“Really?” I was surprised, prepared to argue on her beha
lf.
“Yeah, I don’t care,” he said offhandedly.
“He said you could come,” I said excitedly into the phone.
Melissa let out a huff. “Of course he said I could come. Why wouldn’t he?”
“Just shut up and get over here,” I demanded.
“I kind of like it when you’re bossy,” she said, and I thought I could hear the smile in her voice. “I’ll come over tomorrow night.”
• • •
When we landed in Alabama, Jack’s house seemed different somehow. Maybe it was the lack of things—Chrystle’s crap—that no longer cluttered every surface.
“This place is really nice,” Melissa said, and Jack agreed before bringing in an empty suitcase from the garage.
After packing up the few items that Jack planned to bring back to California with him, we all sat in the kitchen, drinking beer.
“Can we go out tonight? Please? Somewhere fun?” Melissa begged, putting on the pout that always drove me crazy.
Jack smirked at her suggestion before glancing at me for approval. When I nodded, he said, “Sure. But there are only two bars in this town, and I was at one of them the night that ruined my life. I haven’t set foot in it since, and never want to again. Bad juju. So that only leaves the other one.”
“Yes!” Melissa jumped up and ran up the stairs. “I get to shower first!”
Once she was out of earshot, Jack turned to me. “What’s the latest with you two?”
“She likes to kiss me,” I said, smiling like a lovesick idiot. “A lot.”
He gave me a disgusted look. “Are you in junior high? What the fuck does that even mean?”
“It just means that anytime that girl will let me kiss her, I’m going to take it. I like her, all right. I just don’t think she really likes me.”
He punched me in the arm. “Kiss her better then, jackass.”
“I kiss her just fine, fuck you very much.”
“Obviously not,” he teased. “You want me to talk to her for you?”
I bristled. “Definitely not. The last thing I want is for you to talk to her.”
“Just tryin’ to help, little brother.”
He took another sip of his beer before pouring the rest of the bottle down the sink. The shower turned off, and I glanced up the stairs.
“Go up there, already. What you should have done was hopped in the shower with her,” he suggested with a laugh.
“You’re such a dick,” I shot back as I ran upstairs.
“But I’m right,” he shouted, and I flipped him off over my shoulder.
• • •
Later that night, the three of us sat around a tall bar table, drinking and laughing. Melissa pounded her fist against the tabletop before shouting over the loud country music, “Jack, I forgot to tell you that I sent Cassie the jar of quarters the other day!”
His eyes glazed over, and he looked lost for a moment. “Why?”