23. Exposed #3
“You, the man who fucks and dumps, would know what true love looks like?” Robbie shook his head. “Forget it. I can’t make you love me back, and I wouldn’t want to. I don’t want your pity anymore.”
“Teatime,” Isabel said, emerging from the kitchen and setting down a white porcelain teapot with little painted seagulls in the middle of the coffee table while Alex arranged the cups.
“You should come to the bookstore tomorrow morning,” Robbie told Alex. “We open at eight, and early mornings are always the quietest.”
“Oh, absolutely,” Alex said. “Jake, will you come with me? You can take me on a tour of the town while we’re out.”
“I don’t think—sure. Yeah, that works for me.”
“Great.” Alex shifted on the couch, turning back to Robbie. “I was wondering, do you have any books by, oh, I can’t remember the author’s name, but she wrote a series called…”
Jake rested his elbow on the arm of the couch and dropped the side of his head into his hand.
He glanced up in time to catch Isabel watching him, a concerned expression on her face, and he quickly straightened up.
He would not be the one to ruin his aunt’s time with her only niece.
Not even Robbie could get him to be that pathetic.
Robbie left that evening without saying another word directly to Jake. They never got to finish their conversation, and when he said goodbye, he avoided Jake entirely. It was hard to ignore, and Jake wondered just how aware Alex had become of the situation over the evening.
He didn’t have to wait long to find out. After Isabel went to the bathroom to get ready for bed, Alex pulled Jake aside, and they sat down on the couch together.
“What was that about?” she asked, keeping her voice down so Isabel didn’t overhear.
“Oh, uh, Robbie and I are kind of frenemies,” Jake said, stumbling over his words as he tried to find the magic combination to get past his sister’s bullshit sensor. “We like to make digs at each other, but he’s a decent guy.”
“That was not some friendly little ribbing. You were upset with him, or he was upset with you. Or maybe both? I couldn’t quite tell.”
Jake sighed. “We had an argument last week. It was nothing; I just haven’t seen him or talked to him since then.”
“He’s the one, right?”
“The one what?”
“The one you’ve been seeing?”
“I don’t do that, Alex, remember? No long-term shit for me. It only leads to trouble. You know that as well as I do.”
“I know you’re still upset because of what happened with Ethan, and I’m sorry. Robbie’s not Ethan, though, and he doesn’t deserve to be treated like he is.”
Jake shook his head to rid himself of the unwanted memories popping up faster than he could avoid them. “Can you not bring that up right now?”
“Fine. But you can’t avoid talking about it forever, and you can’t ignore the fact that you and Robbie make a really good pair.”
Jake held his hand over his mouth to keep from laughing in sheer surprise. “You’re full of it tonight, aren’t you?”
“I know what I saw.” Alex paused, glanced toward the hallway, and then leaned in closer to Jake. “You’re about to lose the kindest, funniest, most loving man in the world because of your own ego,” she hissed. “And you seriously think you’re still making the right decision?”
“He’s not the angel you make him out to be, Alex. He has his flaws.”
“And you don’t? Come on, Jake. Forget your silly little life rules for a minute and let yourself realize that you like him. He’s perfect for you.”
“He’s not—” Jake stopped.
“What? He’s not what?”
“My type.”
It was Alex’s turn to stifle a laugh. “Are you even hearing yourself right now? If you think that Robbie’s not your type, then you really are past help.”
Jake flinched. “It doesn’t matter,” he said. “I’ll be gone from here forever in a couple of months, and Robbie’s moving on too.”
“Where will you go?”
“Anywhere I can have an actual life.”
Alex pursed her lips together. “You’re making a big mistake, but I can’t stop you.”
“Yeah, and our wonderful mom and dad think I made a mistake getting fired, or whatever they have to believe to sleep at night.”
“This is your actual mistake.” She stood up from the couch. “You should tell Robbie what happened with Ethan. At least then he might understand why you’re so reluctant to let him love you.”
“He doesn’t love me.”
“Maybe Mom and Dad were right about you after all.”
She walked down the hall to Jake’s room and shut the door. Jake remained on the couch, pulling the blanket over himself with tired hands. Robbie didn’t love him. He couldn’t love him.
He closed his eyes. An image of Robbie with those pleading puppy-dog eyes, hair falling over his forehead in gilded strands, filled his mind. Even Robbie deserved compassion. And love. Robbie deserved more love than he’d ever managed to wring out of his life, and now Jake was denying him that.
Alex was right. Robbie was right. There was more to their relationship than Jake had ever allowed himself to see, and if he didn’t break one more rule before he left Eventide, he would regret it for the rest of his life.