Twelve Seconds to Forever #2
I let out an exasperated sigh while heavy footsteps stomp closer. I keep counting in my head. Eleven. I steel myself for coming face-to-face with my first love. My only love, if I’m perfectly honest. Twelve.
The door opens and there he is. The glower on my face falls as I get my first look at him. Dark, messy hair, gray eyes, square jaw, and a scar along his chin from a bicycle accident when he was a kid.
All the perfect things I planned to say go right out the window. Alex is standing in the doorway. Shirtless. Towel around his waist. Wet hair. And just as handsome as I remember.
CHAPTER TWO ALEX
“Brainy Lainey.” My words come out in a whisper. Of all the people I expected to be on the opposite side of this door, she was at the very bottom of the list.
Lainey squeaks out a small noise of surprise and puts both hands over her eyes like I flashed her my bare ass. “Sorry… I…”
My lips twitch with a smile. The first one in days. “What are you doing here?”
She drops her hands and aims a scowl at me. My smile widens in return, which I can tell pisses her off, but damn, it’s good to see her.
“Why aren’t you at your sister’s wedding rehearsal?” she asks.
A pang of guilt slams into me. “Something came up.”
Her brows lift and she stomps into the house past me.
“Please, come in,” I say dryly as I shut the door and try not to flash her.
She comes to a stop in the middle of the cabin’s living room.
She looks good. Great. Even better than I remembered, and I remembered her pretty well.
Her honey-blond hair is longer now. It hangs in big curls falling over one shoulder.
The coat she’s wearing is unbuttoned, revealing a dark green dress that molds to her body like a second skin.
Lainey’s all grown-up and just as stunning as I knew she’d be.
“Don’t just stand there. Get ready.” She waves at my bare chest, but her stare lingers a little too long, like she’s taking me in, the same way I am her.
“I was working on it, but then someone started pounding on my front door.”
We face off. My heart pounds in my chest like I just sprinted down the football field.
Only the pain in my quad reminds me that isn’t possible right now, so I guess this reaction is all her.
I’ve often thought about Lainey over the years.
I started to text her dozens of times, thought about dropping by to see her every time I visited my family. Now that I see her, I’m glad I didn’t.
“Brainy Lainey,” I say again, mostly to myself. I can’t believe she’s here.
“Don’t call me that. And put some clothes on.”
“I don’t remember you being so bossy,” I tease, trying to alleviate some of the tension radiating off her.
“Yes, well, a lot can change in three years.”
My gut clenches, but I chuckle softly for her benefit. “Shots fired.”
“This is the most important day of your sister’s life.”
“Tomorrow.”
“Excuse me?” She crosses her hands over her chest.
“Tomorrow is the most important day of her life. And besides, do you really think we should be putting so much pressure on a wedding? I’ve been to a lot of them, and they’re all sort of the same.”
“So help me, if you don’t make it to Jess’s wedding I will…” She falters. “Upload all your terrible childhood photos. The world of Alex Carrington fans would loooove to see your seventh-grade school photo. Or the Halloween you dressed up like Edward from Twilight.”
“I wasn’t Edward. I was just a vampire.”
“Who looked suspiciously like Edward Cullen.”
I fight a laugh. Fuck, I’ve missed her. No one has ever gotten under my skin like Lainey. Even when we were kids. Before I knew what it was to want a woman, I understood that she was someone who intrigued me endlessly.
“You can’t just flake because you’re too busy snowboarding or staring at yourself in the mirror.”
“Can you blame me?” I run a hand over my jaw and smirk at her.
Frustration bleeds out of her.
“I’m not going to miss the wedding.” I swallow down the truth. “You don’t need to worry your pretty little head about me.”
Her eyes turn to little green slits and her lips purse. “Why weren’t you at the rehearsal?”
“I thought we already established that I was a selfish asshole with my own agenda and no regard for other people.” I flash her another grin, though it takes a little more effort. The longer I stand here, the more my leg throbs with pain.
Lainey lets out an exasperated groan, flinging her arms up in the air and then whirling around and marching back to the door.
Which is the same moment my quad decides to give out on me. I stutter-step to the closest surface—the dining room table—and grab onto the side. My weight pushes it across the wood floor with a screech.
“Fuck. Shit. Fuuuuck.” I can’t hold back the string of curses as pain radiates up my leg. I somehow manage to shuffle around the table and collapse into one of the chairs—and keep my towel (and dignity) intact.
“What’s wrong with you?” I look up to find her hovering a few steps away with wide eyes.
I wince. It was too much to hope she’d already made it outside before I collapsed dramatically.
