Ditched (19 page)

I made a
pfftttt
sound and tilted my head to the side. I placed a confused look on my face. “Collin
who
?”

He nearly choked on his
—well,
my
—shrimp. Then he started to laugh. “I like that answer.”

I smiled back. “Good, I’m glad.”

***

The next day, Mike decided to stick around again.
Unfortunately for me, Max had to work. The only bright side was that Mike was lazy and slept half the day away. I’d made myself at home on the beach long before he rolled out of bed. Not long after he was up, he came outside, giving me a look that clearly stated he wanted the beach to himself.

So I’d swiped up my things and
had gotten out of his way. He ended up spending the rest of the day out there. At one point, I’d gone down and offered him some sun block. He grumbled at me and shooed me away. However, I left it sitting in plain sight on the patio and it wasn’t too long before he trudged up to grab it. After that, I did what I do best. I tried to stay out of his way.

I’d already taken my daily walk through town
, chatting with both Felicia and Dani as I strolled along the now familiar sidewalks. I’d put together several pairs of earrings and even mailed a few pairs to my friends back home while I was out. I caught up on all of the laundry, mine and Max’s anyway. Mike was on his own. I’d cleaned the house, dusted the knickknacks, washed the floors and even scrubbed the shower. Max and I weren’t messy—as long as you overlooked the kitchen table—so cleaning didn’t take that long.

Once I was
done, I’d given up hope of finding something else worthwhile to do. With Mike at the house, my room was no longer my room. My options of how to spend the day had become a little more limited. Finally, I’d curled up on the couch and turned on a cheesy romance, knowing that by the time it ended Max would be getting home.

“So,” Mike said as he strolled into the room. “You and Max, huh?”

My eyebrows shot up. I didn’t want to ask where he was going with that. Had I been that obvious? I was pretty sure he’d tell me whether I asked or not.

It’s abou
t time you two figure this dating crap out,” he said as he fell into the chair across from me. “He’s been whining about you for years.”

“We’re not…” I hit a mental wall
. “Wait. What?”

“You and Max, you know?”
He treated me to an obnoxious waggling of his eyebrows. “It’s about damn time. Leave it to my brother to fall in love with the one girl who is completely off limits.”

“That’s not funny,”
I said around a nervous laugh. Had he caught me staring at Max? Had I said something that clued him in? It would be just like Mike to figure out how I felt and then turn around and find a way to torment me with it.

I mentally groaned. I was sure that’s what had happened.
The first night he arrived, we’d been outside. Max was grilling burgers and I’d been setting a pasta salad on the table. Only, Max’s backside was facing me and I’d gotten a little distracted checking out the view. I’d snapped myself out of it the moment Mike barged out onto the deck. But I guess I hadn’t been quick enough.

There was also the possibility that he’d noticed me sniffing
Max’s cologne the other night when he came home from work. Max had walked by and my eyes had drifted closed, taking in his scent. My embarrassment slammed into my cheeks. I realized how pathetic that must’ve looked.

Or last night, when Max asked
if I wanted to go out to dinner. We’d gone out to eat together hundreds—or at least dozens—of times over the years. But last night, I may have swooned at the request.

If Mike had noticed any or all of those things…? He’d most definitely love to make me feel like a fool because of them.

I started to wonder how many other things he’d caught me doing.  I’d caught
myself
quite a lot. My mind went into a tailspin wondering what kind of wicked ways Mike was going to come up with to taunt me over it.

“
I agree. I don’t think it’s funny at all. I think he could’ve found a better way to spend the last few years than to spend it waiting on you,” he finally said.

I narrowed my eyes at him. So this was
the tactic he was going to use? Make me think Max felt the same way about me so that I’d go to him and make a fool out of myself?

“Whatever,” I mumbled.

He glared at me. “And you still act like Max doesn’t matter.”

The conviction in his voice took me by surprise.

“Are you kidding?” I grated out. Regardless of what he was trying to do, I wasn’t going to let him accuse me of that. “Max is more important to me than almost anyone!”

He made a sound of disgust. “You’
ve never acted like it. In fact, all you’ve ever done is string him along. You dumped all over my brother every time you and Collin had problems. And you guys argued all the time.”

“No we didn’t,” I shot at him.

He looked at me like I was delusional. His next words made me realize that maybe I was.

“Holly,” he said firmly, “how many times did you and Collin break up and get back together over the years?”

“I don’t know!” I said, annoyed.

He pointed at me. “That, right there, is your answer. Too many times to count. And you’d go running to Max. And every time you did, you’d get his hopes up. Then you and Collin would get back together and you’d tear that hope to shreds.
You’d be with Collin again and Max would be left hanging.”

The anger in his voice made me realize I may have misread this conversation. He was truly livid. I didn’t think he was playing me, trying to make me think Max had feelings for me. It
sounded like he truly
believed
that Max did have feelings for me. My thought process slammed to a halt, and then did a one-eighty.

“Are you lying to me?” I demanded. My heart
took off, spastically trying to deal with a myriad of mixed emotions. If what he said was true, I felt awful for hurting Max. If what he said was true, did Max still feel that way about me? If it was true, was there a chance that Max and I—

“Are you really so self-absorbed that you didn’t know?” he shot back
, cutting into my revelation. “I mean…the things you did, they killed him.”

“What?” I demanded. “What did I do?”

