Dirty, Reckless Love (Boys of Jackson Harbor 3)

There it is. I close my eyes and let the gut punch of the truth from her lips reverberate through me.

“Like mother, like daughter, right?” Her laugh is dry. “Jesus. I sound pathetic.”

“You don’t.” I meet her eyes—bright blue and full of tears. “And you’ll be amazing. I promise you won’t be doing this alone.”

“That’s what Ava said, too.”

Ava and Jake both knew but I didn’t. Fuck, aren’t we all just swimming in secrets.

“I’m scared. I keep thinking I should consider adoption, but . . .” She places her flat hand to her stomach. “I might be too selfish for that. I never thought I’d be that girl, but here I am.”

“I’m sorry.” It’s a lame-ass thing to say, especially when I’m not sorry she’s here with me. I’m only sorry he’s hurt her. “Damn, I feel helpless. I’m a Jackson. If I can’t fix it with a strong cup of coffee or a good beer, I wanna fix it with my fists, but somehow I don’t think giving your baby’s father a black eye is going to help anything.”

“Can we just get out of here?” She wraps her hand around my wrist, and something knots hard in my gut.

“Where do you want to go? We could visit Star and see what she has on special? Or maybe dinner?”

She shakes her head. “I was thinking more out of here than that. I need some space from everyone so I can screw my head on straight and figure out what’s next.”

I blink at her. “Yeah. Sure. I know just the place.” My voice cracks, and maybe it’s the guilt I?

??ve been ignoring pressing down on me. Because there are rules that say you don’t run away with your best friend’s girl. You don’t bail on the friend who’s using again. You don’t help her distance herself from him, and you sure as fuck don’t relish the idea of having her alone when she’s having his baby.

Rules. I plan on ignoring every one of them.

Ellie

Levi and I walk around the back of the bar to his red pickup truck. He gives me a crooked smile as I buckle in. “Where are we going?” I ask.

“Somewhere to cheer you up.” He shifts gears, and we’re rolling.

We don’t talk on the drive, but with the music playing and the windows down, it doesn’t feel quiet. Just easy. And when we pull off the interstate onto a county road just west of Grand Rapids, I know where we’re going.

“The cabin?” I ask over the roaring wind.

He gives a sharp nod.

His family has a cabin on some land between Jackson Harbor and Grand Rapids. They go there as often as they can—for holidays, long weekends, or even the occasional Friday night bonfire. I’ve been a guest for various Jackson family occasions, but never without Colton.

We pull onto the long private drive at the front of the property, but instead of keeping right and heading to the house, Levi stays to the left and follows the road around the lake to the opposite side. The road turns from gravel to dirt and seems to stop randomly. Levi continues onto the overgrown grass and throws the truck into park right beside the lake.

I smile at him. “Are we avoiding the house for some reason?”

He shrugs as he pulls the keys from the ignition. “I figured you hadn’t been over here before, but we can go to the house if you want.”

I shake my head. “No. This is kind of nice, actually.”

He waves to the lake. “Have a seat and enjoy the view. I’m going to build a fire.”

“That sounds great. Thank you.” I grab my purse from the floorboard and hear my phone ding with a text message. Levi climbs out of the truck as I unlock my phone to look at it.

Colton: He’s gone. It’s done.

I frown at the screen. I’m tapping in a reply to ask what he’s talking about when the next one comes.

Colton: Shit. Ignore that. I meant to send that to Molly.

“Fuck you too, buddy,” I mutter, but the fact that he’s texting her and not me cuts so deep I want to scream. Instead, I’ll pretend I’m someone else. I shove my phone back into my purse and toss it on the floor. Colton and Molly are tomorrow’s problem. Tonight, I’m going to enjoy the lake and the sunset, and pretend my life isn’t a complete disaster.