AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Clint turned to him then, anger aflame in his dark eyes. "Fine. I want you to leave Eva the hell alone."
"What?"
"Eva. The woman you took to the lake Sunday and no doubt screwed very well if reputation is to be believed."
"What?"
Clint continued. "Well, I'm making an assumption it was well done. But yes, Eva. That woman. Leave. Her. Alone."
His friend had hit him with a metaphorical wrecking ball, and Jake lay among the rubble, dazed, confused, and, as always, guilty. "How did you-"
"I saw your truck go past my house. Saw Eva next to you. I knew where you were going. You always like to screw at the lake."
"You don't understand. Eva and I are together. She's different."
Clint laughed. Not a ha-ha laugh but a braying laugh of disbelief. "So you're a couple? Yeah. Okay. I believe that.”
“Well, it’s true. I’ve stayed away from her and she stayed away from me, but now it’s different.”
Clint snorted, his eyes still angry.
“Why can't you be happy for me?" Jake asked, irritation starting to chew on his gut.
"Because I hate you."
"Clint."
“You wanted me to tell you what’s up. That’s it. I’m being honest. Hatred for you has festered inside me for so long that I got accustomed to it. It was almost comforting. Do I love you? Yeah. Do I hate you for all you've taken from me? Yeah."
Jake had no words. He knew Clint had resented the loss of his legs, had mourned the death of the girl he'd been dating, and sometimes allowed jealousy of Jake to break through the surface, but hate? "I'm sorry you feel that way, but you have no right to tell me to stay away from Eva."
"Yeah, I do," Clint said, angling his chair so he faced Jake. His longtime friend's face seemed carved out of unrelenting stone. Something horrible burned inside Clint's eyes, something he'd nurtured for too long. "Because I care about Eva. Because she doesn't deserve you. She deserves more than some man who will use her and discard her. So why don't you, for the first time in your selfish-assed life, do the right thing?”
"How can you say those things to me?”
Clint narrowed his eyes. "Because they're true. Don't you get it, Jake? I wanted Eva. I wanted to marry her and build a life with her. I took it slow, letting her get to know me, being patient but what good did that do?"
"You never said anything."
"I thought I didn't have to. I mean, you've screwed every available woman in this town. I thought you had the decency to leave a woman like Eva alone. But no. You couldn't help yourself, could you? You just had to take one more thing from me."
Jake slapped a hand on the table, rattling the empty beer bottle that had been left there. It fell over, leaving sudsy foam on the lacquered table. "I didn't take anything from you. She’s not yours.”
Clint shook his head. “Wasn’t yet. But you've taken everything from me. Don't you get it? You get everything you want. And the thing is, everyone knows you don't really want Eva. You're bored. She's there. You're just messing around and next month, what? She' ll be yesterday's news and you'll be on to the next woman. But Eva's different. She's tender and not like those girls who know what they're getting when they follow you out that door." Clint jabbed his finger at the tinted glass door.
"I won't hurt Eva."
"Yeah, you will. You always do. You don’t even recognize yourself. Can’t see what is in front of you. You’re going to hurt her.”
Jake remained silent, trying to think of an argument. He wasn’t what Clint thought of him. He just wasn’t.
Clint continued. “So why not be noble for once? Leave her alone before she’s in too deep. Let her have a chance at happiness."
"With you?" Jake asked. He'd never felt so slammed, so hurt over the accusations spilling from his best friend's mouth. "You think you can give her what she wants?"
Clint stilled. "I can give her something you can't-commitment and respect. I may not be the right guy for Eva. I can handle that disappointment. I'm used to life's disappointments. But I do know one thing- you are unequivocally thewrongguy for Eva. And I can’t let you hurt her.”
Jake gritted his teeth and tried not to unleash his anger on Clint. They were basically the same words Matt had uttered when they went fishing. But still it was hard to hear them from Clint's mouth. "Is this about the accident? Is this some transference of anger stemming from repressed-"
