Straight Up Love (Boys of Jackson Harbor 2)

Brayden squeezes the back of his neck, worry creasing his forehead. “It was nothing.” He shakes his head. “Anyway, I’m kind of baffled she didn’t even tell me about her kid. Why does she keep him a secret, Ava?”

My mug thunks when I drop it on the counter. “Who?”

He taps his finger to his screen. “Noah? Her little boy? She didn’t mention him the whole time I was up there training her. It was like he didn’t even exist.”

“Molly has a little boy?” I ask. Jake looks to Brayden then back to me, and I shake my head. “I think you’re misunderstanding something. Her friend has a kid. Could she be trying to get him onto her health insurance?”

Brayden frowns. “It’s right here in the paperwork she filled out for her health insurance. Noah McKinley, son, four years old.”

Jake puts his mug down next to mine and walks around the counter to look over Brayden’s shoulder.

Carter gets up from the table, but he walks over to me. “Maybe it’s a mistake,” he says. “Maybe she misunderstood something in the paperwork.”

Noah McKinley, son.

It doesn’t sound like something that could be confused.

“If you feel strange asking her about it, I can call her,” Jake says, squeezing Brayden’s shoulder. “I’ll make sure the paperwork is filled out correctly.”

I slide my cell from my pocket, my thumb hovering over the screen, then slide it back in. I feel like Molly and I really connected when she was in town. The idea that she’d keep something as important as a child from me hurts. Do Dad and Jill know? Have they kept this from me too? And why? To protect Molly from my imperfect influence? That doesn’t even make sense. None of this does.

I didn’t even realize Jake has come back to stand in front of me until he holds my face in his hands. “You okay?” he asks.

I nod, then shake my head. “I don’t know.”

He pulls me into his chest and wraps his arms around me. “Try not to overthink it until we know something for sure.”

With Jake’s warmth against my cheek and his arms around my waist, Molly’s secrecy from me seems less significant.

Jake

“This is Molly. Leave a message.”

I pace across the bedroom, looking up to make sure the door’s still closed. “Hey, Molly, this is Jake. Call me back, okay?” Since she’s ignored my calls the three other times I’ve tried her this morning, I add, “It’s about work stuff.”

Do not jump to conclusions. But it’s not much of a jump, and it would be really fucking easy to do just

that. If the information on her healthcare enrollment is true, Molly has a son who was born around nine months after we got drunk and slept together. I don’t want to overreact, but given the timing, it seems like something we should at least have a conversation about.

“Jake?” Ava sticks her head in the bedroom door. Her smile falls away when she sees the phone in my hand. “Did you get a hold of Molly?”

I shake my head. This gnawing ache in my gut can simmer the fuck down any minute now. “I’m sorry. She’s not answering.”

She steps into the room, toying with her ponytail, and for a breath, I forget what I’m worried about. Ava’s in a bikini.

This isn’t a new thing. I’ve seen her in a bikini before. Hundreds of times, probably. But this is the first time I’ve been able to touch her in her bikini, and this one—a strappy black thing with a top that crisscrosses over her chest and bottoms that sit low on her hips—makes my hands itch to touch.

I toss my phone on the bed and cross the room to put my hands on her waist, pulling her against me. “You look lethal in that suit.”

She loops her arms behind my neck. “I’m glad you like it.”

I nuzzle her neck. Ever since Brayden told us about Molly’s possible child this morning, I haven’t been able to get close enough to Ava. I keep touching her. Bringing her closer. Taking every opportunity to kiss her. I have to remind myself Ava is real. She’s here, and she’s mine. The rest is nothing more than an unknown. Trailing kisses up her neck, I slide a hand into her bikini bottoms to cup her ass.

She pushes me away, her hands flat against my chest. “Nope. Don’t start that. I’m not going to let your sister give me a hard time about what we’re doing in here.”

I groan as she steps out of my arms, but I let her walk away. She winks as she backs out of the room and shuts the door behind her, presumably so I can change into my beach clothes too. On the bed, my phone buzzes and I snatch it fast even though it’s just a text alert.

Molly: Crazy day. Sorry I’ve missed your calls. We’re camping this weekend. Can we talk Tuesday?