Page 70

I hum a response and don’t even really bother to look in his direction.

“I’ll see you guys… wow, won’t be until Tuesday. Have a good Thanksgiving,” Jesse says.

“You too,” I say with a polite smile.

“You doing something with the family?” Will asks.

“Yeah, all the relatives are coming out to the farm for the weekend and Mom’s cooking a turkey. The whole shebang,” Jesse sighs. “I suppose you guys are staying close to home?”

“Mm, no,” Will says. He pauses to slurp his coffee, then sets the plastic cup on the counter. “We’re going away.”

“You’re… going away?” Jesse says, clearly confused.

“Yeah,” I chuckle. “We rented a place in the mountains a couple of hours from here. Just us two for four whole days before coming back to reality.”

“You didn’t tell me you’re going away,” Jesse says quieter.

“Shit, dude. I guess I forgot. We kinda decided last minute since we have nothing else going on, anyway.” Will laughs. “It’s okay to be jealous. I would be, too.”

“Yeah,” Jesse nervously laughs along. “Fuck you both. I’ll be trapped with over a dozen people I only see a couple of times a year, and every single one has an opinion about my sex life.”

“Sometimes being the black sheep of the family instead of the good son has perks,” Will teases.

“Well, have a good holiday and I’ll be seeing you soon.” Jesse waves and leaves.

“I better head out, too,” I say. “I’m going to get everything packed tonight, so tomorrow we can just grab our coffee and go.”

“You’re the best.”

Will gives me a kiss goodbye and I run a bunch of last-minute errands before coming home right before dinner. I park in front of my house, and Will should be home soon also since the store’s closing early. Keys in hand, I shove my door open. This isn’t thekind of area where people lock their doors. I don’t really believe in that, except it looks worse to be the one weirdo who doesn’t trust their neighbors. And besides, what the fuck do I have to be afraid of?

As soon as I close the door behind me, and while my keys are still in my hand, a click gets my attention. Jesse’s standing off to the side in my living area.

“What are you doing in my house?” I ask.

“You know,” Jesse says.

“I’m calling Will.” The second I shift to grab my phone in my pocket, he raises his arm. He really has some nerve to draw a gun on me in my own house. Rude.

“Do you think I’m fucking stupid?” Jesse hisses.

A bit, yeah. Not going to say that, though.

“Iknowyou did something to Riley. You looked at that kid like he was shit under your shoe, and you expect me to believe after one night of being all buddy-buddy with you, he mysteriously dropped off the face of the planet?”

“Of course, I didn’t like him. That was kind of the point of me taking him out to meet people,” I say. “He needed a boyfriend, and I didn’t want him to keep hitting on mine in the meantime.”

“Right. And you took care of that, I’m sure.”

“Jesse, you’re being paranoid,” I laugh.

“Maybe I am. All I know is,someone’sbeen picking off guys around here over the last year. And if you expect me to sit back and let you take my friend to the middle of nowhere for four days when the last guy you went out with is still missing, you must think I’m fucking stupid.”

Fuck. Fuck. FUCK. Time to dig deep. I swallow hard repeatedly and blink, letting my eyes water until the corners sting. After I let out that first sob, Jesse drops his arm ever so slightly.

“I’m sorry,” I choke.

“You did do something, didn’t you?” Jesse says.