Jack's Surrender (Holiday Cove 5)

“Really? Well, excuse me if I don’t hold you up as the standard on what’s appropriate after what I’ve been told.”

“And what exactly is that?”

“That you’ve been bar-hopping with some bitch—yeah, I called that tramp a bitch. Seriously Jack? Drunk? and then you fuckin’ lie to me and tell me it’s only for a few days—”

“It is,” he interjected.

“Oh, so this—this pilot chick is just a booty call? Going back to your navy days? A good fuck in every port? Is that what you want?”

Jack narrowed his eyes at me. It was a low blow. I knew full well that Jack had never been that guy. If anything, he was the opposite.

“I don’t care if you wanna fuck around, Jack,”—I drew in a deep breath, the lie stinging deeply— “but at least have the decency to do it somewhere else. Somewhere where no one knows about you and me. And preferably not right under my damn nose!”

“I’m not screwing her,” he countered, his tone gruff and gravely. “But you’re right, it’s none of your business, even if I was. I went over to the house—your house,” he corrected, “to tell you I was going to be hanging out for a few more days. Why would I have done that if I just wanted to sneak around with someone? It doesn’t make sense, Holly.”

“Like I said, maybe you’re using her to make me jealous!”

Jack threw his hands up. “You’re fuckin’ unbelievable. I try to do the right thing; I get told it’s not good enough. I don’t have the answers you want, so we break things off. Apparently, that’s still not good enough for you. I’m still fucking things up. What do you want from me, Holly?”

“Who is she? If you’re not with her, then who is she? Why are the two of you sudden drinking buddies?”

“She works here. Aaron hired her on as a pilot to take over the flights I used to run. I only met her a couple of days ago. The day after I came to see you. This isn’t a game. I’m not trying to make you mad or upset. I’m moving on, Holly. That’s what you wanted me to do.”

“Don’t put this back on me!” I stormed away from him and paced a few feet. I whipped back around and pointed a finger at him. “You wanted the adventure. You were the one who changed the game, not me!”

“You’re the one who put a clock on it, Holly. These past few months, I can finally breathe. I don’t have you hanging over my head, telling me to get my shit together and produce all the answers. I can finally take the time to slow down and figure out what I want.”

“Oh yeah? And that is what you came up with? Big tits or whatever the fuck it is everyone calls her. I mean, get real, Jack. She’s what, twenty-two? Three?” I shook my head.

“I don’t know and it doesn’t really matter. Like I said, I’m not with her.”

I cocked my head. “Really? You looked like you’re with her from where I’m standing.”

“You’re not going to believe a word I say, are you?”

“Probably not. I didn’t come here to get your explanation or excuses.”

“Then why did you come here? Other than to humiliate me in front of my friends?”

“Humiliate you?”

“Yes!” Jack snapped. “For months, you ran around town, complaining to anyone who’d listen that I was dragging my feet with the wedding plans and then when you were tired of bitching about that, it moved to Jack doesn’t know what he wants. You didn’t give me a goddamn minute to figure it out. We got back from Germany and you wanted to snap your fingers, click your heels, and have it all fall into place. Picture perfect. The house, your business, the wedding. Check, check, check. That’s all it was to you. A project. Something to maneuver and arrange. Life isn’t a damn spreadsheet that you can tick the boxes to!”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “You think I don’t know that?”

Jack considered me for a long moment then inclined his head. “Yes and no. I think you’ve gone through a lot and want things to line up this time because you feel like you’re behind the eight-ball. But the problem is that you can’t see when you’re being too rigid and stiff and not allowing life to happen. For people and plans to change.”

I shook my head, denying his words before they could even fully sink in. “If I thought you were ever going to come back around and want the same things I want, I would’ve waited for you, Jack. But I can see now, more than ever, that I was chasing some stupid dream. You want to be free and fly all over the world and fuck skanky women and I don’t want that. I want a family. I want to settle down.”