AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“He gave it to me at work today, asked me to pass it along.”
She stares at the letter. Hard. Then she struts ahead, so fast I have to jog to catch up with her.
“He still has feelings for you,” I force out, stating the obvious.
“No, he doesn’t.”
“I know my brother, Jo. He wants you back.” There’s no denying those facts, or how much I hate relaying them to her. Fuckingdespisethis conversation and how hot and frustrated I feel.
She huffs out an impatient noise. “Jake wants me because he wants to reclaim his past. Put everything back the way it was, but so much time has passed. He doesn’t even know me now.”
“And you don’t know him. He’s not the cocky guy who walked a golden path when we were younger. He knows hardship now—what it’s like to lose everything. He’s one of the best people I know. A thoughtful guy who’d lay down his life for those he loves. Maybe you should give him a chance.”
She stops abruptly. “Is that what you want? For me to go out with your brother?”
Her tone is rock hard, her eyes narrowed and searching. The beauty mark on her cheek is as sexy as ever, but her full lips are pressed into an angry line.
I’mangry too. Furious at the situation, but my family has been to hell and back. My brothers are everything to me, which means there’s only one possible answer to her horrible question. “I want my brother to have the happiness he deserves. If he wants you, then yes, seeing you two together would make me happy. As long as it’s what you want.”
She stares at me a beat, her chin trembling ever so slightly. A hot poker stabs at my gut.
She firms her jaw and hits a quick stride. “Jake’s note says he wants to take me to a drive-in movie. I hate the drive-in.”
“So why does he think you love it?”
“Because I was so insecure when we dated.”
I rub my brow, confused and irritable. “You said that a bit ago—that you were insecure in high school, but all I ever saw was a confident girl who grew out of her awkwardness. You made friends with everyone.”
“By being fake, Cal. If girls wanted to sit around and talk about makeup and clothes, which bored me to tears, I’d play along to fit in. If someone offered me a smoke, I’d do it, even though I hated smoking. That first year of high school, without you there, I was on the verge of tears most days. So, I took our Cool List to heart, like a fucking wild animal who adapts to survive, and that out-of-touch feeling didn’t go away for a long time.”
“I wish I’d known.” Wish I’d been there for her when she needed me.
“Yeah, well.” Her posture stiffens. “You were different in high school too—a foot taller, making friends, flirting with all the girls.”
“What was I supposed to do? A few weeks into my freshman year, you kept ditching me to spend time with Blake Offerman.” Football player. Bigger than me and infuriatingly good-looking.
“Because you told me you were hot for Angela Bernardini, never mind what the girls in the locker room said about you.”
I lost my virginity to Angela Bernardini in a basement bathroom with little fanfare and tequila on our breaths. I barely remember that night, let alone what lies traveled along Windfall’s gossip train, but I know exactly why I pursued Angela. “You were into Blake before I ever asked Angela out. I had to make new friends and survive socially, just like you.”
She crumples Jake’s note into a ball, strutting faster. “It doesn’t matter. None of this matters. Fact is, Jake doesn’t know me now, and he didn’t know me back then. Anything he liked, I pretended to love. Drive-ins. His favorite foods, like ground beef everything. R&B music. I became one of those girls who takes on the personality of a guy, because I thought that’s what I needed to do to be liked. And you went away to school, only came home on weekends. I was feeling out of sorts and lonely. I thought being with Jake would fill that void, and it did for a bit. I cared about him a lot, but it was never true love for me. In the end, we weren’t compatible.”
We’re practically speed walking now, Jolene setting the pace, me hustling to keep up, physically and mentally.
I had no idea she struggled socially in high school until recently. I certainly didn’t know she put on airs with Jake, played a role to please him. And she’s rewriting our history.
If Jolene dated Blake Offerman because I talked about Angela, then she was jealous in high school. As was I—of every guy she glanced at. Of every crush she had. But we were both insecure teenagers and didn’t do anything about our feelings. Now we’re adults, barely scratching the surface of our misunderstandings, but my brother wants his ex-girlfriend back.
Jo stops walking and closes her eyes on an exhale. “I think I’d like to finish this walk on my own, if you don’t mind.”
“Sure,” I murmur, my aggravation replaced by a helplessness that weighs me down. I shove my hands into my pockets, roll a loose thread through my fingers. “I’ll clean up from dinner. Thanks for planning such a great meal.” I force myself to turn away from her, but I swivel back. “Jo?”
“Yeah?” Her brow is lifted, her expression sad but also hopeful.
“I’m sorry.” For being too scared as a teen to ask her out. For not being able to pursue her now. Even thinking about holding her hand before has me feeling like a traitor to my brother. “I won’t push about Jake again. I’ll tell him you’re not interested.”
“Please don’t talk to him about me. I’ll tell him myself.”
