Love and Other Things (Crystal Lake 4)

He nodded and mumbled an affirmative. He might have said something about the weather. Who the hell knew?

“Is your phone dead or something?”

“What?” Distracted, he turned to her, his tone sharper than it should have been.

Her eyes narrowed a bit, then shadowed with what seemed like hurt, and that made Beck feel like shit. She let go of his arm.

“I just meant that I was thinking about you last night. I messaged, but you didn’t respond. It’s not like you.”

“Em, I’m sorry. I was beat and was home and in bed by eleven.”

“No worries.” Her tone was light. “I came to watch the finals. You played against Rick’s team.”

“Right.” This was awkward, no way around it. And for the life of him, Beck didn’t know why. Usually things between him and Emily were easy. They were friends with the secret benefits, but friends first.

“It was a good game.”

Beck nodded his thanks, turning slightly to find Sidney’s eyes still on him.

“Who’s that?” Emily took a step closer and followed his gaze.

“With Moll? That’s a friend of Nate’s.”

“She’s definitely not a townie.” There was no snark in Emily’s words; it was just an observation.

“No.”

“Where’s she from?”

Beck dragged his gaze from Sid. “San Diego, I believe.”

For a moment, Emily didn’t say anything. She lowered her lashes, and he couldn’t get a read. “You seem to know an awful lot about her.”

Shit. Here we go.

“Not really. I just met her last weekend.”

Emily looked over their way and then back to him. “She’s stunning.”

“She’s attractive,” he admitted, because he’d have to have a hole in his head not to notice just how beautiful Sidney was.

The set of Emily’s mouth told him he’d just said the wrong thing. He didn’t want to do this. Not now. Not ever. He had a feeling he and Emily had just crossed a line he never intended to cross, and it was probably time to take a look at things, because she was acting like he’d done something wrong.

“I should go,” she said lightly, taking a step back from him. “Will I see you later?”

Beck held her gaze a heartbeat longer and then cleared his throat. “I don’t think so. It will probably be a late night.”

“Oh.” The reply was soft. Resigned. “I figured.” A sad smile touched her generous mouth. “I’ll see you around.” She turned and disappeared through the crowd, taking the back exit that led to the parking lot.

Beck wasn’t exactly sure what had just happened, but he felt like crap about it. He didn’t want to hurt Emily. And even though he knew she was just looking for a body to lie next to, a connection she’d lost the day her husband crashed his bike, he couldn’t be that person anymore. He couldn’t fake something he didn’t feel.

He turned and walked over to his brother, Molly, and Sid, who’d now been joined by his parents. Warmth bloomed in his chest. He was a few years past thirty, and it still mattered when his parents came to watch him play.

“Good game, son.” Beck took the praise his father offered and shook his hand. He was good, no doubt about that, but his brother had been a pro. Even with a weak knee, Nate could skate circles around every single guy in the league. And then some.

“Was that Emily Davenport?” his mother asked, looking over his shoulder.

“Yeah.”