Page 14 of The Other Room

The soft waves lapped at the shore, and I picked up a smooth white rock and flicked my wrist, watching it skip across the water before disappearing into the bay. Glancing back at the cabin, I wondered if Jo was awake yet. Not wanting to start off our first morning on the wrong foot by waking her up too early after she’d gotten in late from bartending, I’d kept myself scarce and spent the morning doing a little fishing off the Sister Bay dock and enjoying the serenity of her backyard on the water. My presence here already had her riled enough, and I didn’t need to give her any ammo to toss me out on my ass.

After I’d done what I’d done, fallen for Nikki’s charms and crossed the line like a dumbass, my entire world had tipped upside down. Not only had Nikki bolted from town when word got out and left me to deal with the aftermath alone, but I’d become a pariah. A castaway from our little Baileys Harbor society left to slink around the shadows, bolting out from beneath one scornful gaze after another.

A town that once treated me like a favorite son quickly closed ranks around Jake and left me on the outside... a place I probably deserved to be, but not for the reasons people thought. Living in a small town meant rumors spread like a game of telephone. What was a kiss grew into a make out session, and then that make out session grew into a hook-up, which then grew into a full-blown affair that went on behind Jake’s back for years. Even when I told the truth, that Nikki and I had just kissed one time, no one believed me. And finally I stopped trying. A betrayal was a betrayal after all, and even though I hadn’t slept with her, I may as well have.

I’d betrayed my best friend.

And because of it, the entire town had betrayed me.

After months of agony, I’d finally gotten to explain myself to Jake, and he’d seen the truth in my eyes and forgave me. Only in that moment did the angry town take a breath and that scorching heat from everyone I knew turned down to a low simmer. Finally, after Jake and I rekindled our friendship, one by one the snarls and disappointed headshaking stopped when I entered a room. One by one they followed suit and forgave me, just like Jake had. And now, a little over a year later they’d all forgiven me... all but one.

Jo.

I’d received a lot of scornful gazes since the incident, but the anger that darkened Jo’s chocolate eyes when she looked at me hurt the worst. Those same eyes that used to smile when we were together now narrowed any time they drifted in my direction. Whenever her glare clapped onto me, it felt like my soul ripped open a little bit more. The looks from Jo weren’t just disappointment or judgment like they’d been from the rest of the town. Fury lurked in the depths of her eyes. Like I’d fallen out of favor with her forever. And it killed me that I couldn’t turn the light back on in those eyes that used to shine so bright.

I’d attempted to beg her forgiveness more times than I could count, but one thing I knew for sure. Jo wouldn’t easily be swayed by a sob story. And as one of the most loyal people I’d ever known, she wouldn’t easily forgive a betrayal. And my out of character display of disloyal behavior had stripped away all the years of good I’d done. All the years of being a supportive friend, a shoulder to cry on, and her biggest cheerleader. With one whiskey-fueled bad decision I’d shattered the man she had always thought me to be. And I’d shattered my own confidence in my ability to be that man for her.

I was Matt. The friend. The brother. The one you could count on to swim you a paddle when you were up Shit Creek without one. But after years of battling the feelings I had for my best friend’s girl and fighting to be happy for him, when her attentions had turned to me that night I’d finally given in to temptation. As my thoughts drifted back to the woman, my stomach clenched. I’d never told Jake about the times she’d tried to seduce me in the past... the times I’d been strong enough to resist her. To put my best friend first. But that night, that one night, I’d succumbed to my desires when she’d pressed her lips to mine, and I’d regret that fateful moment for the rest of my life. And now Jo might never forgive me for my moment of weakness even after I’d forgiven myself.

Last night when I’d gotten the idea to crash in her spare bedroom, it wasn’t just that I wanted a room to stay in that made me push her harder during the last round of bar dice. It was that I wanted a chance to be near her. To force her to see me as the same Matt she’d always known... the one she thought no longer existed. I knew in my bones if I could just force her stubborn ass to be in a room with me, she’d see through the shadow of my mistake.

Looking at my phone, I checked the time. Ten o’clock. She should be getting up soon. Pushing up from the rocky seat, I brushed off my shorts and grabbed the Piggly Wiggly bag and tray of coffees from the ground. When I got to the cabin, I cringed when the door creaked as I opened it. I heard Jo shift in her bed, and then the low growl of that nasty cat. Damn hideous thing creeped me out so much I’d pushed a chair in front of my door before I went to sleep last night.

