Take Two (30 page)

“Okay …” Cody’s voice rang with subtle teasing. “Is this my lucky day?”

“Your what?” She smiled at him. “Why do you say that?”

“Because here we are hanging out, and I keep thinking if get lucky — I mean, really lucky — maybe you’ll tell me why you pulled
so far away. I mean, I apologized for my stupidity in staying away from you last fall, right?”

She stifled a giggle. “Okay. Right.”

He made a funny face. “So maybe you think I have bubonic plague? Or maybe you’re so blinded with love for Tim you forgot I’m
alive.” His eyes lit up and he pointed at her. “Or you fell and hit your head and now you have amnesia and you can’t remember
where you know me from.” He shrugged. “Or if you know me.”

She laughed again. “Cody …” They were walking more slowly now, and once in awhile Bailey felt his arm brush against hers.
She had missed this so much, this camaraderie with Cody. “You’re crazy.” She grinned at him. “I don’t think you have the plague.”

“You saw my picture in a post office on a Most Wanted poster, and you’ve convinced yourself I’m a felon?”

“Come on …”

Cody was laughing now too. “Or you’ve got it in your mind that I’m not Cody Coleman at all, but some evil twin, and now you’re
afraid to talk to me?”

Bailey laughed harder, so much that she slowed to catch her breath. How long had it been since she’d felt this way? Her feelings
took her back and made her long for another time. She poked her elbow at him. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Actually …” He gradually came to a stop and faced her. “I don’t want to be too serious, Bailey, but really, for the life
of me, I can’t understand it.”

They were at a part of the path that lay out in the open, no seclusion whatsoever. Even still, Bailey felt like they were
the only two people on campus. She wanted to look away, but she couldn’t. She’d avoided him this long, so maybe he was right.
Maybe it was time she gave him an answer. “Really, Cody?” Her voice was soft, the laughter gone for her too. “You want the
truth?”

“I do.” He looked so good in his gray Colts sweatshirt and jeans. For a moment he looked like he might hug her, or touch her
face. But instead he slipped his hands in his back pockets and waited. His eyes never left hers for a single second. “Why
do you stay away from me? I miss you more each day.”

“Because …” She didn’t want to cry, not now and not ever around him. But her heart didn’t know the rules, and tears built
up anyway. “I know you’re sorry. But you cut me out of your life for nearly three months. Like you didn’t care at all, and
something happened to me during that time.” She raised the zipper on her sweater, but the extra warmth didn’t touch the chill
inside her.

“What?” He studied her eyes, her expression. “What happened, Bailey?”

A hot tear slid down her cheek, and she caught it with her shoulder. “It’s like I told you before. I still can’t trust you.
I almost deleted your texts last week too.”

He couldn’t have looked more hurt if she’d told him she’d forgotten his name. “Then you don’t understand me at all.”

“Of course I do. When you came back from war you told me you weren’t interested in me as more than a friend. You wanted me
to date Tim Reed, and that’s what I’m doing.” She wished she sounded more enthusiastic about the fact. “But you promised me
I’d at least have your friendship. Only then …” Another tear fell. “Then school started and you started going after my roommate.”
Her voice was slightly louder than before. “How did you think I was going to take that?”

He exhaled hard and rubbed the back of his neck. Without saying anything, he turned and stared at the empty campus lawn. After
a few seconds he looked at her again, his eyes full of a hurt deeper than any she’d seen in him before. “You really think
I could replace you with Andi Ellison?” The sound that came from him was more a frustrated cry than a laugh. “She’s nothing
like you.”

“But that’s what you did.” Bailey pressed her knuckles beneath her eyes and willed herself to find control. “You became her
friend instead of mine.”

“Because you had Tim.”

“Of course I had Tim.” She caught her voice this time, and dropped it to a frustrated whisper. “You wanted me to. Wasn’t that
what you said? He had more in common with me, and he was better for me. All to distract me from the real issue. Why
you
weren’t interested. But I didn’t think you’d turn your back on me.”

He looked completely defeated, and for a long time he only stared at her. Then finally he allowed a sad laugh and a shake
of his head. “You’ll never understand. You were already with Tim when I came home. You were happy, I could see that. It wouldn’t
have been cool to call you and text you all the time when you already had Tim.”

