I pulled out of the parking lot and drove back down the hill to our cabin. My heart sank when I got there, and her blue Jeep wasn’t in the parking lot. After putting my truck in park, I dialed her number, not surprised when it went straight to voicemail.
This was Jo. And Jo’s flight response had definitely kicked in.
Son of a bitch.
I slapped the steering wheel and slumped back in my seat. Maybe, just maybe, she would still come home tonight. And when she did, I would be waiting. Waiting to beg her forgiveness and make her listen.
With the weight of my disappointment crushing me into the ground, I walked up the stairs to our cabin and went inside. Petunia trotted up, greeting me with a chirp.
“Hey, Petunia. I don’t suppose Jo told you where she was going, did she?”
I stopped and gave her a scratch and then peeked inside Jo’s room. The cat bowl overflowed with food. Not a good sign for her returning tonight.
“Where’d she go, Petunia? Jenna’s?” I asked as I walked back into the living room. I saw the note on the counter, and my heart hammered against my ribcage as I hurried over to read it.
Dickhead,
You have 48 hours to get the fuck out. I’m leaving town for a few days, so take care of my cat while you’re still there. And if I ever see your lying, cheating, asshole face again, I swear to God I’ll tear it off. My phone’s off so don’t bother trying to call me, text me, or find me. Goodbye for good.
Jo
Well, that answered that. Leaving town? I thought maybe she’d go to Jenna’s, but apparently that was still too close to me.
The man who she thought broke her heart.
I pulled the note to my chest and stumbled back to her bedroom. With a defeated sigh, I flopped down onto her bed.
The bed we’d just been in this morning.
The one where we’d spent all night tangled in each other’s arms.
The bed she’d probably never allow me into again.
The scent of her shampoo still clung to the pillow, and I inhaled a deep breath of it. Agony ripped through me while I pulled her blankets up over my chest. Jo needed space tonight, and if I tried to force the issue and find her, I knew she’d make good on that promise to tear my face off.
But just in case she checked her messages, I sent her one anyway.
Me: I am not with Nikki. I swear to God, Jo. It was a total misunderstanding and you have to let me explain. I love you. Only you. Always have and always will.
Setting my phone on the nightstand, I folded my arms and laid my head back on them. Petunia hopped up on the bed, and after giving me wary stare, she curled up along my side.
“We’ll get her back, Petunia. We have to.”
Her soft purrs soothed me while I stroked what remained of her patchy coat.
Jo had to come home eventually, and when she did, I’d be waiting. And I’d be on my damn knees begging for her to forgive me.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
JO
“Wake up, sleepyhead,” Jenna whispered into my ear. For a moment I drifted back in time to high school, and my older sister was waking me up to make sure I didn’t miss the bus.
Then I remembered Jenna’s favorite wake-up call involved dumping cold water on my head.
I shot up in bed, pressing my back to the wall while I struggled to grasp the current calendar year.
“Whoa! Easy there, tiger!” She laughed.
I looked around, and seeing I wasn’t in my childhood bedroom, but instead in Jenna’s lavish guestroom, I exhaled a deep sigh.
“Sorry, flashbacks to you waking me up high school.”
Her smile grew, and she pulled a glass of water out from behind her back. “You mean when I used to dump water on your head?”
“Don’t you dare!” I shouted, lifting my hands to shield my face.
Jenna’s laugh filled the room, and she set it on the bedside table. “Just kidding. Those are expensive sheets, so I wouldn’t dare. I thought you might be thirsty.”
“Thank God.” I blew out the breath trapped in my lungs. “I’m literally traumatized by that. You were such an asshole!”
She dipped into a courtesy, then giggled and flopped on the bed beside me. “Yeah, I was an ass growing up. But aren’t you glad you have me now?”
She pulled me in for an obnoxiously tight hug, and I struggled to get free. “Quit hugging me, you weirdo.”
“I can hug my baby sis anytime I want.” She squeezed harder. “How are you feeling today?”
And just like that, the reason for my tortured night in her guest room came crashing back into me like a semi-truck.
