Page 48 of The Relationship Mechanic

“Anyway, it doesn’t matter anymore,” Jessica said looking down at the sheets. “Vini and I decided not to see each other anymore.”

“What?” Grace asked in clear surprise. “Why not? I thought you guys were having fun.”

Jessica sighed. “Yes, well, fun isn’t all there is. We wanted two different things, and that made it impossible for us to continue.”

“Aw, Jess. Please don’t tell me you broke it off because you’re leaving. Lots of people do long-distance relationships, especially with the ease of technology these days. You two could easily keep in touch.”

That was a thought that Jessica hadn’t even considered, but it still didn’t matter. She wasn’t the one who’d said they could go no further. She wasn’t the one who had closed the door. “Vini broke up with me.” She turned meeting Grace’s gaze. “She was the one who said we shouldn’t see one another anymore.”

Grace’s mouth opened, but no sound came out. She looked a lot like a fish, and if not for how damn depressed Jessica felt, she would have laughed. Or maybe thrown something at Grace to see if she could get it to land in her gaping mouth.

“What? Why?”

Because I can’t or, rather, won’t give her what she wants.

“Because it just won’t work, and I respect Vini too much to try to change her mind.”

Grace nodded in understanding. “Oh, well then, I’m sorry it didn’t work out how you had hoped.”

“Yeah, me too.” Jessica truly was upset to be walking away.

“You need to get up. You can’t just lie in bed all day feeling sad.” Grace walked over to Jessica and leaned down taking one of her hands. “And you need to eat. You can’t starve yourself.”

“I can if I want.” It was a childish answer, but Jessica didn’t feel like being an adult right now. Still, she let herself be pulled up from the bed. She was still salty about her and Grace’s conversation last night, but she had gone to bed without eating and she was hungry. “Fine.”

“Good girl.”

Jessica scowled but followed along. They parted at the steps with Grace running back to her room to finish getting ready and Jessica continuing down the stairs. When she got to the kitchen and saw Ava there, she almost turned around and made a beeline right back up the steps. She was not about to deal with this shit so early in the damn morning. Instead, she did what she always did when she was uncomfortable: held her head high and pretended she was unbothered.

“Oh, hello, Ava.” Jessica was relieved to have her voice sound so steady, and she walked over to the stove to see a plate set out. She picked it up and walked over to the dining table, ignoring Ava completely where she sat at the kitchen island. Jessica could feel those dark brown eyes on her, but she didn’t look up.

They sat together in silence save a few creaks from the upstairs floorboards. Jessica would have thought it was a setup if not for knowing how long it took Grace to get ready in the morning. She sedately ate her breakfast, not willing to look scared in front of Ava.

“I’m sorry.”

Jessica crunched down on a piece of bacon and almost choked on it. She coughed softly into her hand before finally turning toward Ava. “Excuse me?”

Ava’s eyes narrowed, but she repeated herself. “I said I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gone off on you and Vini at the shop. What she does or who she does is none of my business.”

Jessica frowned, wondering if this was a trick. She didn’t trust Ava, especially since there were no witnesses. Still, she knew whatever she said would no doubt get back to Vini, and she didn’t want to cause more trouble for her than she already had.

“I accept your apology. Thank you.” Ava nodded curtly, and Jessica hoped that would be the end of it. Her hopes were dashed when Ava spoke up again.

“Grace told me...about the scandal with your mom’s friends.” Jessica clenched her jaw at Ava’s confession. She wasn’t surprised, but it still irked her to know that Grace had talked about it. If she hadn’t, maybe none of this would have happened. “I shouldn’t have let that cloud my opinion of you before meeting you. It’s just hard to see my baby sister growing up and knowing that I can’t really protect her anymore.”

Weirdly enough, as a fellow sibling, Jessica could understand. There were a few times when Jason had been interested in people she didn’t think were good for him. She hadn’t gone as far as Ava, but she had had to catch herself from being overbearing about her advice to him.

“I can see how that would be hard,” Jessica admitted. She wasn’t going to give Ava a complete pass, though. She wasn’t that nice of a person. “Vini is smart, though. I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”

Ava nodded. “True. She’s probably the smartest of all of us,” she said with a soft smile, and again Jessica found herself agreeing. “Listen, I know we will probably never be friends, but I just don’t want to see Vini get hurt.”

“Neither do I.”

“I know that now. I really do,” Ava insisted. “But I have to ask you, sister to sister, if you think you really can’t be with Vini and love her the way she deserves to be loved, please just let her go.”

The sincerity in Ava’s voice almost cut deeper than her words. Jessica could hear the love there, the type of love that meant you would go to hell and back to make sure that person was okay. She empathized with it. She, too, would do anything to make sure Vini didn’t get hurt.

Jessica didn’t have a chance to reply. Grace walked into the kitchen, and Ava immediately jumped up to fuss with her clothing. Watching them joke and smile made the ache in Jessica that much more pronounced, and she knew what she had to do.

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