach and I feel nauseous.

“You’ve known all this time?”

She nods and I hold her stare, her face highlighting through the lights filtering in from the open windows.

“Yes,” she finally states. “She broke down the minute the truck pulled out of sight and I spent that evening fighting the urge to jump on the soonest flight so I could be here to kick your ass when you rolled into town.”

“She never called.”

“Neither did you,” she counters only making me feel like an even bigger ass.

“We both knew going in that it couldn’t go any further. She had plans, I had this.” I hold out my hands indicating Nashville and not my shitty apartment.

I don’t love the way Alizabeth is looking at me.

“She was in love with you.” Her words are like a kick to the stomach.

“And she probably still is,” she adds only making the ache worsen.

“She may not admit it, she may pretend that it was nothing but I can promise you it was everything. We don’t talk about you, I do, but we don’t.

She nods, pretending to listen and be interested but I know her well enough to understand that the second I bring you up she is tuning me out.

Because it hurts too much for her to hear about you. ”

I attempt to swallow past the lump in my throat.

“Whenever you call she conveniently remembers she has something to do and disappears. Whenever I put one of your games on she decides it’s time to clean the apartment.”

“So she does what she can to avoid anything involving me, and you thought it was a great idea to bring her here and force her to face me.”

“No.” Liz repositions her body so she is facing me completely.

“I brought her because whenever she doesn’t think I’m looking I catch her watching the screen, your name is announced and the rustling of the dishes stops and I can feel her there.

I brought her because she has an alert on google so that every single time your name is mentioned in the media she gets a notification.

I brought her because she’s tried to date other guys and every single time she finds the weirdest excuses for why it felt wrong.

He has a crooked nose, his hair is too long, his second toe is longer than his big toe. ”

I chuckle.

“She may as well just say they don’t feel right because they aren’t Kelton.”

“I think you’re seeing things that aren’t there.”

“No, I’m the only person in this damn ugly ass apartment that is seeing clearly.

” Throwing the blanket off her legs she slides forward.

“You didn’t see her when she came out of the house earlier.

She was on the verge of tears, and not because you kissed her.

It was because she was trapped in her own head realizing that this could be the second time she has to walk away carrying her battered heart. ”

“So I’m the asshole that broke her heart?”

“No.” Liz places her hand on my knee, giving it a squeeze. “But you are the asshole that could mend it.” She smirks when I shake my head. “Okay so you’re not an asshole, but you will be if you let her get away again.”

“I tried to talk to her at the concert,” I confess.

“Try harder,” she pushes. “She can be stubborn, but I promise you I’m not making this up in my head.”

Liz stands, leaning over and giving me a one-armed hug.

“Be the great guy I know my big brother is. I know you’ve worried about what I’d think.

You both have. But truth is, there isn’t anyone I trust to take care of you more than her.

And the same goes for her, you can love her like no one else can. ”

She releases her hold on me and leaves me alone in the darkness once again with only my thoughts.