Keep Your Guard Up by Tara Merilaid

Author:Tara Merilaid [Merilaid, Tara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2025-10-03T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 34

Chance

JJ’s house was ridiculously loud whenever it rained. The wavy tin roof funnelled all the water into the gutters that lined the edging. But the sound of the rain was so rhythmic it was like a hundred kids were up there with pairs of drumsticks.

Over the noise, I barely heard the knock at the door. By the time I reached the rounded, heavy timber, I was ready to throw a fit at the noise consistency in the last thirty minutes. The knocking had become incessant as I got closer and closer, though the person on the other side either hadn’t heard my, ‘I’m coming’ calls or just didn’t care.

The door smacked straight into the wall when I flung it open.

And there she stood. On the porch, arms folded under her chest in an attempt to keep her fingers warm. Her orange Knock’s shirt was soaked all the way through. Though the colour still seemed bright in comparison to all of the baby’s breath that was growing in the front planter boxes.

She was drenched from head to toe. She lightly hopped from foot to foot, a soft squelching sound coming from her grassy shoes.

But those eyes. Something shone in them. Something fierce and brave and passionate.

“Hi.” She smiled, one of those big, beautiful, breathtaking smiles. “Can I come in?”

“Yes!” I cleared my throat. “Uh, yeah, of course.”

I moved aside, holding the heavy door open for her. She toed off what once were white sneakers but were now covered in grass.

Jesus, had she run here?

“God, Sunny. You must be freezing,” I said, turning to start towards the kitchen. Her footsteps padded along behind me. “You could have called? I’ve got JJ’s car today—I could have come to you.”

“I’m fine.” Her head lay back against the nearby wall she’d stopped to lean on, another one of those smiles gracing her lips. “It’s nice being out in the rain sometimes. All of the grass is already looking greener.”

“Coffee?” The kettle squealed gently as it began to heat up.

“If this goes well, I’m hoping I won’t need it.” She cleared her throat, pushing off the wall.

“Oh?” I stepped away from the kettle, leaning on the kitchen bench and folding my arms over.

“I, uh … I was talking to JJ this morning—”

“Uh-oh. Not off to a good start.”

“No, no.” She laughed, the sound full of sunshine. Full of Sunny. “He actually had his wisdom on cap this time.”

She took a step, slow and casual. Then another. Closer and closer towards me.

“And?”

She chewed on her bottom lip, the fingers on her right hand fidgeting. A habit, I’d learned, when she was nervous. Hard to pick, considering she wasn’t the easiest to rattle.

“And … I believe you.”

“About what?”

“That you’re not like the others.” She stood in front of me, those beautiful, beautiful brown eyes meeting mine. “You’ve shown me time and time again that you’re not like them—”

“Them?”

“The stupid little stereotype of people I’ve made up in my head to protect me from getting hurt again. You’re not them.

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