In Love with My Brother's Best Friend: Complete Box Set (25 page)

“
Tiny,”
he said.

“
What?”

“
I'll
take a vacation. I'll go for a whole week and not touch one bit of
work,” he said.

“
That
sounds good,” I said.

“
If
you go with me,” he added.

“
I
can't do that,” I said.

“
Why
not?” he asked.

“
I
have to work,” I said.

“
We'll
go the week before you go back to work at the school. You can quit
your other job one week earlier. That way it won't interfere with
either job.”

“
I'm
not quitting my job at the restaurant, Jackie. I work there all year
long,” I said.

“
How?”
he asked.

“
I
work there at night and when they need me,” I said.

“
You
work two jobs during the school year?” he asked.

“
Of
course I do,” I said. “I teach because I love it. I work
at the restaurant so I can try and save up money. I don't want to
live in an apartment forever. I want to be able to buy a house
without payments one day.”

He
was quiet for a minute. I thought maybe our call had been lost.

“
Are
you still there?” I asked.

“
Yes,”
he said.

Something
had changed, and I wasn't sure why.

“
Maybe
I'll just come and stay with you for a week then,” he said. “I
could meet your friends and see how the new Tina lives.”

“
Very
funny,” I said with a laugh. “I think you'd be sadly
disappointed.”

“
That's
not possible,” he said so low I wasn't positive I'd heard him
correctly.

We
moved on to talk about normal life. He never mentioned being home,
but I could hear him moving around. I also heard the beep of his car
locks. Neither of us mentioned hanging up.

We
ended up talking for over three hours. The thought of letting him go
and not hearing his voice anymore made me sad. I knew he had work to
do, so I told him I was going to bed. It was one of the hardest
things I'd done in a long time.

When
I got home from work the next day, I found the most beautiful flower
arrangement sitting outside my apartment door. It put a huge smile on
my face and wiped away the sad feelings I had through the day. The
card attached said “I hope you have a great week, Tiny.”
It didn't need a signature. He was the only one that had ever been
allowed to call me that. As soon as I put them on display on my
counter, I pulled out my phone and took a picture. My apartment would
smell so good in no time. I loved the smell of fresh flowers. I
always had.

Me:
Thank you so much, Jackie. They made my day.

Jackson:
Anything for you, Tiny.

Two
minutes later my phone rang. I knew it was him when I answered it. He
said he'd been in a meeting all day and had just gotten home. I
wanted to know about his job and his life. I wondered what his house
looked like and what kind of car he drove. There were so many things
I couldn't help but think about. What was Jackson's life like? My
entire family knew everything about him. He knew all about their
lives as well. I knew none of it. I really did miss all of them, even
my brother. I cared about my friends and loved Chris, but it just
wasn't the same in New York. Being back in Florida reminded me of
what I was missing.

We
talked while we ate. He stopped on his way home to pick up dinner,
and I heated up a frozen meal. I listened to him complain that I
wasn't eating healthy, so I complained about how many hours he was
working. I knew when we hung up he was going to do more work, but a
part of me didn't want to let him go. He talked to me while I got
ready for bed. I still didn't want to let him hand up, and he didn't
mention it.

I
felt horrible when I opened my eyes. Light was shining through the
window, and my phone was on my bed next to me. I didn't remember
hanging up. Oh shit, I thought. I fell asleep while he was talking.
How embarrassing was that? Would he ever let that one go? Hopefully I
didn't say anything he could use against me. That would have been
horrible. There was a message from him, and I was afraid to open it.

Jackson:
I hope you slept well. You sound so cute when you snore.

Me:
I do not snore. There is no way you would have listened long enough
to find out.

Jackson:
I put my phone on speaker while I did my work. You totally snore,
Tiny. That's okay, I still love you.

I
sat staring at my phone for the longest time. What did he mean? Maybe
he meant like a sister. My family was his family. That was what he
meant, right? I wasn't sure what to say back to that. I didn't want
to be weird about it. How could I change the subject, I wondered?
Neither of us did anything, and my phone didn't ring. Part of me was
so worried about what one of us was going to say. The other part was
so afraid we'd both run at that moment and never look back. I put my
phone down and walked away from it.

When
I went back to get my phone, he hadn't sent another message. I wasn't
about to call Chris and ask him what I should do. Jackson wouldn't
want him to know that much of our business. I couldn't ask Jen or
Rachel. They didn't know about Jackson like that. There was only one
person I could talk to about him.

“
Tina,”
my mom yelled in surprise when she answered the phone.

“
Hey,
mom,” I said.

“
I
knew you'd be calling soon,” she said.

“
Really?”
I asked.

“
I
sure did, honey,” she said. “How's Jackson?”

We
both burst into laughter.

“
I
miss you, mom,” I said.

“
I
miss you too, Tina,” she said. “I knew after seeing poor
Jackson Sunday that you'd be calling soon.”

