Straight Up Love (Boys of Jackson Harbor 2)

I wait for Carter to deny it or say something to lead me to believe I shouldn’t be pissed, but he stays silent, so I push back from the table and leave the dining room.

“Jacob?” Mom calls after me.

“Leave him be,” Brayden says.

“He’s sulking like a teenage girl,” Levi says. “I told him this whole thing was a bad idea from the start.”

“You’re being a troll,” Shay says.

“Somebody needs to kick his ass into action,” Levi says.

I don’t hear anymore because I go into the backyard, narrowly resisting the urge to slam the door behind me on the way out. I feel like I’m stuck in the Twilight Zone. My best friend was naked

in my arms last week, and last night my brother went on a date with her and kept her out till all hours. What in the actual fuck am I supposed to do with this?

When I hear the swish of the door opening and closing again, I have my hands fisted, my face tilted toward the cloudy midmorning sky.

“Are you seriously doing this?”

I can’t look at Carter right now, so I stay in place and drop my gaze to my shoes. “Doing what?”

“Acting like I’m gonna steal your girl?”

“She’s not my girl.” My voice is rough, as if every word’s being scraped against the cheese grater that’s rubbed against my heart since Ava’s birthday. Why does this have to be so damn complicated? Why can’t she just love me back?

“Okay,” Carter says. “Fine. I mean, I like her. Always have. Maybe I’ll give her a goddamn baby.”

I spin on him. “You think you’re funny?” One step forward and then another. Carter throws his hands out from his sides and rakes his gaze over me, and I realize I have my chest puffed out, my shoulders back, my fists clenched as if I’m going to throw a fucking punch.

“No, I don’t think I’m funny,” he says. “I think you’re in love with Ava, and it’s past time for you to do something about it.”

“Oh, gee. Why didn’t I think of that?”

Carter meets my glare and holds it. “Don’t you get sick of spinning your wheels? Don’t you feel stuck?”

“I like my life. I don’t mind if I’m stuck.”

“Well, while you’re happily standing still, Ava’s not.” Carter looks away. “She’s moving.”

I frown. “What? Why would she move? She loves that stupid little house.”

“Not moving to another house, Jake. Moving to another city. Maybe another state. Wherever she can find a job.”

“What? That’s crazy. Why would she . . .”

The layoffs, I realize, as Carter says, “She was laid off from Windsor Prep.”

Finding out that Carter went on a date with Ava was a punch to the gut, but this is the opposite. Learning about the date hurt, but now I’m numb. As if there’s no ground beneath my feet, no world around me. No air in my lungs. I feel nothing but this vague sense that any minute now I’m going to crash, and I know in that moment I’ll feel everything.

Why didn’t she tell me?

He rubs the back of his neck. “Levi’s being Levi and starting trouble. Ava and I stayed out late talking. Just talking. I know she’s your girl, and I’m not a dick.”

“She lost her job?” My voice cracks. I’ve been spoiled. I’ve always had Ava close. Even when she married Harrison, I didn’t really have to let her go.

“She doesn’t want you to take the problem on as your own, but I think you and I both know why she doesn’t want to tell you she might move.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “We do?”