Dirty, Reckless Love (Boys of Jackson Harbor 3)

“No, stay,” Ava says. “Come on, Ellie. Just a little longer?”

“Maybe you need another drink?” Molly says. She waves to my glass. It’s cranberry juice, but everyone who knows me probably assumes it’s mixed with vodka.

“Sure. One more can’t hurt.” I try to smile. This is, after all, a celebration. You don’t get many chances to celebrate your best friend’s engagement to the love of her life, and I don’t want to screw it up. I should be elated. Even if Colton can’t take his eyes off Molly.

I wonder where Lorena Bobbitt is these days, and if she’d be available to give me some pointers.

“We’ll get the drinks,” Ava tells Cindy. Ava’s been my co-conspirator over the last couple of months, pretending to serve me alcohol while I’ve sat on the news of my pregnancy. I never planned to keep the secret this long.

“If you insist,” Cindy says before walking to the next table.

Ava and I scoot out of the booth. Ava’s all smiles as she loops her arm through mine. She hasn’t been drinking either—for obvious reasons—but she’s so high on life right now that she’s practically floating to the bar.

“You’re really glowing, and it’s kind of annoying,” I tell her.

“Don’t hate me because I’m happy.”

“I don’t hate you. I love you. I am jealous, though. I haven’t had sex in weeks, and while I’m incredibly exhausted, I’m also kind of horny.” I frown. The conspicuous lack of nookie in my life is just another check in the column of Colton’s “unusual behavior.” Not so long ago, he couldn’t keep his hands off me. “Does pregnancy change your pheromones? Do you think I repulse Colton on some animalistic level now?”

“I really doubt it,” she says, laughing. “Does this mean you still haven’t told him?”

I shrug.

“Ellie. Tell the boy.”

“I know I need to, but . . .” I busy myself by grabbing a couple of glasses and pouring some beers. “I’m not ready.”

“Are you afraid it’ll change things between you two? Or is there more you’re not telling me?”

I shrug. “At first I was afraid to tell him because I was so sure he was about to propose. I thought we’d be getting engaged any day, and I wanted him to ask me before he knew about the baby. Like Jake did with you.”

“Does seconds before really count?” she asks.

“It does, and you know it.” I put the first beer on the tray and grab another glass. “Jake wanted to marry you before he knew you were pregnant, and Colton . . .” Damn it.

“You said at first. What’s keeping you from telling him now?”

Ava’s been so busy with summer children’s theater and preparing the new program for the fall that we haven’t gotten to talk much. We’ve had the occasional coffee date, but I haven’t had a good opportunity to tell her about my suspicions. Add to that the fact that my suspicions involve her brother, and I haven’t really wanted to. But after seeing the way Colton is looking at Molly tonight, they seem like a lot more than suspicions now.

“Molly,” I admit. The admission makes me feel raw and vulnerable.

Ava slides a beer on the tray before turning to me. “What do you mean?”

“He’s been talking to her a lot. I hear them on the phone late at night.”

She pales. “Oh. You’re sure he’s talking to her?”

Nodding, I shift my gaze back to our table. Molly’s all rosy-cheeked and happy—the perfect picture of blond beauty. She seems oblivious to the longing in Colton’s eyes. But I guess that’s the way it’s always been between them. I know this because he told me all about it. Months ago, he confessed to me that he once had a thing for Molly.

Legally, she’s his stepsister, but he refuses to call her that or think of her as a sister. When he was in junior high, he had it so bad for her that when his mother moved to Florida, he left all his friends and moved with her, afraid that moving in with his father would make Molly see him as a brother.

Silly me. I took his confession to mean he was over her.

“I really am the biggest kind of idiot,” I whisper.

“Don’t say that. You’re no idiot. You’re just hormonal and stressed.”

I turn back to Ava. “I checked his phone. If they’ve texted, he’s deleted the history, but he hasn’t deleted the call history.” My eyes fill with tears. “What on earth could they be talking about in the middle of the night?”