Meant To Be (The Callahans Book 4)

by Monica Murphy

  “Sounds perfect.” She tilts her head back and smiles. I dip down, kissing her again. Needing more of her, but telling myself I need to be patient.

  I’ll have her later.

  Every which way I can.

  By the time we arrive at Jackson’s house, the party is in full swing. There are people spilling out of the front door of the massive house onto the lawn, and it’s so cold outside that when I climb out of the car, I can actually see my breath.

  I rush to the passenger side and open the door for Ava, pulling her into my arms the second she’s standing. I run my hands up and down her back, feeling her shiver. “It’s fucking cold out here,” I tell her.

  “Let’s go inside,” she says, withdrawing from my embrace and taking my hand, interlocking our fingers together.

  I lead her into the house, pushing through the throngs of people that are congregated everywhere. Ava spotted Ellie’s car parked alongside the road when we first got here, so she’s walking practically on her tiptoes, scanning the crowd and looking for her best friend.

  We find Jackson in the kitchen, no Ellie in sight. I can tell Ava’s disappointed. She’s hoping those two make a connection, and that would be cool and all, but I don’t think it’s gonna happen. Jackson is just…Jackson. Single and always ready to mingle. Bitter toward women, and I still don’t know why he feels like that. He thinks they’re all out to screw him over. Some chick had to have done something horrible to him, and now he’s scarred for life.

  I can relate. My mother is a terror. But I’m grateful I let myself open up to the possibility of Ava. She changed me.

  For the better.

  “Where’s your friend?” Jackson asks Ava after we say our hellos.

  She sends him a skeptical look. “I was going to ask you the same question. I think we share a mutual best friend.”

  Jackson frowns like he doesn’t understand her. Honestly? I have no idea what she’s talking about either.

  “Ellie told me you two talk.” She sends Jackson a pointed look. “All. The. Damn. Time.”

  Uh oh. My girl is feeling feisty.

  Jackson’s cheeks actually turn ruddy, as if he’s embarrassed. Caught. “Yeah. We keep in contact. Ellie’s cool.”

  Ava lets go of my hand and takes a step toward Jackson, her hand out, her index finger pointing. She jabs it dead center in Jackson’s chest, and he winces. As if she hurt him.

  It takes everything I’ve got to contain my laughter.

  “You can’t treat every girl like a groupie, Jackson. It’s clear you like Ellie. Make a move,” she says, her voice fierce. Like she’s giving orders.

  He rubs his chest where she just poked him. “We’re just friends.”

  She rolls her eyes and sends him a scathing look. “God, I really hate boys sometimes.” She turns to look at me. “Even you frustrate me, you know?”

  I frown, surprised at the way she automatically swung her anger straight at me. “What are you talking about?”

  “Were you ever going to mention the dinner invite for tomorrow with your family?” She crosses her arms, waiting for my answer.

  “That’s my cue to get the fuck out of here.” Jackson raises his arms and makes his way out of the kitchen.

  Anger bubbles up inside of me. This has to be Ryan’s fault. I wait until he’s gone before I start talking. “You spoke to Ryan?”

  “He sat with me and Ellie for a while,” she bites out.

  Irritation fills me. I can’t believe that fucker mentioned tomorrow night’s family dinner to her. “You don’t want to go.”

  “How do you know?” she retorts.

  “Because I don’t want you there, okay? It’s going to be a fucking nightmare, and you don’t need to witness the Bennett family slinging passive aggressive insults at each other across the dinner table while pretending to make nice over an expensive meal. It’s total bullshit,” I spit out, annoyed as fuck.

  She takes a step back, a disgusted look on her face, and I know I overstepped, but fuck it. I can’t lie about this. “You really think I would judge you because of your parents?”

  “Fuck yes, I judge me because of my parents. Everyone does. This entire community looks down their noses at us, thanks to my stupid parents. What makes you the exception?” I’m yelling now. I’ve completely lost my temper. And I’m not mad at Ava. No, I’m fucking super pissed at Ryan.

  That asshole just ruined my entire night. What’s up with older brothers, huh? Why are they such meddling pieces of shit?