“
I
don't know what to do,” I said. “I should never have come
home, mom. He said he told you we were talking.”

“
He
did,” she said. “How's that going? Have you actually let
him call you yet?”

“
He
told you that?” I asked.

“
Yes,”
she said. “Jackson is a good man, Tina. You've changed so much
since you left. He has too. I'm very proud of him. Maybe you should
give him a chance.”

“
I'm
not so sure about that,” I said. “I've liked him since I
was young. I'd get so mad seeing him with girls in school. He always
thought of me as Tim's sister. When he left for college, I thought it
was going to be easier, but I missed him so much. I didn't even know
that he was threatening boys that tried to talk to me. I thought it
was Tim doing that. It was Jackson. When I saw him again, I felt such
a connection to him. We were only together once, mom. I can't believe
I'm telling you this. That one time has stuck with me forever. I
always thought it was because he was my first. I don't think that
anymore. There's something about him. I need to stop talking to him,
mom. He's going to hurt me if I don't.”

“
Hold
on,” she said. “You need to think about this, Tina. He's
not that same guy from high school. Do you care about him?”

“
Yes,”
I said without even thinking about it. “I always have. We've
only been talking for a little over a week. He's made me feel more
than anyone I have ever been with at all. I don't want to go to bed
at night because I'll have to stop messaging him. We talked on the
phone Sunday and yesterday. Just the sound of his voice goes straight
to my heart. I've built walls the last ten years to keep everyone
out. I can't let him break them down. He'll break my heart just like
he did before. He's probably laughing right now. He sent a text that
said I snored. Then it said “that's okay, I still love you.”
I bet he's showing it to the guys he works with and laughing that I
haven't said anything back yet.”

“
Tina,”
she snapped. “Knock it off right now. That man cares about you.
He's probably freaking out that he typed it. You did not see the man
at my kitchen table on Sunday. It wasn't a man that's laughing about
hurting you. The two of you need to snap out of this shit.”

“
Mom,”
I yelped.

“
I
mean it,” she said. “You two need to wake up. He knows
Tim is pissed at him. Jackson is being forced to choose between his
best friend and you. His parents are still idiots after everything
he's done to prove himself. You need to cut him come slack. I'm not
on his side or yours, but you two are going to screw up something
that could be amazing. It's not your brother's place to decide who
either of you should be with. That boy needs to live his own life and
leave the two of you alone. I couldn't believe you and Jackson grew
apart. I definitely didn't see it coming. I honestly thought you two
were going to be together. I had no idea your brother had his nose in
your business like that. You are adults. You need to think hard and
long before you decide to cut that man off. I used to watch you kids
when you were teenagers, and I watched you both the weekend of the
wedding. You need to think about what you really want. Should you
push him away just so you don't get hurt? What if he wouldn't hurt
you in the first place? Are you willing to give up what could
possibly be just to make sure it doesn't happen? You've been running
for ten years, Tina. Has it been worth it?”

I
sat silently. She didn't say another word. After about three minutes,
she finally spoke.

“
Are
you happy, Tina?” she asked.

“
What?”
I said.

“
You
moved away and have built a life for yourself. Are you happy?”

“
No,”
I said. “I have a good job. I love the kids. I have a few good
friends. Only one of them knows the real me. He doesn't even know
everything. It's just me. You all have each other. As much as I want
to kick Tim's ass, I even miss him.”

“
You
need to be happy, honey. You need to think about what makes you
happy.”

“
Talking
to Jackson makes me happy, mom. That's what scares me,” I
confessed.

“
Take
some time to think about what you really want before you do anything.
Promise me that,” she said.

“
I
promise,” I said.

“
I
love you, Tina,” she said.

“
I
love you, mom.”

I
sat and thought about what she'd said. How did she know I liked him
all those years, I wondered? Maybe she was right. I'd found a few
good friends, but I wasn't happy. I missed my family so much. It was
hard being away from them all the time. Would it be better to be
alone forever just so I didn't risk getting hurt? What if he did
break my heart? Just the thought of not talking to him was crushing
me. Could Jackson be the one? He'd messed with me so much growing up,
but he'd also watched over me from so many miles away. I wasn't sure
what I was supposed to do.

My
phone rang a few minutes later. I answered it, and he went on like
nothing had happened. Maybe he hadn't realized what he'd done. Maybe
he thought I didn't notice. Maybe he knew exactly what he'd done. No
matter what it was, I wasn't going to let him see my reaction to it.
He told me he'd been in a meeting that was breaking for lunch. I
joked about how he'd given up his lunch time to hear my sweet voice.
I could tell he wasn't used to women talking to him the way I did by
the way he'd stop for a second before saying anything. The more it
happened, the more I did it. He was so much fun to mess with. I told
him I'd let him go so his boss didn't make an example out of him. He
laughed. I loved that sound. He had to sexiest laugh I'd ever heard.
It was something I wanted to hear as often as possible.