Fight Me(11)

“Wait, you went over there?” Avery turns towards Maddox now. “I thought you were calling James?”

“I did, but James was uptown at Jack’s. Jake was next on the list,” Maddox defends.

“Yeah, but don’t you and Erin have bad history?” Avery asks as she points a finger in my direction.

“Not so much a history as we went to school together for a little bit.”

Maddox snorts and says, “Yeah a history that ended with her leaving school and this town after you humiliated her in front of the whole school.” I glare at my best friend for bringing it up in front of my sister.

“I heard all about what you did, Jake. You were horribly mean to her. I’m surprised she’s even talking to you.”

“Oh, she’s not. She hates that I’m even around her. But that’s kind of the fun part. She gets all flustered and angry at me. It’s actually kind of hot,” I say with a smirk as I finish my coffee.

“Well, I think you may have actually met your match, Jake Stevens. I can’t wait to see her bring you to your knees,” Avery says with a huge smile spread across her face.

“Anyway, let’s get this show on the road. Where’s Nate?” I ask as I turn to rinse my cup in the sink.

“Right here,” I hear as Nate walks through the front door. He goes over to Brooklyn and gives her a big hug before joining us in the kitchen. “What did I miss?”

“Oh, Jake is in love with someone who wants nothing to do with him. It’s awesome,” Avery spits out before I can say anything. Nate’s eyebrow rises to the ceiling and a big smug smile crosses his face.

“Really?”

“No. Avery’s being dramatic. I am not in love with anyone nor do I want to be.”

“The best part about love, Jake, is that you don’t get to pick when it happens. It just does,” Avery replies with another big smile across her face. She walks over to Maddox and puts her arm around his waist; his arm goes protectively around her shoulders.

“Whatever, Avery. I’m not in love. End of story.”

“Who are we talking about here?” Nate inquires.

“Erin Anderson,” Maddox replies.

“Oh, you mean the hot new librarian? The guys at the fire house were talking about how smoking’ hot she is. Plus, I hear she’s single.” My ears start to burn and I can’t stop the anger that starts to well up in my chest. I want to walk over and punch my fucking brother right now.

“She is single from what I’ve gathered. You should give her a call sometime, Nate,” Maddox throws out there with a huge smile. Maddox is just trying to piss me off now, and I try to not respond. I don’t want to give him the satisfaction of seeing me squirm. But, when I look over at Nate - who is smiling at Maddox and says, “Maybe I’ll do that.” – I can’t stop the words from flying from my lips.

“Don’t you dare. If anyone is calling Erin, it’s going to be me,” I respond in a low, menacing growl.

All three of them are looking at me with huge self-righteous smiles on their faces. “Well, that didn’t take him long to admit,” Avery says as she goes about cleaning up the coffee mess and packing it all up in the final box.

“Shut the hell up, all of you. We have boxes to move. Let’s get going.” I turn to walk in the living room, leaving the three of them laughing at me behind my back. Assholes.



*****



I am flat out exhausted come three o’clock. After we move the very last box, the very last piece of furniture to Maddox and Avery’s new house, I’m ready to go home and grab a beer. I pride myself on my physical appearance, running several times a week and playing softball when I can during the summer, but that move was brutal. Even basic training in the military didn’t seem to have anything on that move. Remind me to never offer to help someone who has stairs ever again.

Mom cooked a quick meal for all of us over at Avery’s new place, but before I can kick back and relax, I have to run to the hardware store and fix Erin’s sink.

After making the quick stop at Peterson Hardware, I set out toward Erin’s house. When I pull in, I don’t see her car anywhere. When I go up and knock, it goes unanswered. Where in the hell is she? She knows I’m coming over.

Thirty minutes later, her little red Volkswagen Bug pulls up behind my truck.

“Where have you been?” I ask before she’s even out of the car.

“Uh, I had stuff to do at the library today.”

“Well, I told you I was going to stop by and fix your sink,” I say as she starts to open her front door.

“Well, you never told me what time you were coming over. I had stuff to do. I’m not just going to sit here and wait around for you all day.” She throws the door open and sets her purse and keys down on the entry table, tossing her coat over the top of her purse.