  Ava lifts her chin, her green eyes blazing. “You’re a jerk,” she says before she stomps away from me.

  “Ava! Ava, come on.” I start to chase after her, but Jackson magically appears out of nowhere, grabbing my arm and stopping me. I struggle against his hold, but he won’t cut me loose. Dude is stronger than he looks. “Let me go, asshole.”

  “Nah, son. Let her go. She won’t go too far. Plus, you should give her some space. You need to cool off and so does she. Come on.” He smiles and tilts his head. “I’ve got a secret stash hidden in my dad’s office. Care to partake with me?”

  “What do you got?” I ask warily, my gaze scanning the room. Looking for her pretty blonde head. I see it in the near distance, moving with purpose and heading for the living room, just before it gets swallowed up by the crowd.

  “A bong full of the finest fucking weed that’ll blow your damn mind, plus a fifth of Belvedere.”

  “My mom loves Belvedere,” I say with a reluctant chuckle.

  “Well so does my dad. And so do I. You will too. Come on. Let’s go to his office and get high and drunk out of our minds,” Jackson says with a grin.

  I let Jackson lead me through the kitchen and down a short hall that I’ve never seen before. We spot Cory emerging from a tiny bathroom with a girl, his hair mussed and his lips swollen. He grins at us and waves. We give him the finger in return, and he just laughs.

  Good for that loser, getting some bathroom action. At least someone is.

  Jackson approaches a closed door and whips a key out of the front pocket of his jeans. He unlocks the door and cracks it open, waving me to go through it. I step sideways to slip through and Jackson does the same, quickly shutting the door behind him and locking it once more.

  “I don’t want anyone in here with us. My dad said he could give a shit if I wanted to throw a party, as long as I cleaned up afterward and that everyone must stay out of their bedroom and his office. Study. Whatever the fuck he calls it.” Jackson cracks himself up. “He keeps all his expensive liquor in here, hides it away in a locked cabinet. Plus, there’s a safe in here with all the family jewels and documents or whatever. I don’t know. All I cared about was finding the key to the liquor cabinet.”

  “Did you?” I ask.

  Jackson produces a key from the front pocket of his jeans. “Sure the fuck did.”

  “Is your parents’ bedroom door locked? You know someone will sneak in there to use the bed to fuck in,” I say, wishing I could be that person.

  Pretty sure that’s the last thing Ava wants to do tonight.

  “Hell yeah, it is. My stepmom has all of her expensive handbags in her giant ass closet. She threatened me with actual death if any of her Chanel bags went missing.”

  “Your dad’s loaded,” I say as I check out the cavernous office.

  “He’s a G,” Jackson says with a nod, going to a cabinet and kneeling before it, sticking the skinny key into a slot before he cracks open one of the doors. He withdraws a giant bottle of vodka out of it and stands, holding it out to me. “Here we go.”

  “Where’s the weed?” I don’t want to get drunk. Not really. I’d rather get high and forget about my brother and what he did. How he messed everything up tonight just by showing his face and shooting off his mouth.

  “Patience, grasshopper,” he says, laughing. “My dad used to always say that to me.”

  Jackson opens the bottle of vodka and takes a long swig straight from the bottle, hissing through his
teeth when he’s finished. “For that much money, you’d think that shit would be a little smoother.”

  “It probably is if you weren’t chugging it like the town drunk,” I say snidely.

  Jackson grins and points the bottle at me. “Touché, motherfucker. Okay, let me find my bong.”

  He goes digging around the office, never once turning on a light. I go to the window and check out the backyard, which is also filled with people. I go to school with most of them, though I see a stray person here and there, and figure they go to the other school. Ava’s school.

  Shit. Where is Ava anyway? Did she find Ellie? Are they both cursing our asses right now and talking about us? How awful we are? I guess we deserve it. I know I do, and an apology will be in order. I didn’t mean to lose it on her like that, but damn. Why did my brother have to say what he said? Asking her to go to dinner with us when I specifically told him I didn’t want her to go?

  It’s like he did that shit on purpose.

