From the living room, we could clearly hear what sounded like a jar being put back down, and Melissa and I stared at each other as we both held our breath, waiting for Jack to return.
“How come some of her stuff’s still here?” Jack asked Melissa when he reentered the living room.
She shrugged. “We figured it would be easier to leave it here for now. We don’t know how long she’s staying there, and I’m not moving anytime soon. Besides, finding a fully furnished apartment in New York is easy.”
“What do you mean, you don’t know how long she’s staying there?” He frowned and fidgeted, shifting his weight from foot to foot.
“She might hate living there. Or the job might not work out. She didn’t know for sure, you know?”
Jack nodded his understanding before squeezing his eyes shut as if he was in pain.
Melissa glanced at me before asking him, “Are you okay?”
He opened his eyes and stared at us both before saying, “Just fighting ghosts.”
Jack was coming undone, ready to lose it at any second. I was about to offer him an excuse to leave when he spoke up.
“I gotta get back to my hotel before they freak out and think I’ve gone AWOL.” He reached for his baseball cap before walking to the front door.
“How’d you get here anyway?” I asked.
“I had a driver for the night. But I made him sit in the passenger seat while I drove his car here. Once I hopped out, I told him he could leave. I think he was relieved,” Jack said before adding, “I also think he shit his pants.”
I laughed. “So you need me to drop you off?”
“Unless you want me to take your car back to the hotel. But you’ll have to pick it up first thing tomorrow so it doesn’t get towed,” he said, reminding me that his team was scheduled to head back to Arizona in the morning.
I glanced at Melissa before flashing my brother a smile. “Nope. I’ll take you.”
“Jack? Don’t forget that I’m here too. You can call me anytime, and I’ll help you if I can,” Melissa said, her expression sympathetic.
“I’m gonna hold you to that.” He tried to smile in return, but it was a pathetic attempt.
“Good. Because even though you’re a stupid jerk-face, you’re her stupid jerk-face, and you two belong together,” she whispered before wrapping her arms around his waist and hugging him so hard, he made a face like he was dying.
“You’re killing me, Funsize,” he choked out, and she giggled.
When Meli
ssa released him, I tossed an arm around her shoulders and squeezed as I looked down at her beautiful blue eyes. “I’ll see you later, okay?”
“Okay,” she said, looking up at me with an expression so soft and warm that it took my breath away.
I released her reluctantly, wondering if that look had always been there, or if it was only because of tonight. Or maybe I was just imagining things and there was no look at all.
Jack grabbed my keys from the table, tugged his Diamondbacks cap on his head, and waited for me to follow him out the door. We walked in silence toward the Mustang he’d bought for me, its tinted windows looking almost black in the darkness.
He tossed me the keys and waited at the passenger door to be let in. I clicked the key fob and two beeps filled the night air, and we both slid into the chilly leather seats.
The engine purred to life and I backed out of the parking space, my head racing with everything that had transpired this evening.
“What’s up with you and Meli?” he asked out of nowhere.
Recognizing Jack’s need to have the focus not be on him for two seconds, I grinned as I pulled out of the complex, refusing to look at him. “Nothing. Why?”
“Don’t lie to me.” He punched me playfully in the arm, causing me to yank the steering wheel, and the car swerved with a jerk.
“Hey! Don’t do that!” Scared half to death, I shot him a mean glare before turning my attention back to the road.