“And I saidokay.”
Hawk lifted his jaw mulishly, and I wished I didn’t notice and appreciate how gorgeous he was even when he was being a stubborn ass, but I did. It seemed I couldn’t help noticing anymore, damn it.
I could tell Hawk wanted to argue until I agreed with him, but I refused.
Hawk was stuck in his own head. By his own admission, angry about everything on Earth. And with our rock-solid friendship suddenly seeming incredibly fragile, getting into a rip-roaring debate was the last thing I wanted. The town would make their decision one way or another in a few weeks, and maybe then Hawk could accept it.
“You heading home?” I asked when we reached the trailhead. “I’m planning to go back to the house and chill for the rest of the day. I thinkDeath Comes to Pemberleyis on tonight, and if you want to come over, we could?—”
“Thanks, but I have plans.”
“Oh.” I stewed over this for several paces, then asked, “Date-type plans, or…?”
“Better.” Hawk paused long enough to give me a wide smile. “Crys and I are throwing knives.”
I nearly stumbled over my own feet and caught myself on the hood of my truck. “At each other?”
He snorted. “No! Honestly, your face right now. At atarget. Crys knows a guy who knows a guy. He teaches courses and stuff.Should be fun. Even better than jiujitsu. Get that aggression out, like you said.”
“But…” I blinked. “You’re a pacifist. You hate weapons. You cringe at the sight of blood. You cried atHunger Games. During the knife-throwing scene inDivergent, I thought you were going to vomit up the Skittles and popcorn you’d scarfed down while drooling over Theo James. In that onePride and Prejudicevariation, Wickham held Lizzy at knifepoint, and it took two pints of mint chocolate chip to calm you down.”
“Yeah, but this time, I’m the one with the knives, and that feels… different, somehow. It’s calledbroadening my horizons. About time I did that in lots of ways, don’t you think?” Hawk bumped his knuckles on the side of my truck twice before heading toward his own car. “See you tomorrow, boss.”
I watched uneasily as Hawk got into his car and drove away. I didn’t want to be Chicken Little about the situation, but I couldn’t help thinking Hawk was having some kind of quarter-life crisis. Picking fights? Planning to lose his virginity, possibly to a random stranger on a hookup app? Turning down a viewing of aPride and Prejudice-related movie so he could goknife throwing?
Someone needed to keep an eye on him. Someone besides me.
Someone like… Webb.
Yes. Webb would be perfect. I mean, okay, he’d lose his shit if he heard about Hawk’s cherry-popping plan, but rightly so because that plan was terrible. He’d sit Hawk down and…
I groaned. He’d probably try to put Hawk in a time-out or send him to bed without dessert like he was four instead of twenty-four. I didn’t want Hawk humiliated in the name of protection. Not to mention, Webb had zero experience with gay hookup apps.
Maybe Knox would be the better big brother to approach. Knox was experienced and levelheaded. He’d lived in Boston, for goodness’ sake. Surely he’d done the hookup thing dozens of times, if not hundreds. Maybe even… thousands.
I hesitated again.
Okay, possibly Knox hadtoomuch experience.
Gage, Knox’s boyfriend, would be the best bet. Gage was Hawk’s age, so he wouldn’t treat Hawk like a kid. He’d used hookup apps in the past, but he was also in a committed relationship with Knox, so he’d be able to explain the difference in a way I couldn’t. He’d tell Hawk to slow down and not rush things. For his own good.
I started my truck and headed for Sunday Orchard, but instead of pulling into the main driveway between the farmhouse and the barn they’d converted into a gift shop, I headed around the back and parked in front of a small orange cottage at the rear of the property.
The Pumpkin House was at least a hundred years old—maybe older than the farmhouse where the rest of the family lived—but it had sat vacant for most of the time I’d lived in the Hollow, and I’d always thought it looked a little sad. Now, though, the cottage was full of life, with freshly painted shutters, white curtains riffling in the summer breeze, and long columns of brightly colored flowers marching up the path to the front door. In the side yard, Gage Goodman sprawled on a folding lounge chair in a pair of bright pink surf shorts and nothing else while his boyfriend mowed the lawn around him.
“Hey, Gage? Can I talk to you?” I asked above the loud buzz of the mower.
Gage opened one eye and peered at me. “Jack? Everything okay?”
“Yeah.” I hesitated. “Probably.”
Knox lifted his eyebrow at me from across the stretch of overgrown grass, but I shook my head and pointed at his boyfriend before taking a seat in the lawn chair next to Gage.
He reached for an iced coffee that had been hidden in the shade under his chair and took a deep slurp. “What’s up?”
“Well, the thing is…” Now that Gage’s dark eyes were on me, I shifted awkwardly. Hawk would not be happy if he knew I was here. I was trying to protect him, but he’d see it as me interfering or viewing him as a child when that was theoppositeof my problem these days. “If I tell you something, will you keep it between us? And, uh, Knox, I guess?”
Gage frowned. “Okay…”
