“I’m calm.” Colton’s voice is deadly soft, and I know it’s taking everything in him not to come at me. “What was she doing with you all night?”
“Nothing I want to explain to you while you’re blitzed out of your mind.”
“She stayed with you. She fucking admitted it.” He stumbles toward me and slams his palms into my chest, but his coordination is off, and I don’t even sway from the contact. “She didn’t come home because she was with you.”
“And what about you? Why didn’t you come home? Oh, right. I forgot. You were too busy fucking your stepsister to come home to your girlfriend.”
“Levi!” Ava’s put on her teacher voice, but when I look at her, there’s panic in her eyes.
Colton pulls back, ready to take a swing, but Carter appears behind him and grabs his arm before he can let loose. “None of that shit here,” Carter says.
“Come on, Levi,” Ava says. “Give him a break. I told you.”
“Told him what?” Colton demands.
“About Molly,” Ava says softly. “I know about Noah. Please, Colton. Calm down. Let’s talk about this.”
He shakes his head. Carter’s grip on him loosens, but Colton doesn’t move toward me. The fight’s already draining out of him. “None of you know shit. You think you do, but you’re so fucking sheltered. You have no idea the real problems people are dealing with. No fucking clue.”
“Okay,” I say, turning up my palms. “So we don’t understand poor Colton’s real problems. But maybe you should tell them to your girlfriend instead of ignoring her and making her feel like an unwanted piece of garbage. If you really love her, fix it. Don’t just feel sorry for yourself.”
He snarls. “Maybe I don’t want her if she slept with you. Maybe I can’t just get over something like that.”
My fists clench and my arm muscles contract. I could knock out my best friend. I want to. He deserves it. “She didn’t sleep with me. We were in the same apartment but not even in the same room. She didn’t want to go home and be alone while thinking about you and Molly. That’s on you. Don’t try to put this on me.” I walk around to the gate and push out of the backyard. Aside from weekends when I’m out of town for work, I haven’t missed a family brunch in two years. Today’s going to have to be an exception.
I’m climbing in my car when Jake comes jogging out the front door.
“Levi, wait up!”
“I’m not in the mood, Jake.”
“Ellie’s pregnant.”
“Pregnant?” The word is a wrecking ball to my solar plexus.
She’s pregnant. She’s having Colton’s baby.
Levi
Friday, October 26th
I slide the last ladder into Jake’s truck and close the tailgate. “You need anything else today?”
He shakes his head. “I think we’re all set. Mom’s friends are going to decorate the bar, and they’ll be there for the caterer and florist deliveries coming in this afternoon.”
“And the rental company will come set up the chairs and arbor in the morning,” Molly says. She tilts her face to the bright blue October sky. “Perfect weather for an outdoor wedding. I hope it holds.”
“Are you nervous?” I ask Jake.
“That she’ll come to her senses and realize she’s way too good for me?” Smirking, he shrugs. “Not really. I’m really fu
cking amazing in bed.”
“So we’ve been told,” Molly mutters. “Repeatedly.”
Jake winks at her, then turns back to me. “So you and Ellie . . .”
“Are friends.”