False Start - Jessica Ruddick Page 0,56

hit him where it hurt and refused to budge. I can clearly remember her calmly crossing her arms and evenly meeting her brother’s gaze while he yelled until he was blue in the face. I might have fallen in love with her just a little in that moment.

And maybe it was the whiskey talking, but if she was going to end up with someone who wasn’t good enough, then why couldn’t that someone be me?

CHAPTER 14

Becca

BLAKE WAS A ridiculously sweet guy, and the more I stared at him, the more good-looking he became. Unfortunately, he was already in love with someone else. Womp, womp.

Technically, I was, too, but the whole point of me going out with Blake was to forget about Carson. But Blake? Not so much. He had just broken up with his high school sweetheart who attended George Mason. After almost four years, the long distance had finally proven too much.

“I’m sorry,” he said as we walked to his car. “I didn’t mean to talk your ear off about Sadie.”

“It’s okay.” I was a little disappointed, but I wasn’t going to tell him that. He already felt bad enough.

Blake flashed a wry grin. “I suppose now is not the best time to ask for a second date.”

I stared at him for a moment before it clicked. He didn’t even realize he was still hopelessly head over heels for his ex. “You’re not over her.” Lucky girl. Blake really was a nice guy. For his sake, I hoped they could work things out.

“Yeah, I am.” At my stern glance, he sighed. “I’m working on it. But I definitely could be with the right girl.”

I shook my head. “That’s not the way it works. That’s called a rebound. You need to get over her first.”

Blake’s situation was eerily similar to my own but with one key difference. He was definitely rebounding, but I’d never actually been with Carson, so technically, I wasn’t rebounding. Basically, though, we were two hopeless fools. Part of me wasn’t surprised in the least about this new development. For whatever reason, I seemed to attract guys who were friend material. Case in point? Evan, Blake, and Carson.

Blake apologized the whole way home, sounding completely miserable. Poor guy.

“Seriously, it’s fine,” I told him. “I was going stir-crazy in the house and needed to get out. Mission accomplished. The sticky buns were a nice bonus.” I patted my belly, which I’d filled to the max. On my lap, I held a to-go box with a bun for Carson. Just one, though, because I actually knew what kind was his favorite—cinnamon. Lucky for him, I was so full that I wouldn’t poach his treat. Maybe.

When we pulled onto Carson’s street, I told Blake he could drop me off in front of the townhouse instead of bothering to find parking. Even if the date hadn’t been a bust, it wasn’t as if I would invite him into Carson’s house. That would have been weird on so many levels. Aside from that, I didn’t think Carson had it in him to be civil to my date for an extended period. He’d barely managed the two minutes when Blake had come to the door.

As I walked toward the townhouse, I tried to talk myself into believing what I’d told Blake—that everything was fine, that it didn’t matter that the first date I’d been on in over a year was a wash. Blake was a nice guy, and his intentions had been good, so I wasn’t upset with him. I wasn’t upset at all exactly. I was just… I didn’t know what I was. Disappointed, maybe? No, that wasn’t it. I was simply tired. Everything about my life exhausted me at the moment, most of all this damn concussion. I was so over it. I might not have been ready to go back to my apartment yet, especially since Lucy was still out of town, but I was going to class tomorrow no matter how much Carson protested. Friday was the perfect day to go back because if it wiped me out, I could rest all weekend.

I tried the doorknob before bothering to fish my key out of my purse and found the door unlocked. Carson was sitting on the couch, a glass in his hand. His eyes immediately went to my face, searching. I had no idea what he was looking for, though. His expression reminded me of a puppy who’d been kicked, and it made me glad I’d gotten him a