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Did I want to give her a reason to stay? Yes.
I wanted to remind her of that kiss and the way it had felt, that exact second when she gave in and kissed me back, knowing she wasn’t pretending anymore.
But I would not make her do something she would someday regret.
Nor did I want to chain her to a place or person that only reminded her of pain.
“You look happy,” Jake said while Marin was in the kitchen with Molly and Cora. “You don’t have that usual scowl plastered on your face.” He made a motion with his hand, waving it in front of him.
My eyes narrowed.
“Oh, there it is.” He took a sip from his wineglass. “Is she staying?”
Dean looked on, watching the two of us.
I let out an exasperated sigh. “I don’t know.”
“Do you want her to?” he asked, leaning back in his chair.
I lifted an eyebrow. “I didn’t know you cared.”
“Look, Macon. I don’t know what went wrong with us,” he said casually.
I let out a forced laugh. “You don’t?” I looked at him and then Dean, shaking my head. I’d told Marin there was no real reason I hated Jake, but there was. There was a whole childhood’s worth. “Seriously?”
He stared at me blankly.
“You heard Marin tonight. There were only four of us. Four.” I emphasized the last word by holding four fingers in front of me. “And it was always the three of you and me. You all had each other, and I had?—”
No one.
I watched his eyes fall to the table as he processed my words.
“We invited you to stuff,” he said. “Early on. Parties and shit. My mom wanted the four of us to be best friends.”
Dean interjected, “Mine, too.”
“But she always told me that your dad would reply and say you didn’t want to. After a while, I started to take it personally.”
And I’d treated him horribly because of it.
I thought back to all those times my dad had told me we weren’t like them. That we didn’t belong. But really, it was just an excuse for his hate.
“What a fucking asshole,” I said, staring at my half-empty glass of Coke.
“Guess we owe each other a lot of birthday presents,” Dean said, cutting the tension.
“I heard Macon needs a new vase,” Jake quipped, holding his wineglass in the air as a personal salute.
Of course someone had heard us that day on the patio.
“This town is ridiculous.”
The sound of feminine laughter filled our ears, and I couldn’t help but grin.
“You want a bit of advice, Macon?” Jake said, his tone sincere. “Don’t let her go without making sure she knows.”
He didn’t have to say what. I knew what he meant.