Tiptoeing across the tattered wooden floor, I carefully set the coffee and groceries on the counter, flinching when the paper bag crumpled. I glanced toward her door, but it didn’t open, and an irate Jo didn’t burst through the door, storming out here to give me a lecture about the cabin rules. I’d already received several of those during our brief encounters when I moved in yesterday. She’d avoided me most of the day, then went off to work last night. The few times we’d crossed paths hadn’t been any more pleasant than that time I got a fishing lure stuck in my cheek.

Torn between wanting to surprise her with breakfast and not wanting to wake her up with the sounds of my cooking, I decided to wait until she was conscious before preparing her favorite meal. I shuffled over to the ripped-up couch and settled into the old cushion that no longer offered any support. My weight continued sinking until I dipped so low I didn’t know if I’d ever get out.

Buy Jo a new couch. Check.

Another item on my growing to-do list. And one I hoped would help show her I was still me. Still the guy she could count on no matter what.

A stack of books was propped on the end table, and I saw two of our high school yearbooks at the bottom of the pile. I pulled out the one from our freshman year, smiling as memories flooded into me while I flipped through the pages. Halfway through an old picture of Jo, Jake, and I as kids caught my eye. While Jo rode me piggy-back, Jake had me in a headlock. A typical day for the Three Amigos. When I looked at the picture, I remembered that day vividly... Andrea’s fourteenth birthday party. The swallow I forced down my throat burned as an ache spread through my chest. I’d given up on my lifetime of unrequited love for Jo that day. A childhood crush that I had realized would never turn into reciprocated feelings since Jo only looked at me like a brother. It was the day I’d finally forced myself to accept that fact and move on. Something I often needed to remind myself of when she stepped into a room. Jo was just a friend... a best friend. Or at least she used to be.

“What are you doing?” Jo’s voice startled me, and I slammed the yearbook shut.

“Good morning, sunshine!” I chimed, turning to see her standing in the doorway of her bedroom, rubbing her eyes. The sight of her startled me. She looked softer in her light pink pajamas. Sweet. Approachable. A vast difference from the tough-as-nails chic who usually sported a black leather coat and tackled the world head-on. The woman who could send a grown man twice her size hightailing it for his life if he crossed her. Today she looked less lethal, those intense brown eyes heavy from sleep instead of penetrating the world around her with their intensity. Her features, while feminine and breathtakingly beautiful, were often masked by the attitude she wore with such pride. An attitude that warned anyone in her vicinity that messing with her would end badly. But not today. Today she looked soft and vulnerable in her little pink pajamas.

She ignored my chipper greeting. “Why do you have that?”

I glanced down at the yearbook then set it back on the table. “Just trying to keep myself occupied so I didn’t wake you up. Reminiscing to a time when you didn’t hate my guts.” Flashing her my sweetest smile, I waited for her to return it. Instead, her face only tightened.

“Don’t touch my shit. Cabin rule.”

Without another word she stumbled past me toward the bathroom. Tucking up my legs to get them out of the way, I tried to fight the pain searing into my gut from her callous words.

It will take time, I reminded myself.

With the slamming of the door I exhaled a deep breath and struggled to climb out of the sinkhole this couch had sucked me into. Once I managed to free myself, I marched into the kitchen with my newfound purpose of winning Jo’s affection back. I dug out the frying pan and pulled out the bacon and eggs I’d grabbed during my quick stop at the grocery store this morning. When I dropped the bacon into the pan, it sizzled and crackled. The smell I knew she adored, and wanted to turn into a perfume, wafted up and filled the tiny cabin.

The door cracked open and her head popped out, her smooth dark hair knotted in a messy bun on top of her head, and a toothbrush clamped between her teeth.

“Is that bacon?” she asked, the words jumbled as she talked around her toothbrush.

Grinning, I pushed the bacon around in the pan. “Bacon and eggs. Your favorite. Oh!” I skipped to my left and grabbed a coffee from the tray. “And coffee. Regular, one cream, one sugar, just how you like it. I grabbed it on my way back from the grocery store.”

Her face twisted while she bit down on her toothbrush, a contemplative narrowing of her eyes taking in all my offerings. Without another word, she disappeared back into the bathroom and slammed the door.

Was that a good narrowing of the eyes or a bad one? Knowing her deep love of bacon, I hoped it was the good kind. After I cracked the eggs and tossed them in the bacon grease, the door opened, and Jo walked out.