Page 52 of Dare (Fighting Fate)

Adam dropped down onto a crate and raised an eyebrow. “I thought as much. I’m guessing Jess?”

Raising my gaze to the ceiling, I tried to search for a way out of the shit I’d gotten myself into. “I slept with her.”

Adam cocked his head to the side as he studied me. “Was she drunk?”

I rolled my eyes. “No.”

“Did she want it?”

I almost laughed, but it was far from funny. “Yes.”

He shook his head. “I’m failing to see the problem here, Eli.”

Slamming the bottle of water on the workbench, I snarled at him. “The problem is, she wants more and I can’t give her more, and you can’t see why that’s a problem because you’re not me, Adam. I’m not like you and Isaac and Noah. I don’t throw caution to the fucking wind and hope it all turns out. I’ve been working my ass off for the last seven years to get where I am now. I have four fucking months left, and then the bar. I can’t afford to be distracted right now.”

Adam stood, slowly inhaling before letting it out again. “So you keep saying, Brother. But let me tell you something, the cat in the cradle is a real thing, Eli, and the sooner you realize that, the better off you’ll be.”

With that, he turned and strode from the cave, his words echoing inside my head, leaving me numb and more than a little confused.

Chapter 37

Jess

Placing my washed glass on the sink to drain, I grabbed the dish towel and slowly dried my hands. Looking out through the window at the backyard, I let a soft smile touch my lips. Today was Bianca’s seventeenth birthday, and as much as she’d tried to convince Mom not to make a fuss, here we were, making the biggest fuss possible. Unfortunately, Austin hadn’t been able to make it, but he’d sent her a gorgeous silver anklet in his place, so she wasn’t too upset about it.

Leaning back against the counter, I sighed. The sound was a mixture of contentment and sadness, which was completely contradictory, but that was my life lately. As Mom hurried into the kitchen with a large pile of crockery in her arms, I lurched forward and grabbed the ones that looked as though they were on the brink of toppling over before she made it to the sink.

“Thanks, sweet girl,” she said, wiping her brow. Flopping back against the counter, she huffed. “Thank God that’s over. I seriously don’t remember you being this difficult.”

I was about to tell her that was because we never did family birthday events when I was a teenager, but I left it alone.

“Are you okay?” she said, studying me curiously. “You look a little washed out.”

I wiggled my head side to side. “I’m okay. Just your usual boy dramas.”

Her mouth screwed up to the side with sympathy. “Oh, I hear you there. I’m about ready to throttle Norman today. He’s done nothing to help me out all day. I don’t know where he thinks all this shit comes from.” She rolled her eyes. “But I thought you broke up with Wyatt? Who’s giving you trouble?”

I considered her question, trying to decide whether I should tell her or not. I thought it might be nice to get it off my chest a little, and who knew, maybe she might have some advice she could give me. Taking a deep breath, I shrugged. “Yeah, I broke up with Wyatt, but it’s still kind of complicated,” I said, my shoulders drooping dejectedly. “But he’s not really my problem. It’s Eli—”

“Norman!” Mom yelled, her gaze directed outside the kitchen window. “Don’t let the dog eat that! He’ll be sick again!” I watched her push away from the counter, her brow pressed into an irritated scowl. “Lord freaking help me,” she mumbled under her breath, already making her way around the counter. “Sorry, sweetie. I’ll be back in a minute.”

I pressed my lips into a forced smile as she dashed out the door, stomping right up to the dog beside Norman and prying his mouth open to retrieve whatever it was he was eating. I watched and waited, but when I saw Uncle Don hand her a drink as she dropped into a chair with a laugh, I decided my time here was done.

Picking up my bag, I slipped out the back and gave Bianca a warm hug. “Bye, B. Enjoy the rest of your birthday. I’ll catch you again soon.”

She turned her puppy dog eyes on me as soon as I released her. “You’re not staying to sing?”

Ah, I’d forgotten about the singing. Apparently, Mom had hired a karaoke machine for the night and Bianca was having a bunch of her friends sleep over. “Sorry, B. College is a bitch. If I want to graduate this spring, I need to get my shit together.”

She rolled her eyes, but she nodded her understanding. “You still need to talk to Mom about me coming to stay.”

As much as I hadn’t been up for the drama that could come with a hormonal teenager on a sleepover, I thought it could actually be a good thing for me right now. It wasn’t like I had any guys dropping over or anything. “I’ll talk to Mom tomorrow, okay?”

“Thanks, Jess,” she said, kissing me on the cheek. “Love you.”

“Love you too, B.” Glancing over and seeing Mom caught up in a game with Uncle Don, I sighed. “Tell Mom I said bye. I’m not going anywhere near that.”

Bianca giggled, but she agreed before running off to join them.

---