“Oh,” Harper said. “I’m glad you got out of the dump hotel, but…are you okay?”
“Sort of,” I said honestly. “The guys are treating me well, but it’s tricky.”
“Wait, guys? As in, both Jack and Cal are with you?”
“Yeah, it’s their cabin. After you left, there was an incident and they basically stepped in and became my personal body guards.”
“Yeah, I figured that, since last time I saw them they were parked outside your motel, but how is all that working? You’re under the same roof with two of your exes.”
Exes was a loose term, something I didn’t really want to go into, since I had no idea what Cal and I or Jack and I were. We had history and feelings, both of which I was having a hard time getting a grip on.
“It’s…challenging,” I admitted.
“You can come stay with me,” she said quickly. Harper was waiting on the insurance money just like I was, so I wasn’t sure how or where she got a place. “I’m staying with Rhett in his ghetto one bedroom bachelor pad, but there’s always room for you. Once the money comes in from the fire, then we’re going to look at houses.”
“That’s great, Harp,” I said, and felt truly happy for my best friend. “But I’m okay right now. Besides, I called the insurance company again. They assured me that they’d have a check for each of us within a week.”
“Thank you for being so on top of everything,” she said. “You sure you don’t want to come here? The couch isn’t much, but it’s yours if you want it.” I heard Harper giggle and what sounded like Rhett’s voice in the background. A few kissing noises followed.
Though dealing with Jack and Cal was tricky, I didn’t want to spoil Harper’s newlywed bliss by crashing on her couch. I just had to make it a few more days. Once the New Year hit, things were looking up. I could go to the bank and see what was in this mystery lockbox, the insurance money would come in, and school was gearing up to start. My hope was that with the selling of my father’s company, Anita would finally be off my back and the last tie I had with her and Brock would be severed.
Yeah, just a few more days. Then everything would be different. The only thing I didn’t know about was how long the investigation would take for both my father’s murder and the house fire. But so long as I got some sense of normalcy back, and the company was officially sold and Anita and Brock got their money, surely things would be better. They had to be. Because, even if Jack was right and they felt threatened by me or thought I had something to gain, that would all be put to rest with the company selling.
“You sure you’re okay?” she asked. “I’m here if you need me.”
“I know.” And I did. I would be okay. Aside from this tension building, both sexual and otherwise. One thing I did need at the moment was advice. “Harper, I don’t know what to do about Jack and Cal.”
“They both want you bad, huh?”
I frowned. “Something like that. How did you know?”
“It was always obvious how they felt about you, so I’m not surprised. They are each so different, though.”
Tell me about it. I had no idea where to start making sense of it all.
“The question is, though, do you want either of them?”
The truth was on my lips so quick I couldn’t help but blurt it out. “Yes.” I glanced around the room. Cal’s room. “But it’s not that simple. I can’t choose. I love them both.”
Even after making the decision to move past everything that had happened, the arrangement they’d made, I still loved them.
“Love sucks so bad sometimes,” she said. “But it’s also not easy or conventional or has a single path to get you there.”
“I can’t pick a path,” I admitted. “I know I’ll leave a mess when I go, and staying away from them is killing me as much as being with them is.”
Harper let out a long breath. “I don’t know what to tell you. If you can’t choose, then walk away. Because stringing them along isn’t good for anyone.”
“I’m not stringing them along.”
“I know. But you have an end date, right? You can’t stay there forever.”
I suppose I did. I hadn’t marked it on the calendar or anything, but maybe a firm end date was a good idea.
“The second,” I said. “I’m heading out the day after New Year’s.” Somehow, making a concrete statement twisted up my stomach. But I needed to have that end in sight. It was only then that I would be able to move past…everything. And Jack and Cal could move on too.
“Okay, then for the next few days, I’d take every moment, every opportunity you have to really see each of them. Maybe you’ll find clarity and one will surpass the other and you’ll know who it is you’re meant to be with,” Harper said.
“And, if I don’t?”