Chapter 15
15
COLE
“What the hell are you doing to me, man?” Jake said almost immediately after I slid onto a stool beside Ben at Hank’s.
I looked at Ben, but he just held his hands up, so I shifted my attention back to Jake. “What are you talking about?”
His eyes widened. “I'm talking about what happened at the party the night before the party.”
It was my turn to look surprised. “How do you know about that?”
“Lanie knows,” he explained. “And she’s pissed.”
“How?” I asked, confused about how she would know. I was sure Paige wouldn’t have told her after she chewed me out last time for telling Ben and Jake. Although, she told Bree, so what the hell did I know? “Did she see us in the garage?”
“In the garage?” Jake’s eyebrows shot up.
“Alright.” I shook my head. “What the hell does Lanie know and how?”
“Paige told Lanie you two made out, and you ghosted her after.”
“That’s not...” I paused before continuing. “Exactly true.”
“Then what is true?” Ben asked.
Taking a deep breath, I exhaled slowly. “We took things too far that night.”
“By too far, do you mean sex?” Ben clarified.
“You had sex with her in my fucking garage?” Jake concluded before I even had a chance to respond, although it wasn’t that hard to figure out.
Ben was sitting between us and rolled his eyes toward Jake. “Brother, you cannot be pissed at him for that. You did the same thing with Lanie at Brody’s wedding reception.”
Jake tried to look pissed, but when he grinned, I could tell he was remembering exactly what he did with Lanie.
Ben ran his hand over his face. “You’re both idiots.”
“I fucked up.”
“You did, and you keep doing it,” Jake replied, and I met his stare. “I thought you were going to make shit better between you and Paige, and you’ve somehow made it worse. Lanie’s pissed, which means I’m hearing the shit she’d like to say to you.”
“It was getting better. We even hung out and watched movies right before the holidays.”
“How did that happen?” Ben asked.
“We had an argument, and I told her we needed to figure out how to get along for the sake of Jake and Lanie?—”
“Thanks for putting me first in your relationship.” Jake interrupted.
“It was more for Lanie.” I narrowed my eyes, and he laughed. “Anyway, she agreed and not long after showed up at my place with a bottle of wine.”
“So what the fuck changed between then and the party?”
“I got drunk, we both did, and we went too far.”
Ben snorted. “Not an excuse.”
“Why the hell did you ghost her after?” Jake asked. “That’s not like you.”
“I didn’t ghost her.” I ran my hand over my forehead. “I don’t know why she would tell Lanie that. We both decided it was a one-time thing.”
Ben twisted his head to look at Jake. “Did Paige actually say he ghosted her?”
Jake frowned. “I don’t know. That’s how Lanie made it seem, but she’s really protective when it comes to Paige. As far as I know, Lanie thinks you made out, and then you left.”
“I didn't leave. I went to Luke’s house and crashed on his couch for the night, but not until I made sure Paige was in your house,” I explained. “It would’ve been weird to come back to the party after that.”
“Maybe Lanie didn’t get the whole story,” Ben suggested.
“I can’t believe Paige told her,” I muttered, ignoring Ben’s comment.
“She wouldn’t have,” Jake explained. “But Lanie found her sitting in our living room calling a friend to get a ride home. She was pretty drunk and blurted it out.”
That made more sense. “This is a mess.”
“I thought you decided you weren’t going there.”
“I already told you we drank too much. We were fucking around with Harper for fun.” I ran my hand through my hair. “And before I knew it, we weren’t doing that anymore.”
“You have to make a decision, you know,” Ben said.
“Decision’s already been made as far as I’m concerned. She showed up at the actual party with Landon and left early with him. I’m out.”
Jake snorted. “You think she might have done that because you blew her off the night before.”
“I didn’t blow her off…”
Ben held up his hand. “The shit with Landon doesn’t matter. You both have to decide whether you’re doing this, and if you’re not, then stay the hell away from each other. You obviously can’t be around each other without fighting or, I guess now, having sex.”
“You’re no Boy Scout, you know.” I stared at Ben, annoyed. “I remember when you were working shit out with Charlie.”
Ben smirked. “This isn’t about me.”
“I had your back through it all,” I reminded him.
Ben frowned. “Look, I know what you’re dealing with. Charlie was a part of our family before I officially made her that, so if I fucked up my one chance with her, it was going to change everything for me, her, and the family. She was always going to be in our lives since she’s Grace’s best friend. That’s why I’m giving you the advice I am. You need to make a decision, and so does she. You’re either all in or all out. You can’t play the line like you have been because it’ll eventually bite you. Paige will be around. Lanie will make sure she is.”
“I know.” Once again, I ran my hand over my face.
“So what are you going to do?” Jake asked.
I exhaled heavily. “I don’t know.”
“Okay, what do you know?”
“I know we can’t be around each other without ending up in an argument, and I’m not spending the rest of my life arguing with someone over the stupidest shit. I don’t even know what we’re arguing about most of the time.”
“Did you ever ask her why she seems so pissed at you?”
Did I? I tried to remember, but it seemed like any time we were actually talking, that conversation turned into something else.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I think I've tried, but we never get very far.”
“Dammit,” Jake swore, staring over my shoulder before meeting my eyes. “I shouldn’t tell you this because Lanie told me but asked me not to say anything because it would upset Paige.”
“Tell me,” I encouraged him.
Hi sighed. “Paige told Lanie you thought she slept with Dave to get the job at the parts store and that every time you guys talk, she feels like you don't think much of her.”
“I never said that,” I defended myself.
“Which part?” Ben asked.
“I never said I don’t think much of her. I think she’s incredible. She’s smart, she’s funny, the customers love her from what Dave said, she’s sweet with everyone except me, and she’s sexy as hell.” I ignored the grins they both wore and admitted the rest. “But I did assume she was sleeping with Dave. That had nothing to do with her and everything to do with Dave. He always hires the women he’s sleeping with and has a thing for blondes. It wasn’t a huge leap, but even that first day, it pissed me off thinking she was sleeping with him.”
“Jesus.” Ben ran his hand over the back of his neck. “You might be worse than we were.”
“What does that mean?”
“That means there’s no chance you’re gonna stay away from her, so get your shit together, talk to her, and figure out how to be with her.” Jake lifted his eyebrow. “Beg if you have to. Otherwise, you’ll regret this for the rest of your life.”
When I didn’t reply, Ben said the one thing that could push me forward. “How’d you feel when you saw her with Landon?”
Like someone punched me in the gut.
I feel that same feeling every time I do something unintentionally that ends up hurting her.
And I was so fucking tired of feeling it.