Just One Summer

Chapter Seven

Ten straight days of shows. All sold out. All energetic, nonstop craziness. Why Gracin agreed to do so many back-to-back shows was beyond me. Beside the money. Money was always a factor. Fortunately, we finally had Mondays and Tuesdays off.

Gracin and I fell into a pattern. Every morning started with a run, then we’d head back to our respective homes to rest and clean up. I’d bring over lunch and we’d go over the day’s schedule. Usually that consisted of Gracin rehearsing while I ran errands, but there was always the occasional crisis I had to avert, like finding a seamstress when his favorite leather jacket ripped on the day our regular costume repair lady was in the hospital. Most nights, we’d have a light dinner in his dressing room before show time. When it was over, I’d head home and crash. Rinse and repeat.

It worked, but I needed a break. Even though we’d stopped fighting, I needed to spend some time having a life. All I had was the show. Quite frankly, the show could suck it.

At the top of my list of things to do on my two days off: sleeping in—which meant it was a surprise when Mom roused me at six-thirty. I had a visitor. Mom’s eyes glazed over in that still sleep-induced state as she headed down the hall to her bedroom. I rubbed my eyes, too tired to work up any anger. It didn’t matter. I already knew it was Gracin. Nobody else would knock on my door before ten in the morning.

He stood in the hallway, dressed for a run.

Oh no.

“What happened?” He c****d his head to the right, staring at me like I was a science experiment gone wrong. I probably looked like one. “I was … Why didn’t you show up?”

An eye-watering yawn slipped free as I said, “It’s my day off.”

“Oh,” he glanced toward the door. I had to admit it impressed me how much he understood. His head snapped back around, and I saw the hurt in his eyes. “I thought you enjoyed our runs.”

Oh, crap. Another moment I wished I could lie to him. “I do, but ...,” another yawn interrupted my sentence. I smacked my lips together and squeezed my eyes shut. I was so not a morning person. “Sorry. I do enjoy running with you, but I’m tired. We’ve been going nonstop and I need a break.”

He nodded. I waited while he stared at his too expensive sneakers and traced the seams between tiles. His hands were behind his back, and his shoulders tensed with each of his breaths. I could see his mouth tightened into a thin line. He really wanted to run this morning, and he really wanted me to go with.

After another minute, I broke. “Fine. Let me change.”

“Only if you want,” he said, the tension easing from his body.

I rolled my eyes. “It won’t kill me, but we need to discuss boundaries, buddy. My time is precious, you know.”

“May God forgive me for interrupting your unnecessary beauty sleep.” He bowed gallantly.

I spun away as he chuckled. My mind focused on the word “unnecessary.” Did that mean he thought I was beautiful or I was so far gone no amount of sleep would help? I shook the first thought out of my head immediately. It didn’t matter. There were plenty of guys I thought were attractive, but it didn’t mean I wanted them in any carnal way. A giggle slipped between my lips. Thinking of Gracin and carnal in the same sentence made me flush like a freshman. I grabbed the clothes I ran in yesterday. They reeked, but I threw them on anyway. Since I hadn’t planned on running this morning, I hadn’t washed them. This was a reason to go shopping. Like I needed a reason. Maybe I could sneak some outlet time in while I shot from place to place taking care of errands for Gracin.

“Ready?” I asked as I strolled back down the hall. Gracin wasn’t by the door where I’d left him. He’d moved into the living room, where he stared at the family photos on the bookshelf that didn’t hold books. Mom was a firm believer of showing off her family, so there were pictures all over the place. They all brought back great memories, even if some were slightly embarrassing.

Gracin pointed to one of me and Luke in ugly yellow lifejackets. Our arms were around each other’s shoulders, and the laughter we’d shared hadn’t left our faces. Miranda took it after we’d done our first tandem ski the summer before my freshman year. But Gracin wasn’t pointing to me or Luke. His finger hovered over the edge of the picture by the world’s ugliest elbow.

“Was that cut off for some reason?” he asked, c*****g his head to the left to get a better angle. Not like that would help him see the person the elbow belonged to.

Yes, there was a damned good reason. I shuddered and tried to contain it. The photo had been taken two weeks before … well, just before. I swallowed the lump in my throat and fake smiled. “Miranda took it. She just sucks at photography.”

I consoled myself that I hadn’t really lied. Miranda had taken the photo and she did suck at photography. But I’d cut the person out of the photo. If I didn’t actually answer the question, it wasn’t a lie, right?

Gracin motioned in a circle at the photos. “This is pretty cool, Carly.”