She wanted to tell him that they weren’t all that serious, even now, and that Tim’s dreams were starting to feel very different
from hers. But that would feel like a betrayal to Tim. She loved Tim, and however long they stayed together, she could never
talk bad about him behind his back. Not now or ever. He’d done nothing to deserve that.

Instead she swallowed hard and lifted her eyes to the trees up ahead. New leaves showed on their branches, proof that once
more winter wouldn’t have the final say.

“Tim and I are still serious.” She gave him a conflicted look. “So why the effort these past few months, Cody? Why the texting
and calling?”

“Because God made it clear to me that I was an idiot. I never should’ve backed off just because of Tim. I wasn’t a threat
to him, and by backing off I only confused you.” He looked intently at her, past the surface and straight to her soul. “I
never stopped thinking about you.”

“So that’s it, huh? You want to be my friend.”

“Exactly.” His eyes gradually took on the light they’d lost in the heat of their discussion. “Because really, Bailey, I don’t
have the plague. I promise you.”

Her cheeks were dry, and she laughed even though she hadn’t intended to. Maybe things hadn’t changed as much between them
as she’d thought. Not if he could still make her laugh at will. “Brat.” She kicked at his feet, then paused for a long while,
lost in his eyes. “So you’re saying I can trust you this time, that you’ll be a real friend.”

“As long as Tim doesn’t care.”

“He doesn’t.” Her answer came quickly. “He trusts me.”

The joy in Cody’s eyes was enough to make her laugh again, and once she started, he joined in. “You’re not worried I’m an
evil twin?”

“A little. But I’ll stop erasing your messages.” They started walking once more and she felt her eyes dance as she gave him
a side glance. “How would that be?”

“Wow. I feel like the luckiest guy on campus.” He leaned his head back and shouted. “Bailey Flanigan’s going to stop deleting
my messages!” He took a long breath and grinned at her. “Definitely the luckiest guy.”

She kept laughing. “Shhh. People will wonder.”

“Yeah, well, that’s not always a bad thing.” His laugh fell to a quiet chuckle. They were almost back at her dorm. “Now here’s
what’ll happen. You’ll go into your dorm and put away your backpack and before you can even think about washing your face
you’ll get a text message.” He held out his elbow and touched it lightly to hers. “It’ll be from me, and then … instead of
erasing it or ignoring it or banning it from your phone the way you’re used to doing, you’ll sit down on the edge of your
bed and text me back.”

They were at her dorm now, and they stopped at the bottom of the steps. “That’s what’s going to happen?”

“Yes.” His eyes glimmered. “Okay?”

“Mm-hmm.” She lowered her chin, feeling a little sheepish. “I guess I’ve been sort of rude.”

“No, no.” He punctuated the night air with his forefinger. “The plague can be very contagious, and you had to look out for
your health.”

She allowed herself to get serious one more time. “Not for my health. For my heart. In my book, friends don’t just stop talking
to each other.”

A long breath slid between his lips. “I know. It was my fault. I’m asking you again to forgive me, Bailey. So we can try one
more time.”

“Okay.” Her heart hung on every word he said. “I forgive you.” They were standing so close she could feel the warmth from
his body. “And I need you to forgive me too.”

He tapped his foot against hers. “For what?”

“For not talking about this with you sooner.”

This time they needed no words. Slowly Cody wrapped his arms around her. The hug lasted a long time, and Bailey wished it
would’ve gone on longer. Because against all the odds, she and Cody had finally done the impossible.

They’d found their way back to each other.

They whispered good-byes, and when Bailey was inside her dorm, before she had time to wash her face, her phone alerted her
to a text message. She smiled and picked it up.

I’M TRYING TO FEEL THE GROUND BENEATH ME, BUT IT ISN’T EASY.

Bailey grinned and texted back her answer. ME TOO.

ACTUALLY, I’M THANKING GOD WITH EVERY STEP BECAUSE I WASN’T SURE WE’D EVER HAVE THIS AGAIN, AND NOW WE DO.

MORE THAN THAT, she tapped out her response, WE ALWAYS WILL.

It was the one thought that kept her company as she fell asleep. She and Cody had found their way back to each other, back
to the friendship they’d almost lost. No matter what Andi was out doing tonight, or how her feelings for Tim were shifting,
that was all that mattered.

She had Cody again, and all was right with the world.

