Dirty, Reckless Love (Boys of Jackson Harbor 3)

“Right,” Jake says.

“Your friend looked pretty hot hanging out in your kitchen in her PJs,” Molly says.

Tell me about it. “I’m just giving a friend a safe place to stay.”

“Have you two talked about where you stand?” Jake asks.

I frown. “You mean as friends?”

Jake arches a brow, apparently unconvinced.

Molly shifts awkwardly and points her thumb over her shoulder. “I’ll be in the truck.”

I wait until she climbs in and closes the door behind her before turning my attention back to Jake. “She chose Colton.” But she let me kiss her. And she crawled into my bed last night. But Jake doesn’t need to know any of that, because right now I need to focus on being there for Ellie. For making up for the time I wasn’t.

Jake’s expression is full of understanding and sympathy. “Just don’t get yourself hurt.”

“Are you trying to say I’m weak?” I punch him lightly in the shoulder, but his eyes remain serious. He won’t let me blow off his concern.

“You’re vulnerable when it comes to her.” He glances back toward the truck. “Molly is too. She feels like hell about everything.”

“I know it doesn’t seem like it right now,” I say, “but it’s good Ellie remembers her.”

“She’s probably in your guestroom making voodoo dolls,” Jake says. “But when Molly doubles over in pain later, at least we’ll know why.”

I roll my eyes and sigh. “Don’t be a dick.”

Jake holds up both hands. “I’m not judging. Even Molly wouldn’t blame her for some voodoo torture.”

“I’m thrilled someone can find humor in this situation,” I mutter. “But what I mean is it’s all starting to come back. Last weekend she didn’t even know who I was, but now she remembers enough to be angry with Molly. This is progress.”

“And now you’re thinking maybe she’ll remember what happened that night, and we’ll finally know who hurt her?”

I stiffen. Every time I think about what happened, all the muscles in my body tense up, ready to fight. Right now, I’m all too aware that she’s inside my house alone. I need to be okay with that. I can’t be by her side at all times, even if she wanted me there. “Yeah. That.”

“I think it’s the not knowing that’s killing Ava,” Jake says. “She just needs some fucking closure.”

“Come here a minute?” I lead him into the garage for some privacy. It’s unlikely Molly can hear us, but I’m not willing to risk it. “Do you believe Colton is Noah’s father?”

Jake’s brows shoot up and disappear under his messy mop of hair. “That’s what they told everybody.”

“You didn’t answer my question.” When he just stares at me, I grimace. “Listen, I like Molly, and I know she’s about to be your stepsister-in-law or some shit, but something’s not right with her whole Colton’s my baby daddy story. I think it’s a cover for the truth.”

He glances toward the truck, then back to me. “You too, huh?”

“The timing on everything with Colton.” I shake my head. “It doesn’t make sense. When he found out about Molly’s kid, he was annoyed that she kept the secret. He’s been into Molly so long that if there was any chance that kid was his, he’d have gone straight to her door and demanded the truth.”

Jake squeezes the back of his neck. “I know. I’ve thought the same thing. So if Colton isn’t the father but the kid looks just like a McKinley . . .”

“Maybe Colton went off the deep end after learning the truth,” I say.

Jake’s eyes are sad when they meet mine. “The truth being . . .”

“The truth being that Nelson McKinley isn’t just an asshole but a very bad man.” I don’t want to say the rest.

“I could see Colton snapping on Nelson,” Jake says. “But even if that’s why Nelson is missing, where is Colton now?”

“I don’t know. I can’t figure it out.” I’ve been spinning through possibilities in my head, but nothing has made sense. If they’d disappeared at the same time, I could tell myself they were involved in some shady business deal together and it went south, but Colton went missing almost two weeks after Nelson. “The only thing I’m sure of is that Molly has secrets. They may or may not be related to what’s going on now and what happened to Ellie, but if there’s any chance there’s a connection, we need to know.”