“Just a flesh wound,” I joke as I blink back the stars exploding in front of my eyes and work my fingers over the tight muscles of my left thigh.
She squats down to inspect it herself. When she sees the myriad of colors splashed across my skin, she sucks in a breath.
“I’m fine.” I tuck my leg back, hiding the worst of it from view.
“That does not look fine.” She stands, brows pulled together as she studies me. “This is from your game against Kansas City?”
“Keeping tabs on me?”
She rolls her eyes. “Jess mentioned it.” Her face softens. “I’m sorry about not making the playoffs.”
“We made it pretty far, and there’s always next year.” It’s a bullshit response, and from the look she gives me, she knows it.
“You weren’t snowboarding at all,” she says, more to herself than to me, but I nod anyway. “Does Jess know?”
“She knows I took a bad hit.”
“And that you can’t walk?”
Did I play it off like it wasn’t as bad as it is? Of course I did. My baby sister only gets married once, and she doesn’t need to worry about me. I’ll be fine in a week or two.
“I can walk,” I insist.
“Yeah, obviously.” She snorts. “Are you even cleared to be on your feet?”
I glare at her.
She hums and smirks in a very I knew it type of way, then pulls out her phone.
“What are you doing?” I ask and simultaneously try to adjust the position of my leg so the pain eases.
“Letting Jess know you’re alive.”
“Don’t tell her about my leg,” I say quickly.
She glances up at me, pausing her typing.
“Please? I’ll tell her myself tomorrow, but not tonight.” The last thing I want to do is worry my sister the day before her wedding.
“Don’t you think she’ll notice when you walk into the rehearsal dinner?”
“I’m not going.” I thought I could but after seeing the look on Lainey’s face I know now that there’s no way I’ll be able to fool Jess. “I’ll text her and let her know I’m jetlagged or something.”
“Alex, I swear, if you miss the wedding—”
“I know. I know. Public humiliation. Got it.”
Sexy Lainey continues to glare at me like she can see way more than I want to show her.
“You should head to the rehearsal dinner. Jess would rather you be there than me anyway.” I check the time on the oven. I’m not even sure it’s accurate, but it feels close enough.
“That isn’t true, and you know it.”
“It is, and besides, isn’t the maid of honor mandatory at all wedding festivities?”
“Only when there aren’t more pressing matters.” She puts her phone away and glares. “Like dealing with the idiot brother.”
“You always were the smart one.”
Her stare bores into me, silently calling bullshit. I bet she’s a great teacher. The kids probably love her and know they can’t get anything past her either.
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to miss my baby sister’s wedding.” Even if I have to call my dad to come help me get dressed. I shudder at the thought. What a way to end the year.
She nods, seemingly placated by my answer. She hesitates, watching me another few seconds, before she heads to the front door. I get to my feet and hobble behind her. Now that the jig is up, there’s no use pretending that it doesn’t take great difficulty for me to walk normally.
“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, then,” she says. Her stare drops to my chest and abs then flicks up quickly, and her face flushes. I fight a smile. It’s good to know that after all these years, she still finds me attractive.
Before she can leave, I do my own appreciative appraisal of her, not lingering nearly as long as I want. “You look great, Lainey.” She was always gorgeous, but seeing her tonight is a reminder that I never wanted. “It was really good to see you.”
“Thanks,” she says flatly.
She pulls open the door, letting in a gust of cold air so strong it forces her back a step.
“Whoa,” I say, steadying her with a hand on her waist. Outside, the snow is coming down so hard the night sky is basically just a sheet of white.
My sister was hoping for snow. I’m pleased it’ll be the perfect New Year’s Eve wedding she dreamed about. The girl in front of me, however, does not look nearly as happy.
Lainey sucks in an audible breath. “Oh no.”
“I don’t think you’re going anywhere.”
“My SUV will be fine,” she insists as she leans away from my touch.
“It’ll take you twenty minutes just to clear it off.” Several inches of snow already cover her vehicle, and it’s coming down so fast it’ll be a lot more soon.
“I am familiar with snow.” She takes a step out onto the porch, and I reach for her hand so she doesn’t slip. “Come on, Lainey, I’m not letting you drive in this.”
“Funny, I don’t remember asking for permission.”
I tug her hand slightly. “Come inside. It’ll likely stop soon, but until then you’re safer here.”
I like the idea of her staying more than I’d like to admit, and the thought of her stranded on the side of the road makes my gut twist. If I’m perfectly honest, the thought of letting her go again at all hurts more than my injured leg.