The vision of Nikki with her arms around Matt’s neck. His arms around her waist. Her lips pressed to his neck. It felt like time had rolled backward twelve hours, and I shuddered.
“So you gonna tell me what the hell happened yet?”
Heaving a sigh, I closed my eyes, hoping the vision of Matt and Nikki together would fade to black.
No luck. Even with my eyes closed they stayed stamped behind my eyelids.
Last night I’d lied when I wrote the note to Matt about where I was heading, hoping to prevent him from showing up here. Instead of going out of town like I’d said in my note, I’d dropped in on Jenna and when she’d opened the door, I stood there blubbering, unable to form the words to tell her what had happened.
Having seen me cry on less than a handful of occasions, she’d understood the seriousness of the situation and shuttled me straight up to the guest bedroom, grabbing a bottle of wine off the counter along the way. For two hours I sobbed between sips of wine from the bottle, and for two hours she sat quietly at my side waiting for me to be ready to talk.
But I hadn’t been ready. I didn’t think I’d ever be ready to talk about what had happened; to find the words to explain how it felt to have my heart torn in two. Instead I’d fallen asleep on my tear-soaked pillow with Jenna curled up at my side.
“Come on, Jo. You’ve got to tell me who’s ass I need to kick. I’ve been working out with a punching bag and taking kick-boxing classes. Just give me a name and I’ll put my practice to good use.”
Her good-natured comradery made me chuckle, and I let my head flop on her shoulder.
“A name,” she said again while she ran her fingers through my hair.
With a deep breath, I let it slip out. “Matt.”
She pressed her cheek into my head and pulled me a little closer. “I figured that may be the name going to the top of my hit list. But why? I don’t understand. Two nights ago he told me he loved you and he planned on telling you that night. What happened?”
“Fucking Nikki,” I growled.
“Whoa.” She sat up and turned me toward her. “What do you mean ‘fucking Nikki’?”
“Well, thanks to you,” I paused and gave her the evil eye, “Matt did indeed confess his love to me that night. And then I confessed mine. And for about twelve freaking hours life was perfect. We were well on our way to happily ever after.”
“So, I was right! You do love each other.” A triumphant grin stretched across her face but fell quickly when my glare narrowed. “Sorry, go on.”
“What happened, oh meddling sister, was that after Matt and I had one magical night together, I went to meet him out for a date last night and found him in the parking lot with Nikki wrapped in his arms.”
“Son of a bitch,” she spat.
“Exactly. Son of a bitch.”
She lifted her hand, closing her eyes for a second. “Wait. Wait, wait, wait. So, he told you he loved you two nights ago, asked you to meet him on a date the very next day, but then cheated on you with Nikki in the parking lot of the place you were supposed to meet him for a date?”
“Yep.” I nodded, then picked up the water and took a sip.
Her nose crinkled. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“Well, it happened.”
“Maybe you didn’t see things right.”
I scoffed. “Oh, I saw thing
s right. Nikki in his arms, his arms around her waist, her lips against his neck. Trust me. The image is burned into my mind for all of eternity.”
“It doesn’t make sense.” I saw the wheels turning in her mind. “Why would he tell you to meet him where he was going to cheat on you?”
“Actually, he sent me a text to meet him at The Boathouse, so he was trying to keep me away from there.”
Her lips puckered while she kept searching for a rational explanation. “That is pretty incriminating.”
“Oh, you want incriminating? When I took off running after I saw them, I bumped into Aaron who, get this, begged me to talk some sense into Matt for dating Nikki again.”
Her eyes bulged and her mouth fell open. “Okay, yeah. Son of a bitch. Which one do you want me to beat up first? Matt or Nikki?” She glanced down at her hands and clenched them into fists. “Scratch that. I’ve got two hands. I can kick both their asses at once.”
Even though forcing a laugh made my stomach flip over, I couldn’t help but let a few chuckles slip out while Jenna shadow boxed in front of me.