  And why does Ava pretend like everything’s cool with my parents when it’s so not? She knows how it is at my house. Between my parents. I’ve told her enough. She totally knows how I feel.

  It is almost like she’s disrespecting me. Like she doesn’t believe what I say. That’s some straight up bullshit right there.

  “Hey,” I say to Jackson, who’s still in search of the stupid bong. I need something to take the edge off. “Hand me over that vodka.”

  He presses the bottle into my open hand and I take a long drink from it, making a smacking sound when I’m done. “Did you lose the bong or what?”

  “Found it.” Jackson holds the glass bong above his head like he’s holding a trophy. “I purchased some high quality weed a few days ago. Went to a dispensary and did a little shopping.”

  “You got any edibles?”

  Jackson shakes his head. “Already ate ‘em. Got high as fuck too.”

  He laughs. So do I. “Take me on your shopping trip next time. How’d you even get in there?”

  We’re both seventeen. We can’t shop legally in dispensaries yet.

  “I have my ways,” he says with an evil grin.

  We light up the bong and take a few hits. I hold that smoke in so long, it fucking burns my lungs before I’m finally exhaling with a cough. Jackson laughs at me and then does the same exact thing. We take turns drinking from the bottle and taking hits, not really saying anything, just savoring the moment of getting high.

  “Your chick is mad at you,” Jackson says once we finally give up on the bong.

  “Yeah well, that’s not my fault. I’m mad at my brother. He fucked everything up in the first place,” I mutter.

  “You yelled at her.”

  “She’s full of shit.”

  “Yeah, go tell her that,” Jackson says, a gleam in his eye.

  He has a point. I can’t say that to Ava. She’ll want to kick my ass. The crazy thing? I know she’s capable. That girl is tough with a capital T.

  “I’m going to have to say sorry, aren’t I?” I sound miserable. Because I am a miserable son of a bitch, starting unnecessary fights with my girlfriend when none of this is her fault. What the hell was I thinking?

  “Yeah, you definitely are,” Jackson says, leaning back in his dad’s desk chair. “This is why I won’t go out with one girl. They get under your skin and make you say and do stupid shit.”

  “That’s not true,” I start, but the look Jackson sends me shuts me up.

  It’s so true. I say and do stupid shit all the time. I did before Ava, and I still do during Ava. Probably will after Ava as well.

  My chest suddenly aches and I rub my hand over it, desperate to ease the pain. I don’t like thinking about after Ava. If I have my way, that moment in time will never exist.

  It will always be during Ava. With Ava. That’s it.

  End of story.

  “You need to go out and find her,” Jackson says, tipping his head toward the closed door. “You need to search through all those people and find your pretty girlfriend and tell her you’re sorry. And you have to mean it. If you spot her gorgeous friend, tell her I’m sorry too, okay? Tell her I’m an idiot, and there’s no way we can be anything else but friends.”

  “You go find Ellie and tell her that yourself, you miserable son of a bitch,” I bark at him, snatching the bottle from his dad’s desk and taking one last gulp. “God damn, that stuff is awful.”

  “Vodka has no taste.”

  “My ass. It tastes like it’s trying to destroy my taste buds.” I make a face.

  “You’re a pussy.”

  “So are you.” I point a finger at him. “If you had any balls, you’d go find Ellie your damn self and fuck her like you want to.”

  Jackson straightens up. “I don’t want to fuck her.”

  I can’t help but start laughing. “Such a liar. It’s all you want. That’s why you hide from her and only talk to her on Snapchat or what the fuck ever. Because you know if you looked her in the eyes and heard her sweet voice and saw the way she watches you? All dreamy eyed and shit? You’d take her and keep her for as long as you could.”

  Jackson is firmly shaking his head, but I see the uncertainty in his gaze. “No way, my friend. Absolutely not. I’m not interested. She’s got serious written all over her, and I don’t do serious.”

  “I thought that way too.” I rise to my feet a little unsteadily, overcome with booze and smoke. “But then I gave Ava a try and realized I only do serious for her. Give it a shot. You might find out it’s not so bad.”

