Chapter Fifteen
June
“Sooooo,” says Jake while reclining on my couch and stretching his arms over the back. “Do you want to talk about the elephant in the room?”
“No,” I say, glancing toward the back door that Ryan, Sam, and Daisy just disappeared through.
Daisy is Sam’s seizure-assist dog and goes with her everywhere. This morning, they had a dentist appointment, and Daisy had to be on her best behavior, so Sam took her in the backyard to toss the ball and give her some fun after a long morning of working. Ryan said he loves dogs and wanted to go, too, but I think he was just trying to give me and Jake a minute to gossip behind his back. Why does he keep getting better and better?
“You two looked pretty cozy when I pulled up.” Jake is wearing a grin the size of the Grand Canyon.
“I said no. I don’t want to t
alk about it.”
“Oh, come on. How many times did you sing Evie and Jake sitting in a tree while Evie and I were dating? I think I get to tease you a little. It’s my brotherly duty.”
“Where’s Evie and Jonathan today?”
Jake laughs. “Nice deflection.”
I smile. “I learned it from the best.”
“Fine. I’ll let it go. She’s training a new group of volunteers that will help raise the newest litter of puppies. She took Jonathan with her.”
That’s how Jake and Evie first met. She runs a service dog organization called Southern Service Paws. Sam has epilepsy and needed an assist dog to help during her seizures, and Jake needed a woman to help him and Sam put their lives back together (though, he didn’t realize it at the time). Evie helped in both cases. They got married two years ago and had my little nephew, Jonathan, last year. Basically, they have the kind of life that you want to scroll past quickly on Instagram because they are so cute it makes you nauseous. And jealous. I love them.
“Cool, cool, cool,” I say, twitching with nervous energy as I keep glancing back toward the door. I think if Jake hadn’t interrupted us, Ryan and I would have kissed. We’d probably still be kissing, and I’m not sure what to do with that realization. I need to talk to Jake about all of this, but I’m too scared. It will make whatever is happening between me and Ryan real.
Jake eyes my bouncing knee with amusement and says, “You sure you don’t want to talk about him?”
“Definitely not.”
“He’s grown up since I saw him last.”
“Yep.”
“Gained a few muscles too.”
I shoot him an annoyed look.
He laughs. “Alright, how did the meeting go yesterday?” He’s referring to the second interview Stacy had lined up with a potential buyer.
“It went great!” I say with over-the-top enthusiasm.
“Really?”
“Until he told me he’d pay a little more if I’d make out with him before he left.”
“Ouch. Did he bleed when you punched him?”
“I didn’t want to risk hurting my knuckles before the wedding, so I just left a nice slap mark on his cheek instead.”
Jake nods like he’s not even surprised. He knows me too well to be surprised by anything I do. “So, where does this leave you now?”
“Square one. But I think Stacy is doing it on purpose—lining up bad potential buyers.”
Jake frowns. “Why?”