Page 91 of The Other Guy

JACK

“What’s up?”

“You mean since we talked this afternoon?” I joke.

“Drew wasn’t on the phone with us. Give us the update.”

“On what?” I ask, taking a large swig of my beer.

We’re settled around a table at The Flying Goat, a cool little bar and grill in Liberty. We sat down about ten minutes ago and ordered two different kind of boneless wings, a big platter of cheese fries, and a pitcher of beer.

“Sierra,” Drew says with a raise of his eyebrows. “Your dad told Lily and me that he likes her. Likes the way you are with her. She came into Balance yesterday. Harper got a look at her.”

“What?”

Drew nods and leans forward a little bit. “Yeah. So now Harper’s seen her because she waited on them, which means Aunt Tess and Uncle Barrett are ticked that they haven’t gotten a look at the first girl who finally got you to take a second look in so long no one can even remember.”

“That’s not entirely true,” Grady adds with a wince.

“What do you mean?” I ask, fearing the worst.

“Harper may or may not have taken a quick picture of her when she didn’t realize it.”

I groan and drop my head to the table. “I hate you all.” I raise my head and glare at Drew and Grady who are more friends than family. “Why? Why can’t you just let anyone in our family have their peace?”

Two pair of eyes stare back at me, blinking but not giving me any answers.

“I’m serious. What would she have thought if she’d seen some random waitress taking her picture? It’s a huge invasion of privacy and totally unacceptable. I have no idea when this family took it upon themselves to make every single minute of our days everyone’s business? I don’t even know if Sierra and I are going to turn into something or if we’ll remain only friends for the rest of our lives. And you know what? Having you all in our faces constantly isn’t going to help. So do me a favor, since everyone likes to share news so much, send a quick text and tell everyone to back off. Let me be. Let Sierra be. And if I hear of anyone contacting her or trying to find out any information before she or I are ready to share it, well, I have secrets of yours to share, too.”

Drew and Grady sit quietly for a few seconds before Grady clears his throat. “Jack, Harper didn’t mean anything by it. Neither did your dad. We’re just…”

“Happy for me. I know. That’s the only reason I’m not sending out the text myself to let them know just how shitty their actions are. I know it doesn’t seem like a big deal to you guys because you’re all used to how nosy this family is. But think of it from a newcomer’s point of view. People constantly talking about her? Not cool.”

Their chins drop along with their shoulders. “I’m beginning to see what you mean. I’m sorry, too.”

“You didn’t do anything, Drew.”

“Didn’t stop it, though. You’re right, I’m used to it but that’s not an excuse.”

“Same, Jack. I’m sorry. We’ll take care of it and make sure the family backs off a little. I can’t promise they’ll ignore the fact that you’re dating someone, but we’ll make sure you and Sierra have space to figure out what you want together.”

“Thanks. Sorry for snapping.”

Grady takes a drink of beer then lifts his glass in my direction. “You really like her, I get it. You’re afraid of something like this messing it up before you even begin.”

“Yeah,” I agree.

“For what it’s worth, from the picture we saw, she’s beautiful.”

“Now that’s something I can agree with you on.”

The guys smile and the mood lightens. Our waitress delivers our appetizers and we order another pitcher of beer. I don’t hesitate to dive in, loading up my plate.

“You’re eating fried food now,” Grady teases.

“I’ve always eaten fried food.”

Drew shakes his head. “Not for a while, you haven’t. You’re all about clean eating constantly.”

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