The wistfulness in his voice was hard to miss.

“Your family cares about you,” he added. When he turned toward me, he smiled. “I wish I had a sister or brother sometimes. You’re lucky.”

I snorted at that. “It’s not all it’s cracked up to be, Gracin. My brother’s tortured me my entire life, and my little sister steals my s**t. I found half my wardrobe just by walking into her room.”

He laughed and glanced back at the photos. “Still lucky.”

It wasn’t my idea, I swear it wasn’t. My hand developed a mind of its own as it reached toward him and trailed down his upper arm to his elbow, stopping there. Gracin’s eyes immediately went to where my fingers burned into his skin. The electric current between us was almost visible. Imagine if I kissed him.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Get that thought out of your head, Carly.

Gracin stepped back, letting my hand fall limp back to me.

“Ready?” he asked in a strained voice.

I gulped, knowing my disappointment showed on my face like a zit on prom night. “Yeah.”

He nodded and took a wide berth around me to get to the door. I followed at a three-step distance outside. We stretched in silence, and at opposite ends of the driveway. The awkwardness extended to our run. Normally, we’d run side by side matching each other’s pace, but I hung back and Gracin sped up. After a mile of this crap, I matched his pace.

“What’s your problem?” I asked between breaths.

Gracin glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, but he didn’t respond.

I shook my head, stepping up my pace a bit. “You’re such a child, you know that?”

“How so?” Gracin lengthened his stride to match mine.

“How do you think?”

“I’m not the one trying to outpace his running partner.” He grinned and slowed down to our usual speed. The smile disappeared after two steps when his eyebrows battled for position above his nose. I’d quickly learned this look meant he was having an internal debate, and it was best to wait it out. Several times, he opened his mouth, only to snap it shut again. It took us another mile before Gracin finally said what he wanted. “You … surprised me.”

Totally not what I expected. “Never touch me again” would’ve made more sense. I posed the same question he’d asked me moments before, as innocently as I could of course. “How so?”

Gracin didn’t c***k a smile. “I wasn’t expecting … that.”

It didn’t take a genius to realize he was trying to be honest without giving anything away. I knew what had thrown him off; I just didn’t understand why. If I asked, he might not answer in the way I wanted. So I didn’t ask.

I cleared my throat. “What’re you planning on doing today?”

Gracin shrugged, his mind clearly somewhere else. Was it back in my living room? All I had done was touch his arm for the span of ten seconds. Ten incredibly intense seconds.

“It’ll be nice to get away from the theater,” I said. The awkward conversation turned even more awkward by the step.

“Yeah, maybe.” He paused and glanced at me before continuing. “What about you?”

My plans made me grin. I couldn’t wait to spend the day in the sun with my friends, lounging on the dock and relaxing. Nothing exciting for us, which wasn’t par for the course. “Just hanging with my friends at the lake. We’re barbecuing.”

“Sounds like fun,” he said. His head dropped an inch. Gracin normally ran with the confidence of a marathoner, head high and form loose. Even deviating from the norm was disturbing to me

That’s when it hit me. The run, spending every waking moment together, even his request that I move into the hotel all made sense. Gracin Ford, singing sensation, was lonely. It would’ve made me laugh if it wasn’t so sad. So I did the least logical thing in the world.

“Why don’t you come along?” I asked, fighting to keep the nervous quiver out of my voice. What if I’m wrong?

Gracin stopped and stared down at me. I stared back, but he didn’t answer as his eyebrows fought it out on his forehead.

“Come on,” I prodded. “It’ll be fun.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind?” He shifted foot to foot and glanced at his shoes. I wanted to reach out and comfort him, but I kept myself in check. Gracin nervous wasn’t normal.

I craned my neck to look him in the eye, smiling with encouragement. “Like I said, it’ll be fun.”

He found his swagger and straightened. “What barbecue wouldn’t be fun with Gracin Ford there?”

“There’s my cocky friend,” I said.

He tilted his head to the right. “You mean that?”

I wasn’t sure what he meant, and I was sure it showed on my face.

“That we’re friends?” he clarified.

I didn’t hesitate. “Well, yeah. Aren’t we?”

Gracin smiled, and it was the most beautiful thing I’d seen. He’d always been attractive, even when he was an ass, but seeing him smile like he was actually happy made him so much more so… interesting.

“Yeah, we are.”

We stared at one another, and I didn’t care my face burned more than it usually did during our runs. And I thought his looked the same, but I wasn’t about to point it out to him. We turned toward the street, both of us running with an extra bounce in our steps.