False Start - Jessica Ruddick Page 0,39

but I didn’t know them as well. I wanted to hang out with someone I could completely relax around. There were only two people that fit that description at VVU, and one of them was still avoiding me.

Fuck it. I was over that shit. She might be able to blow off my texts, but no way would she slam her door in my face… I hoped. I couldn’t believe it had come to that.

I parked outside her apartment building and headed up to the second floor. I knocked, and her roommate opened the door. She leaned against it with a smile on her face that bordered on a smirk. “Hi, Carson.” She and Becca had almost nothing in common, but they somehow got along perfectly.

“Is Becca here?”

Lucy stepped aside so I could enter. “In her room.”

Her door was ajar, and she was sitting on her bed with papers spread out around her and a highlighter in her hand. I knocked, feeling like a tool. I’d never felt like I had to knock on her open door before. Christ.

She looked up, and her eyes immediately became guarded.

You’re the one who’s hurting me, Carson.

The words I’d worked so hard to forget flashed in my mind, and I was immediately filled with regret. But for what, I wasn’t sure. There were too many things to narrow it down to only one, and I would never consciously admit to most of those.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

Ouch. But I refused to be deterred so easily. I walked in and shut the door behind me then sat in her desk chair. “I’m sorry.” Simple and to the point.

She cocked her head. “Are you, though? Or are you just sorry that I’m mad?”

Damn. She had me pegged, and she wasn’t letting me off easy. “Both.”

“Really?”

Shit. I couldn’t lie to her. For one thing, she would know. But also, she deserved better than that. “Not exactly. I’m sorry I did something to upset you, but I’m not sorry I kept you from dating some loser.”

Looking up, she shook her head in disbelief. “I was talking to a guy in a bar, not dating him. But even if I were, that’s none of your business. And that ‘loser’ is your teammate. Have some respect.”

Now I felt like a total ass. I didn’t have anything against Stossel personally, and once I’d explained the situation to him the next time I saw him at practice, he understood. We were cool. It was in no one’s best interest to have infighting on the team. Which is why everyone knows to keep their damn eyes—and hands—off Becca.

“You can do better than him is my point.” I mentally patted myself on the back for my diplomacy. Guess politician blood runs in the family after all. “I’m always going to look out for you.”

She held my gaze for a moment, like she was gathering her thoughts. “I appreciate that, but you take it too far.”

“Maybe.” That was all I was willing to admit. She would never understand how deep my protective streak ran when it came to her. Hell, I didn’t understand it myself.

She studied me. “Are you okay?”

I ran a hand over my head. I must look as bad as I felt. “It’s been a rough week.”

“Tough loss on Saturday.”

I was pleased she’d still watched the game. All this time, I’d been telling myself that Becca wasn’t going to finally be done with my dumb ass once and for all, but I guessed I’d been worried she might be.

“I miss you.” Holy hell. Where had that come from? It was true, but I hadn’t consciously thought it, much less planned to say it. Becca knew how much she meant to me, just like Roman did. We didn’t talk about feelings and shit.

“I miss you too,” she said softly, and the words were music to my ears.

“Does that mean you forgive me?” I flashed the smile I’d used a million times to soften up Becca’s mother after I’d done or said some dumbass thing. It had worked ninety percent of the time, much to Roman’s dismay. She’d never let him get away with shit.

“That means I’m working on it.” Becca looked like she wanted to say more, but I didn’t push. I was just happy to be back on speaking terms. Besides, I’d met my daily quota for heart-to-hearts. Hell, I’d met my monthly quota.

“Have you eaten yet?” I asked, grateful to be moving on to something more normal.

She shook her head. “But