“Both work great.” I smiled, but as quickly as it came, it slipped away, and I felt the tears stinging behind my eyes.
“Oh, shit. Don’t cry.” Jenna stopped her impromptu boxing match and took my hand in hers. “I’m so sorry, Jo. This is all my fault.”
“It is all your fault!” I sniffled. “Why couldn’t you just keep your big yapper shut?”
“Because I knew you both love each other, that’s why. And it’s why this still doesn’t make sense. I know he loves you. It’s my superpower, remember?”
“Well your superpower is busted as hell.”
“But it’s not,” she said, then pursed her lips together for a beat. “I know he loves you. I do. There must be some rational explanation. There has to be.”
“Jenna, as much as I wish there were, there isn’t. I mean, come on. I saw them together with my own two eyes, and Aaron just confirmed it. And let’s be honest, Matt isn’t exactly the stand-up guy I always thought he was. He slept with her last year while she was engaged to his best friend. I mean, who does that?”
“I’ll admit it doesn’t look good.”
“I know what I saw. And even though I believed him when he said he loved me that still doesn’t mean he wouldn’t fall back into her arms with one crook of her finger. She’s like a freaking siren.”
“A siren whose ass I’m gonna kick.”
“Only after I get done with her.”
We exchanged a sisterly smile. The kind we used to share when we were working together to trick mom with one of our sinister schemes.
“I’m really sorry, hun. I wanted this to work out for you so badly. I didn’t want you to end up like me.”
“What are you talking about?”
Before she could answer, her big bulldog, Arnold, trotted into the bedroom.
“Hey, buddy,” I said to him when he reared up on his back legs, struggling to drag his brindle and white squatty body up onto the bed.
Jenna reached down and caught him under his rear and pushed him up the rest of the way. Big slobbery kisses coated my face, and I shut my eyes while I laughed and shoved him off.
“Quit it, Arnold!” He gave me one last kiss, then flopped onto Jenna’s crossed legs.
“Hey, sweet baby boy.” She closed her eyes and kissed him on his black nose. “Aunty Jo is here, and she’s sad so I think she needs more kisses to cheer her up.”
“No more kisses, Arnold. But thanks for the morning bath.” I wiped the last of the slobber from my face, then rubbed his wrinkled head and he let it settle into Jenna’s lap.
“What did you mean ‘turn out like you’?” I gestured around the extravagant spare bedroom in her beautiful house. “I’d say you’ve got a pretty kick-ass life.”
“Yeah. I’ve got a great career, a gorgeous house, a shoe closet to die for, and this guy.” She rubbed Arnold’s head. “But notice what’s missing from this life of mine?”
I shook my head.
“Someone to share it with. I spend every single day with couples who are madly in love and planning their lives together, and then I come home alone. I never wanted my baby sis to fall victim to the same insecurities I’ve had ever since Dad left. I wanted you to fall in love and trust someone the way I’ve never been able to.”
“Well, I did trust someone. For all of twelve hours I trusted Matt and look where that landed me.” I snorted, and Arnold tipped his head, then laid it back down.
“Yeah, I hear you. I did that once, too.”
“You did? Who?”
Jenna rolled her eyes. “Remember? Carter? That dude in college I met on spring break in Hawaii?”
My eyes lit up. “Oh yeah! I forgot about him!”
“Yep. At least I got more than twelve hours of happiness. I got five days of heaven before I caught him in bed with my roommate, so at least there was that.”
“God! Men are such assholes!”
“Yep. He was my one attempt at shaking off the fear I had of trusting men. After that, the trust train had left the station.”
“So, at least you understand what I’m going through.”
“Oh yeah, I get it. But,” she said, lifting her fingers, “that doesn’t mean I want you to stop trying.”
“Oh, I’m soooo done trying. My trust train is barreling down the tracks as well. Maybe it will run into yours somewhere along the way.”
Jenna laughed, but then shook her head. “I’m serious, Jo. Don’t do what I did. Don’t give up. So, Matt turned out to be a piece of shit... which I’m still having a hard time believing my superpower failed, but let’s just say it did. So, he’s an asshole, but that doesn’t mean you won’t meet a guy who isn’t.”
