As I continue scrolling, one picture has me stopping. It’s me and Jackson at each other’s throats while Elle stands at Jackson’s side looking bored and Jesse at my back, glaring at my brother. I let out a heavy sigh. Jackson and I cleared the air a little while ago and while things have certainly been a lot easier, every time he sees me with Jesse, he can’t help but have something to say about it.
“So…I’ve been thinking.”
“Hmm?” he questions, still completely engrossed with his PlayStation.
“I think it’s time you made nice with Jackson and became friends.”
Silence. Complete and utter silence.
“Jess?” I ask. “Did you hear me?”
“Oh, yeah, I heard you,” he says. “I’m just trying to figure out which doctor to send you to because surely there’s something wrong with you. Maybe you’ve hit your head.”
I narrow my eyes at him but of course, he doesn’t see it. I sit up in bed. “Seriously? This is my brother we’re talking about. He’s one of the most important people in my life. It’s not like he’s going anywhere.”
Jesse scoffs and I sit up straight, pissed off with his dismissal. “I’ve made an effort with Nate. Why can’t you do the same for me?”
“Because the guy is a douche,” Jesse grumbles.
I clench my jaw, trying to hold back my anger but after spending the night drinking far too much, my hangover really isn’t helping. “You’re a douche,” I fire back at him, feeling way too defensive. “Jackson is an amazing guy and if you’d just give him a chance, you’d see that.”
“Sorry, Tiger. It ain’t going to happen.”
“What happened to all those promises you made me at the start about making it work with him? I believe what you said was, ‘If that’s what you fucking need from me, then that’s what you get.’”
Jesse groans, pausing for a moment to have some ridiculous ninja fight on his PlayStation. “I’m not denying that I said that. I stand by it completely, and I have. I’m mostly chill with your brother. I’ve backed off but I’m not becoming his best fucking friend. It’s never going to happen, babe, so you might as well forget about it.”
I fly to my feet. “Why do you have to make this so difficult for me? Do you have any idea what kind of position you’re putting me in?”
Jesse leans over, trying to see his TV screen around me. “Chill out, babe.”
“Chill out?” I screech in anger. “I’ll give you chill out.”
Jess scoffs again and in the blink of an eye, I spin around and rip his PlayStation away from the TV. “What the fuck are you doing?” he yells.
I don’t wait around.
I run for my fucking life, out his bedroom door, and down the stairs. “You sleazy, little, cock sucker,” I scream over my shoulder as Jesse comes bounding out behind me.
I throw myself out the backdoor, making sure to pull it closed behind me before hurrying into the pool area. Jesse comes storming out, standing at the opposite side of the pool. “I told you. I’m not going to fucking do it,” he roars, even more pissed off now that I currently have his PlayStation hanging out over the water.
“I swear to God, Jess,” I growl. “Do it or the stupid thing gets it.”
“Don’t you dare,” he panics, slowly walking around the pool, though with every step he takes, I do the same. I narrow my eyes at him, letting him know just how serious I am. It’s time for the two men in my life to make it work.
“Babe,” Jesse says, trying to calm me, flicking his eyes between me and his beloved PlayStation. “Quit messing around.”
“I’m serious,” I tell him. “I want you to fix it.”
“Do it,” a familiar voice comes from the second-story window. I glance up to find Nate and Tora hanging out his bedroom window, both with amused grins, egging me on.
“Dude,” Jesse calls in outrage to his brother. “You’re not fucking helping.”
“Yeah, well this is what you get when all your bullshit wakes me up. Do it, Kaylah.”
Jesse’s eyes flick back towards me while shaking his head in fear. “Babe, come on,” he murmurs low, just for me to hear. Quietly begging for the safety of his PlayStation.
Tora calls down to us. “What the hell are you guys even fighting about?”
A smirk crosses my lips as Jesse continues glaring at me. “She wants me to make nice with her brother.”
Tora laughs softly. “I think it’s a great idea. Jackson is pretty cool once you get to know him.”
“Geez,” Nate scoffs. “You’re taking it a bit far, don’t you think?”
I scowl up at him, but Tora is the one to jump to my brother’s defense. “He is cool,” she says with a slight shrug.
“For a douchebag,” Nate grunts, making me roll my eyes at how the brothers’ comments are so similar.