Out of Breath (Breathing, #3)(58)

I nodded again, knowing that I wouldn’t.

‘I appreciate everything you did today,’ Sara said to me as she sat down beside me on the large wraparound sectional in the McKinleys’ entertainment room. ‘I know it was hard for you too.’

I sat quietly for a moment. ‘Yeah, it wasn’t easy,’ I answered carefully. ‘So will you do one thing for me in return?’

‘What’s that?’ she asked, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.

‘Let Jared and I drive you two to the airport tomorrow.’

Sara stared at me, trying to figure out if there was a hidden agenda behind my request. Of course there was.

‘Why?’ she asked suspiciously.

‘I just want to make sure she’s okay before she leaves again.’ It was a fairly honest answer.

‘I guess,’ she answered hesitantly. ‘But Emma and I sit in the back … alone.’

I was trying hard not to smile. ‘That’s fine.’

‘What are you doing here?’ I heard Carl practically growl at the bottom of the stairs. I trotted down the last flight and stumbled over a couple of steps when Evan came into view. His eyes drifted up towards me, at first in alarm, but when he saw that I’d caught myself from falling, his lips spread into that heart-stopping grin – the one he’d greeted me with at the bottom of these stairs more times than I could count.

‘Hey,’ he said, his eyes flicking away as I continued to gawk at him.

‘What’s going on?’ I asked, my attention diverted to Carl, who looked just as surprised as I was to find Jared and Evan in his doorway.

‘Our bags are in the sitting room,’ Sara announced as she hopped down the stairs, ignoring my scrunched eyes and her father’s questioning expression. ‘Oh, I forgot to tell you, Dad. You don’t need to drive us to the airport.’

‘I can see that,’ he responded, still wary. ‘Are you sure?’

‘Yeah, it’s fine,’ Sara said lightly, kissing her dad on the cheek with a smile. Then I heard her lean in and tell him, ‘It’s just a ride to the airport.’

He kissed her back, then redirected his attention to Jared, his eyes narrowed in warning.

Jared smiled uncomfortably and rushed past him to retrieve our bags.

‘What the frig are you thinking?’ I murmured to her as she slung her carry-on tote over her shoulder.

‘It’s a ride, Emma. Don’t worry. It won’t even be an hour.’ She smiled assuredly, but my insides curled into knots, knowing something was up.

I slipped by Evan, and followed Sara out the front door after hugging Anna and Carl goodbye.

The colour had returned to her face, and although any expression in her eyes was still elusive, she looked … beautiful. I had a hard time keeping the smile off my face when she practically fell down the stairs upon seeing me. It was one thing to convince myself I was over her and needed to move on, but it was another thing when she was standing right in front of me.

The drive to the airport was quiet, so I selected music to fill the silence. I noticed Sara watching Emma out of the corner of her eye when I turned towards Jared. Sara was worried. There was something I didn’t know, something Sara wasn’t telling me. Was I really ready for this … even if I ended up hurting worse in the end? But then again, I didn’t think that was possible.

My eyes kept drifting to the back of his neck, tracing his neatly trimmed hairline. He’d shift slightly and steal glances at Sara, and I’d catch a glimpse of his perfectly chiselled profile, with his long slender nose, angled cheekbone and defined brow. My heart would convulse, and I’d quickly look away to keep the heat from rising in my cheeks. I could survive this for one hour … maybe.

When we pulled up along the kerb at the airport, Jared and Evan got out to help remove our bags. That’s when I saw the other bags stacked in the trunk.

‘Are you kidding me?!’ I practically yelled at Sara, convinced that she was in on this. She stared back at me just as confused.

We both turned towards Evan, glaring at him accusingly.

‘I told you this was a bad idea,’ Jared murmured. ‘You seem to be batting a thousand with those lately.’

‘Shut up, Jared,’ Evan said under his breath, before shrugging towards Sara and I. ‘What? I’m spending the summer with Nate in Santa Barbara.’

Sara’s mouth dropped open. ‘Are you serious?’

‘What’s the big deal?’ he questioned, feigning innocence. ‘You’re going back to Palo Alto, right?’ I knew he wasn’t being completely honest. He was a terrible liar.

Sara huffed and grabbed her bags. ‘Come on, Emma.’

‘This can’t be happening,’ I said to her, rolling my suitcase after her.

‘Don’t worry,’ she assured me, ‘it’s going to be okay.’

‘Smooth,’ Jared teased, shutting the trunk as the girls stormed off. ‘Could you have been any more obvious?’

‘Well … they’d find out eventually, wouldn’t they?’

‘Do you have any idea what you’re getting yourself into?’ he asked, shaking his head.

‘Not really,’ I confessed, even after spending the entire night convincing myself I was doing the right thing. ‘But I never do when it comes to her. So why should that change?’