  Turning, I start for the door, stumbling over my own damn feet as I make my way there. When I’m at the door, I unlock it and crack it open, glancing over my shoulder to find Jackson watching me.

  “I gotta go apologize to my girlfriend,” I say.

  “Good luck, loser,” Jackson says with a grin.

  “Hey, at least I’m the one who’s gonna end up getting good and fucked tonight after all. Unlike you,” I say with a laugh.

  Jackson gives me the finger.

  I slam the door behind me and set out to find Ava.

  Twenty-Eight

  Ava

  Eli Bennett is the most frustrating human being alive. Like seriously, who does he think he is? Yelling at me like that in the middle of a party in front of other people. In front of Jackson, who watched the entire thing with an amused expression on his too good looking face. Eli can’t speak to me that way. Like some pissed off bully who yells at his girlfriend for no apparent reason.

  Ugh. If I didn’t love him so much, I’d hate him.

  But I can’t hate him, because I love him.

  God, this relationship stuff is frustrating sometimes.

  I wander through the crowded rooms in search of Ellie, but she’s nowhere to be found. Worry hits me, and I tell myself not to panic, but where could she be? Who is she with? God, I hope she’s okay. I hope she’s not with some random guy who’s trying to drug her drink or whatever. I love Ellie, but sometimes she can be a little naïve. She sees the good in everyone, and not everyone is good.

  Like Jackson Rivers. That guy is just a player, and he’s playing Ellie. He’s not interested. Not really. He’d rather keep her a secret.

  And that’s horrible. What a dick.

  Men suck.

  I’m marching through the living room, ready to go out to the front yard when I hear someone call my name. Glancing over my shoulder, I finally see Ellie making her way toward me.

  “Oh my God, there you are!” I gasp when she throws herself at me, her arms tight around my middle as she practically squeezes me to death. “Are you okay?”

  She pulls away so she can look me in the eyes, her expression grateful. “I’ve been at this stupid party for the last twenty minutes all by myself, looking for a familiar face. I don’t know anyone here!”

  “Me either,” I mutter, my voice filled with annoyance.

  Ellie frowns. “Where’s Eli?”

  “Last time I saw him, he was with that di
ck, Jackson. God knows where they are now.” I roll my eyes.

  “What happened? Why are you calling Jackson a dick?” she asks.

  “Because he is one, Ellie. And so is Eli. They’re both jerks. I told off Jackson for not making a move on you. Then Eli yelled at me. It was terrible.” I shake my head.

  Ellie is nothing short of horrified. “Wait a minute. You told off Jackson for not making a move on me? Why would you do that?”

  “Because he’s a chicken shit, and he needs to be called out for it! You deserve better than him, Ellie. Don’t settle for the scraps he gives you. You need to find a guy who’s totally into you and not afraid to show it,” I say.

  “At least he’s giving me scraps! No other guy out there acts like he might like me. Not a single one. Not at our school, and not at this one either.” She scans the room before returning her gaze to me. Now she looks flat out miserable. “And now you’ve probably blown my last chance with a guy. A really good looking guy.”

  “Oh come on. If Jackson blows you off because of something I said, then he wasn’t worth it in the first place,” I reassure her, reaching out to rub her arm.

  She shrugs away from my touch. “Maybe to you. But he’s totally worth it to me. He always has been. And if I have to wait a year, two years, however long it takes for Jackson to get his head out of his ass and realize we’d make a great couple, then I’ll wait!” Ellie yells.

  I stare at my best friend, wondering what happened to her. I take a step closer, try to rest my hand on her shoulder, but she shrugs away from me again. Like she’s really angry with me. “Ellie, you don’t have to wait for—”

  “I want to, and that’s the difference. I’m not like you, Ava. You snagged Eli’s attention and he pursued you with such determination, it’s almost scary how fast you two happened. Have you ever stopped and thought he might be using you to get back at Jake in some way?”

  My mouth drops open. I’ve told her everything about my relationship with Eli. And how Jake still believes Eli is just using me to bother him. She knows how much I hate that assumption. “You know that’s not true,” I say vehemently.