Page 108 of 4 Hints You Love Your Best Friend

“Jesus Christ.” I duck, hoping no one heard this asshole. I was home alone that day, or so I’d thought. I’d just spent the afternoon playing catch with Jolene and was worked up, then Lennon busted into the kitchen and caught me in the act. “That was one time, and I grabbed the nearest thing to me.”

“The one time that you werecaught,” Lennon says. “Maybe it’s a fetish. Maybe it’s a mommy complex and oven mitts get you excited.”

I grumble under my breath. Can’t teenage boys do idiotic things without it chasing them for eternity? Except, adult me is still doing idiotic things, and there’s no escaping this fallout.

I work my jaw, focus on the wood floor. There’s a divot I’d love to sand by hand. I could redo this whole floor. Work until I can’t feel the ache in my chest any longer.

Jake’s scuffed boots appear in my line of vision. It’s his eighth visit to my sad corner, but this time, Lennon feels the need to fill him in on my masturbation embarrassment.

“Huh,” Jake says. “I didn’t know about Mom’s mitt, but I did catch him slapping the salami on that camping trip to Hood Rock.”

Again, I thought I was alone at the time, and I was fourteen, for fuck’s sake. Jolene joined us for a family camping trip, and I snuck out at night to take the edge off. “Can you all leave me alone?”

“Nope.” Des joins us for his tenth visit. He’s been the most concerned today. Broodily silent as usual, but staying nearby. A gnarled but supportive tree, bringing me a glass of scotch to calm me, but my body doesn’t thrive on alcohol. My body is parched from missing Jo. “You’re stuck with us,” he says.

Jake smacks me on the back. “Today’s a new day.”

My first day in hell, yeah. And Jake’s optimism is getting under my skin.

With how concerned he was last night, showing up out of the blue, consoling me while I fell apart in front of my home, his spritely attitude pisses me off. Jolene hasn’t called or texted or sought me out. She was probably waiting until I left the house, so she could move her stuff out without seeing me. I blow out an agonized breath.

“Jake,” Mrs. Jackson calls and gives him a knowing wink. “Glad to hear you and Jo are finally back together, with one night to spare before your mother got home. She’ll be so happy.”

My molars lock and grind. Jealousy burns a path up my chest.

Before I know what I’m doing, I have Jake slammed to the wall, the front of his shirt in my fist. “Did you go after her last night? Told me some bullshit, then took advantage of her when she was upset?”

I’m Mount Vesuvius about to bury this place in ash, but my brothers don’t intervene. They cross their arms, looking so amused I want to tackle them too.

Jake, the traitorous bastard, actuallysmiles. “Get yourself under control, Callahan. Don’t say something you’ll regret.”

My only regret is not speaking my mind when he showed interest in Jolene fourteen years ago. “Were you with Jo last night?”

He leans into my face, not fighting back. “Yes.”

If Mom’s friends weren’t here, I’d punch him. Knock out his teeth. Break his nose, because…how? How could he do this to me when he knows Jo is my world? I settle on jamming my forearm into his throat. “I won’t forgive you for this.”

“Christ, Cal.” He yanks my arm off him and shoves me back. “Since when do you believe Windfall’s gossip mill? Calm the fuck down so I can explain.”

There’s too much static in my head to calm down. Angst, regret, devastation.

“What’s going on here?”

Jolene.The fight leaves me in a rush.

I whip around, and she’s here, looking angry but gorgeous in a flowy yellow dress, her lips pink and glossy. Her eyes are twin lasers of irritation aimed at me, because I guess she’s with Jake now, stepping in to defend my brother. The Bower who didn’t scheme to get her business evicted.

Unable to handle seeing them together, I storm through Mom’s back doors into her small yard. I pace for a while, trying to slow my breaths. It doesn’t help. I crouch into a squat and drop my head into my hands. “Fuck.”

Sometime later, I hear a soft “Cal.” Jolene’s voice is achingly tender. Her small hand splays on my back. “Jake came by last night to talk about you. To convince me to forgiveyou. People must’ve seen us outside by his truck. Whatever Mrs. Jackson said isn’t true.”

My heavy exhale is equal parts relief and cutting razor. Having her this close when I can’t touch and kiss her is unbearable. Also, I’m an asshole. How could I have believed that ridiculous rumor?

She moves in front of me and holds out her hand. “Come sit with me for a sec?”

“Sure,” I say. My voice sounds as rough as I feel. This will be her let-me-down-easy talk. The closure she needs. No matter how hard this is, I’ll force myself to nod and smile and tell her everything will be okay. Offer to still be friends, even though I doubt I can handle that.

Following her lead, I wrap my hand around hers, get lost in the feel of her soft skin one final time, how perfect her small fingers feel threaded with mine.

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