A
NDI WAS GLAD THE SPRING SHOW WAS OVER
. She’d received much praise for her role as Maid Marian, but deep inside she knew she could’ve done better. Her focus was
off — the way it had been off since she and Taz began spending time together. For the past month, ever since they’d shot the
first scenes of Taz’s movie, the two of them had been nearly inseparable. When they weren’t together, they were texting or
talking on the phone.

Taz told her she was his kindred spirit, his soul mate. In the past words like that would’ve seemed cliché or trite, but with
Taz they took on new meaning, the way all of life did with him.

“What is it with this Taz guy?” Bailey asked every few days. “Come on, Andi. Be honest.”

But Andi would only smile and shrug. “He’s nice. We’re not dating or anything.” She was telling the truth, even if she was
purposefully evasive. “Just getting to know each other.”

Even so, Taz had become an obsession. Andi was grateful she was a strong student and that her grades hadn’t suffered. Because
when she wasn’t in class, she was all about Taz.

I CAN FEEL US IN THE TREES, he’d told her yesterday over a text. NEW LIFE BURSTING THROUGH EVERY BRANCH AND PUSHING THROUGH
OUR HEARTS AND SOULS. CAN YOU FEEL IT?

The crazy thing was she could. Even if she wasn’t always sure exactly what he meant. With Taz she felt free and full of potential,
not stuck in a box the way she’d felt before. Their talks never stalled in the bog of Christianity or the Bible or the existence
of God — topics Andi had spent a lifetime exhausting. Instead she and Taz laughed and talked about the pulse of a person’s
soul and the beauty in a blade of grass. The topics were endless with Taz, and once in a while they even dreamed about the
future.

Taz had been careful not to kiss her again. He’d wound up playing the role of her character’s love interest, but the kiss
they shared on screen was purely professional, art at its best. When they’d finished filming it, he let his eyes hold hers
a few seconds more. “Definite chemistry,” he said. And that was all — then or since then.

There were times when she wanted to beg him to kiss her the way she was dying to be kissed. Other times she wanted to scream
at him, “Okay, so are you falling for me or what?”

But always the question seemed pushy or forced. “We are like wind and rain,” he’d told her last week. “Dancing over the earth
the way two people are supposed to dance.” Another time he touched her cheek and whispered, “We enjoy each other — hearts,
minds, and souls.” His eyes shone with a mesmerizing depth. “One day, maybe, we will enjoy more than that.”

In the past she’d feared a physical relationship with a guy. She had promised God, herself, and her parents she’d stay pure
until she was married. So when guys made moves on her earlier this year, the attempts felt like an affront. Something to stay
away from.

But everything was different with Taz. Each time they were together, her desire and curiosity grew. The more he seemed almost
uninterested in kissing her, the more she wanted to be kissed. Her wanting him only added to the other heightened sensations
she felt whenever Taz was around.

Andi tuned out her psych professor, clicked a button on her phone, and smiled. Another text from him.

HEY, BEAUTIFUL, I NEED TO RESHOOT A FEW SCENES FOR THE MOVIE. I REALLY WANT AN A ON THIS THING, AND I’M NOT SURE THE STUFF
WE DID IN THE BEGINNING IS STRONG ENOUGH.

Andi’s mind raced.

THE BEDROOM SCENES?

YES. I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT OVER TEXT. LET’S MEET AFTER YOUR LAST CLASS TODAY.

She wasn’t sure what he had in mind, but the idea of meeting him sounded wonderful. They had several places on campus where
they often stole a few minutes together and she gave in to the dizzy way he made her feel. When class was over, she met him
on a hilly path overlooking an ancient chapel, one of the few religious buildings on campus. Andi tried not to think about
how long it had been since she’d set foot in a church.

He took her hand in his, eased his fingers between hers, and led her to the top of the hill, to a bench set back from the
path and shaded by two enormous maple trees. “Your skin feels good.” His pace was slow so he could look at her as they walked.
“Enchanting. Like everything about you.” He slid his fingers deeper between hers. “Can you feel it?”

Kiss me
, she wanted to scream. But instead she focused her attention on the place where their fingers connected. “Mmm.” She smiled
at him. “I can.”

“People are meant to experience physical connection. You and I —” His smile touched the center of her soul. “— we’re all about
real love.”