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“Not even close.”
He laughs and grips my shoulder. “So fix it.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
I look over at him, my answer sad but true. “If I thought there was a way for us to be together, I would have never let her go. But there isn’t.”
“What about friends?”
Could Ellery and I be friends? Would having some part of her be better than not having her at all?
“I don’t know. But I tell you what, something is going on with her and I’m going to find out what.”
“What do you mean?”
“She’s been planning to go to Yale since birth, and yesterdaywhen she said she didn’t know what her plans were, that wasn’t the response of a girl whose future has been mapped from the day she was born. Then last night she said something to me about needing to figure out her life. Neither make sense.”
Jake considers what I’ve said. “Could it have something to do with her father’s case?”
“Her what?”
“Remember when you were showing us the house and Marcus said something about that news report he saw. Something about the case around her dad’s death being reopened?”
“Shit.” I close my eyes and drop my head on the back of the couch. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
“Hey, I don’t have the best GPA on the team for nothing, you know. Plus, I am probably thinking a bit clearer than you right now.”
“On the second point, you’re right. You probably are. But the first…the fuck you do.”
“No, for real. Winters is second, and you’re third, but I’m at the top, buddy. I have the grand slam on the four B’s: babes, baseball, beauty, and brains. With a detective for a dad, and an accountant for a mom, I wasn’t exactly born to dummies.”
“Don’t forget modesty,” I add wryly.
“That’s an M,” he laughs. “See, first,” he points at his chest, “and third,” he then points to me.
We both laugh. “When Cal gets back, you two should talk,” he says when it dies down.
“I know. We will.” There couldn’t be any tension between the four of us. We made a pact two years ago to always have each other’s backs, and no shit came between us, on or off the field. “Once they get back, I’ll wipe his ass with a round ofThunder Force: III.”
Jake laughs and pushes up from the couch. “Good. Now, I’mgoing to shower before they get back with that coffee and you should do the same. You smell like a distillery.”
“And you smell like a whore house.” I call over my shoulder as he laughs and pads out of the living room, and down the hall.
As he makes his way upstairs, I lay my spinning head down on the couch and find myself wondering if I can make it through the summer without losing my shit again. When it came to Ellery, all bets were off.
Chapter 8
Ellery
“Rise and shine,” Jenica sings gleefully.
I groan and pull the comforter over my head. “Go away.”
“No can do.” She pulls the comforter down and the familiar smell of French roast, rouses my senses. “I have questions that need answers, so get up.”
I knew Jenica would want to talk this morning. After finally meeting up with her last night, we walked home in silence, and when we got home, I said little, washing up, and crawling into bed at record speed.