“And what about you? Will you be opening yourself up again after what happened to you?”
“Oh, hell no!” She laughed, then cleared her throat. “But we’re not talking about me, we’re talking about you. It’s too late for me.”
“You’re only two years older than me. I’d say you still have plenty of time to find yourself a perfect guy since you think one exists for me. If one exists for me, then one has to be out there for you.”
“I already have the perfect guy.” She lifted Arnold’s head and squished his chubby face.
“Well, I have Petunia. So there.”
“That ugly-ass cat doesn’t count.”
“She’s beautiful, and if Arnold counts, then Petunia counts.”
“You’re a pain in the ass.”
“I learned from the best.”
Her arched eyebrows mirrored mine, but then we both laughed.
“I am sorry, Jo. I hate to say I know exactly how you feel, but I do. Ugh, I was so fucking in love with Carter. Even though I only knew him for like a hot second, I was totally in love. From the second I saw him running out of the ocean with that surfboard in his hand, I was gone.” She palmed her face. “Then add in some spring break cocktails, romantic nights on the beach, and that six-pack I could have washed my clothes on. Gone.”
“Whatever happened to him?”
“No idea. I was supposed to meet him out for drinks our last night of spring break, and I stopped by my hotel room to change and found him with Janine in his arms on the bed. I didn’t even say anything. Just turned and ran out and never saw him again.”
“He didn’t call or anything?”
“I blocked his number and he went to school somewhere else. And I was so pissed at Janine I didn’t go back to our room until I had to get my bags the next day. I spent the whole night crying alone on the beach.”
“Oh, Jenna! That’s so sad!” I reached out and took her hand. “I’m going to find him and do a little damage to his face while you kick the crap out of Matt and Nikki.”
“The severely damaged Parker sisters are kicking ass and taking names.” She smiled, and we both blew out a sigh.
“Dad really messed us up.”
Nodding, she pursed her lip
s. “Yeah. He did.”
“And now we’re doubly messed up because we both tried the whole love thing once and it was an epic failure.”
“Disasters.”
“So, it’s just us and our pets. Oh God.” I shook my head. “We’re going to be those weird lonely sisters in the retirement home together, aren’t we? The ones who never married and only have each other.”
“We’ll be the baddest bitches in there, though.”
“Damn straight.”
We exchanged a smile. “What are you going to do? I mean, you live with the guy.”
“Not for long. I left him a note he has forty-eight hours to get out. Until then, I’m hiding out here until I’m sure he’s gone.”
“Has he called or texted?”
“Not sure. I shut off my phone last night.”
“How are you not checking it? OMG! Turn that thing on and let’s see what he has to say for himself.”
I didn’t want to look. I knew he’d have messaged by now and I dreaded reading whatever words he’d strung together to apologize. Or make excuses. Whatever it was, I didn’t want to know. It would hurt too much.
“I think I’m going to throw my phone in the lake and change my number.”
“Give me the phone. I’ll look.”
Even though I didn’t want to see it, part of me was dying to know if he’d reached out. Or maybe he was still curled up in Nikki’s arms and he hadn’t even thought about me since.
That image almost made me toss up the half of a bottle of wine I’d downed last night.
“Fine. But don’t tell me what it says.”
“Deal.”
I grabbed my purse from the nightstand and fished out my phone. After turning it on, I unlocked it and saw the message from Matt waiting.
My heart hammered at the sight of his name, and I passed it to Jenna with a shaky hand.
While she read the message, her lips pressed into a thin line, and worry lines creased her forehead.
“What? Is it bad?”
“It says—”
“Stop! Never mind. I don’t want to know.”
Ignoring me, she went on. “It says, ‘I am not with Nikki. I swear to God, Jo. It was a total misunderstanding and you have to let me explain. I love you. Only you. Always have and always will.’”
The Other Room (Door Peninsula Passions Book 2) Page 20