“Max…”
He stepped closer, his voice dropping. “I would never, ever do that to you, Chloe. I swear, I’d never hurt you on purpose. You have to believe that.”
Did she? Looking up into his pained eyes, she did believe him. Yes, she’d hurt him the day before, but he’d been trying to do the right thing. Max would always try to do the right thing.
“I believe you,” she whispered, and his face showed the same lurch from agony to hope that she felt inside her chest.
Behind her, her mom cleared her throat, and Max’s gaze flickered in that direction. He looked back at her with a question in his eyes. A horrible time to introduce the parents, but her life was one big jumble of weirdness at the moment. He could deal with it or leave.
“Max, these are my parents, Beth Turner and Jimmy Turner. Mom and Dad, this is Max Sullivan.”
Max took the hand her father offered. “Mr. and Mrs. Turner,” he said like a nice Southern boy.
When her mom folded her hands together, clearly not offering one to Max, he looked down at the ground. “I apologize for anything you might have seen about me on the news. I swear I only want good things for Chloe. My words were twisted around.”
Her mom acknowledged the apology with only a raised eyebrow before she turned to Chloe. “All right, sweetie. You give us a call later. I’m going to get your dad out into his garden before he has a stroke.”
A muttered argument about who was in better shape trailed behind them as they walked away. Chloe accidentally met Jenn’s red-rimmed eyes and spun back toward Max in response.
“I told you not to hang around.”
“I didn’t. I went back to D.C.”
Ouch. That hurt.
His eyes focused on Jenn for a split second. “I was worried, but I know you can take care of yourself. I know that, Chloe. I didn’t mean to imply… But then this morning, when I heard the interview, I had to come. I couldn’t let you think I would say that.”
“Okay.”
“Look…” He finally touched her, his fingers sending shivers from her elbow all the way to her knees. “Can we talk somewhere?”
She wanted to say yes. Wanted to tuck her hand around his arm and walk away from Jenn and her tortured eyes. If Max was back to take care of her, in that split second of vulnerability, she wanted him to whisk her away.
But she was strong. She was.
“Come by my place in a little while?”
His whole body softened and his mouth curved into a brief, brilliant smile before he pressed it back into seriousness.
“Yes. Absolutely. Half an hour?”
She now had the perfect excuse to keep her conversation with Jenn to a minimum. “Yes. Perfect.”
Max kissed her cheek, the scent of him hurting her heart, and then she was alone with Jenn Castellan, the friend she’d loved more than any boy. More than even a sister.
Jenn led her to her car, and before she could start the engine, Chloe said, “Tell me.”
Jenn’s hands closed over the steering wheel. “I’m so sorry.”
“Just tell me.”
“I know what you think, but it wasn’t me. I’d never do that to you. Never.”
That snapped her out of her bitter fugue. “Then who?” she asked even as she realized that she knew.
“Anna,” Jenn said.
“Oh, my God.”