“You know what we should do?” she said.
“What?” I folded my hands and placed them in my lap.
“We should move this conversation to the hot tub,” she said.
My eyes nearly bulged out of my head. Me and Hadley? Alone in the hot tub? I nearly choked on my beer.
“You sure that's a good idea?” I asked. “This late at night?”
She flopped back in the chair, a displeased look on her face. I felt like the asshole who'd just stolen some little kid's candy.
“You're probably right,” she said. “I have to be up early anyway. Grayson wakes up at the crack of dawn usually. Oh, the joys of being a single mother.”
I'd gotten so caught up in the past, I nearly forgot she was a mom now.
“You know, if you need any help with him,” I said, staring down at my beer bottle, “I'm around. I'd love to spend some time with the little man.”
“I'm sure he'd love that too,” she said.
Mentally, I was still kicking myself for screwing up an opportunity to be alone with Hadley – in a hot tub no less. Back in the day, she'd been my dream girl. She was everything I could have wanted in a girlfriend, and then some. But, she wasn't mine. Back then, she was Gabe's girlfriend, then later Chris' girlfriend and then wife. Even now, with Gabe feeling the way he did about her and all the drama that her marriage to Chris caused our little circle, I wasn't sure I could be intimate with her. At least, not without guilt consuming me.
Not that her asking me to join her in the hot tub meant she wanted to have sex with me, but still. I glanced back up and caught her staring at me, a small smile playing upon her full, soft lips.
“What?” I asked, a sheepish grin plastered on my face.
“It's just – ” she started to say, then she stopped and shook her head. “Nothing.”
“No, what is it?” I asked, chuckling as I wiped at my face playfully, “Do I have something on my chin? Something stuck in my teeth? Tell me.”
She giggled, covering her mouth with
her hand. “No, Evan. Nothing like that. It's just, well, you look good,” she said, and then added quickly, “It's just nice to be around you guys again.”
My pulse raced, but I couldn't find the words to respond. My mouth was dry and when I opened it, nothing came out. I sat there, my mouth hanging open, feeling like an absolute idiot.
“I'm sorry, I probably shouldn't have said anything,” she said. “It's just, back in high school, you were always a bit – ”
She struggled to find the word, but I knew exactly what she meant. She didn't have to say it because it was something I'd heard often enough.
“Nerdy?” I asked. “Gangly and goofy-looking – especially compared to my brothers? The one Walker blessed with a brain, but not the looks?”
She started to argue, but I stopped her, raising my hand and shaking my head.
“No, it's okay. I was a geek,” I said, chuckling. “Still am. Thankfully though, nerds are en vogue these days. We're chic. Geeks are now considered to be sexy or something. Or so I'm told.”
She smiled wider. “Well, I don't know about geeks being chic or sexy, but you didn't miss out on the Walker boy good looks, believe me.”
“I uhh, well, I must be dreaming, because Hadley Rose just said I was hot,” I said. “Someone pinch me, please.”
Hadley leaned across the small patio table and pinched my arm, giggling like a maniac the entire time, making me laugh as well.
“See? Not dreaming. I meant it,” she said.
I leaned back in the chair and stared off into space for a long time. I had no words to say. How did one respond to something like that without sounding like a total tool?
“Thank you for that. I've been waiting years to hear you say those words,” was all I could think to say.
“Oh really?” Hadley said, taking a swig from the bottle. “You had a crush on me too?” she asked in a teasing tone.