AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Rubbing at what I was sure was going to be a bruise tomorrow, he threw the ball back.
“Sorry, bud. I forgot.”
“It’s okay.”
“Alright, Jesse. This is going to be the best pitch you’ve ever faced and you are going to hit it so hard, we’re all gonna be amazed. I’m serious.” I tossed the ball lightly in the air. “Got it?”
“Yep.”
“Okay, here goes.”
It was like time slowed down. The ball left my hand, it sailed through the air, Gabe said, “Now!” and Jesse swung with all his might. The satisfying thwack of ball hitting bat reverberated through the air, followed by a whoosh as it arced right over Jake’s head. Next came the tinkling of glass as the ball smashed through Gabe’s bedroom window at the back of the house.
We all stood in stunned surprise for a few long moments, staring at the shattered window. Jake, with his hands behind his head, turned back to Jesse, a grin a mile wide on his face. “Holy shit, kid! What a hit!”
Jesse glanced at Gabe, a look of horrified pride on his face. Gabe chuckled. “Great shot, bud, but that might be enough for one day.”
“Okay,” he replied with a grin.
Laughing, I said, “So I guess we’re doing window repairs for the rest of the day, huh?”
“Looks like it.”
CHAPTER32
Gabe
“Igotta say man, I had no idea you and Ally were so…”
“So?” I swept up the broken glass, throwing it in the trash can.
Jake shrugged, picking up a large piece that had skidded under my bed and dropping it in the trash as well.
I was surprised when he didn’t go on and felt a ridiculous need to clarify the situation. “We aren’t ‘so’…anything, really. Sure, we sleep together—”Shit.
“Oh, you do?”
“Sometimes. Not while she’s staying here, obviously, with Jesse so close. She’s just going through a rough patch right now and needed a friend.”
“I’m surprised she didn’t go to Zara’s.”
I blew out a breath. It really wasn’t any of my brother’s business, but because it was so unlike him to fish for information like this, I didn’t bite his head off. “Look, I can’t explain it, because it’s not my secret…” I stopped, running my hands through my hair. “Shit, it’s not even a secret, it’s just it’s Ally’s private business and it’s not my place to share it, but she didn’t feel she could tell Zara, so she came here. We talked. I said she could stay with us until it’s resolved.”
Maybe there was something in my tone, because Jake held up both hands, palms out. “Sorry, bro, you don’t have to explain it all to me chapter and verse. It’s just that with Jesse and everything…”
“What about Jesse?”
“Look, don’t get pissed, I’m just trying to help. Ally’s great with Jesse and it’s obvious that he adores her. I just think, given everything he’s already gone through, you wanna be careful with that.”
Fuck. “Yeah, of course. Seriously, she’s just a friend.”
“Okay. If you say so.”
Fuck Jake and his little comments, because for the rest of the day I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Watching Jesse and Ally together. I’d always loved that they got along so well, but Jake had suddenly made me see it from a different angle. Ally and I had made zero commitments to each other and having her around all the time like this might be giving Jesse the wrong idea. But it wasn’t like I could exactly kick her out, tell her to go back to her own place and wait for her father’s results on her own, now, could I? No, there was nothing I could do about it right now, but I definitely needed to keep it in the back of my mind.
“Can we watch a movie tonight?” Jesse asked, bringing the dinner dishes over to the sink.
“Sure, if you’re not too tired from your big day of smashing my bedroom window.”