He shook his head at me. “I know the night you caught Collin was not the first night you asked my brother for a ride to Collin’s house. Dropping you off with your boyfriend is not one of his favorite things to do.”

He’d dropped me off before. But so had Lanna and my other friends. How was I supposed to know it bothered him when he’d never said a word?

“Neither is being around you and Collin when you guys were actually getting along, hanging all over each other. You weren’t really doing him any favors when you invited him to the party at Collin’s when he moved into that house.”

Was he serious? How could I have
not
invited Max?

“And that text you sent him last winter? Right before Christmas? You turned his entire world upside down,” he seethed.

“What are you talking about?”

“When the girl you’ve been in love with for years sends you a text telling you she’s engaged, it might force you into making rash decisions.” I started to shake my head but he cut me off.
“Think about it. You got engaged…what, the first day of winter break? By the last day of break Max had decided he needed to leave the state. Trust me, it wasn’t a coincidence.”

“He wants this,” I argued.

Mike shrugged. “Yeah, well, lucky for him things worked out that way. I think one way or another he was hell-bent on getting out of Chamberlain.”

I cringed at that.

“Oh. So do you finally see? Are you finally starting to get it?”

I stared back at him. Not wanting to gift him with an admission.

“Did you know Max doesn’t even like photography all that much?”

I was about to protest but he cut me off.

“He only took pictures because you asked him to. And probably because it was a way for him to spend time with you. I mean, he has a great camera, you needed a photographer. The guy cannot tell you no.”

“That’s not true!”

He cocked his head to the side and narrowed his eyes at me. “Tell me one time that he’s told you no.”

I clenched my teeth because he was right.

“He enjoys photography.”

He scoffed at me. “Tell me how many times he’s had his camera out since you’ve been here?” He waited. I was about to argue that maybe he just hadn’t had time to unpack it yet. He continued on. “He liked taking pictures when it meant he could be aro
und you. But now that he’s here—and you can’t deny that there’s some amazing scenery—I’m willing to bet he hasn’t even bothered to look for his camera yet.”

He was right.

If he was right about the camera, was he right about everything else?

I wasn’t sure if I should be happy or disgusted because if it was true, then I’d been stomping on Max’s heart all of these years and I hadn’t even known it.

A smile crawled onto his face. It didn’t improve his disposition in the least.

“Oops.” The sarcasm was thick
. “Guess it’s all out there now. Sorry. Looks like I spilled the proverbial beans.”

Only his expression showed he clearly was not sorry at all.
Nor was he done.

“Why do you think he was leaving immediately after your wedding? You don’t honestly think it was a coincidence.
Do you think he really needed to start in at the winery first thing? He didn’t. He knew the wedding itself was going to be torture on him. He wouldn’t have planned on going to the wedding at all. But he didn’t want to let you down.”

I blinked at him, trying to spin the conversation into something that made sense.

Finally he sighed and shook his head. “You really didn’t know.” He sounded surprised at this. It wasn’t a question but I shook my head, regardless. “I have to admit, I always thought you did. I thought you enjoyed jerking him around.”

“I’d never do that
to anyone. Especially not Max. I love Max. As a friend, I mean,” I added. No need to admit to Mike of all people that I definitely felt something more.

“Is that why you’ve always hated me so much?” I demanded.

He narrowed his eyes at me. He started to shake his head, as if to deny it. He seemed to realize it would be a wasted effort. “I don’t know if I hated you…” he tentatively offered.

I raised my eyebrows.

“Okay. Yeah,” he said with forced nonchalance. “Yeah, I did. I mean, he’s my little brother. And while I don’t mind giving him shit, I hated seeing him so ripped up over you time and time again.”

“I didn’t know,” I said.

“Why do you think he was so hell-bent on leaving right after the wedding?”

“I just thought he was anxious to get started at the winery.” He’d finally decided what he wanted to do with his life.
It made sense at the time, when he’d told me that was his reason.

Now that Mike seemed to believe that I really didn’t know, his tone softened just a bit. “
He’s working for our grandparents. You don’t think they would’ve given him a little leeway? At least another day or two so he could’ve gone to the reception? You never thought it was questionable that he had to leave right after the ceremony?”

“I did, actually,” I said defensively. “But I had no reason to not believe him when he said he just needed to get going.”

“I can guarantee he would’ve skipped the whole thing completely but he knew how much it meant to you to have him there. So he stayed. Think about that Holly. Everything Max has done for you over the years. He was prepared to sit through hell and watch the girl he loves marry someone else…Just so
she
wouldn’t get her feelings hurt. And didn’t you wonder why he took the longer route to get here? He added an extra day to the road trip. Figured he’d need it to chill himself out after watching you get married. You didn’t figure that out?” He was looking at me like I was the stupidest thing he’d ever seen. Maybe I was.

“I’ve never been here before!” I said in my own defense. “How was I supposed to know it was the longer route?”

He was frustrated with me again. He didn’t say anything but he didn’t have to. His expression said it all. I didn’t have time to argue with him because we both heard the door open. A few moments later, Max appeared. He dropped himself down on the couch next to me. His arm
settled across my shoulders as he pulled me in. I had to brace a hand against his chest to keep myself from toppling into his lap. Not, I realized, that I would’ve minded in the least.

“So kids, what are we going to do tonight?” Max asked.

I felt myself relax against him as he looked from me to his brother. Max’s arm felt way too good around me. Even if the smug look Mike wore was ruining it just a bit.