Page 71

Scottie cocked his head to the side. "Card carrying member. You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us."

"You don't even know me all that well." A few conversations on Friday nights were all we had so far.

It was, admittedly, hard to get to know Jackson's friends when we spent all our time at the cabin.

"Huk's my brother. You mean something to him. You meana lotto him. That means you mean a lot to us," Scottie said quietly. "He's been smitten since the day he met you. And I've never seen him smitten before. I don't think I've even said the word smitten before in my life."

Mackenzie chuckled. "It's that romance you read last week. You've been saying funny things for days."

Scottie shrugged. "It was a damn good book."

"And Huk really does care about you," Mackenzie said.

I was overwhelmed in the best way possible. "I like him a lot too."

"Good. Then it will all work out in the end. Whether a miracle happens and the two of you live happily ever after here in Lost Creek, or you wander the world together, all happy and in love."

In love.I knew I was falling, but to hear that word was a lot.

"As long as you make sure he comes home to visit us more often. I can't keep living like this. It's like I'm missing a hand or something," Scottie grumbled. "I miss the big dumb asshole."

"It sounds like I need to make sure we leave the cabin more." Jackson needed his friends as much as they needed him.

Mackenzie brightened. "We'd love to see more of you."

"Then we'll make it happen."

If we survived the weekend.

Twenty-Two

Jackson

There's a lot less drama when you're not here

"Whatcha reading?"Karis dug the toe of her boot into mine.

I looked up and blinked back to this world. "Uh, it's Marley's book actually." Sex was intimate, but knowing someone’s secret identity, being one of the only people on the planet they trusted with that information, was more than intimate. It was sacred.

Karis waved for me to hold it up. "Um, big brother, do you know who you're dating?" She blinked several times at the cover, her eyes getting rounder and rounder.

That's weird."I'm dating Aurora Marley Tranquill. A.M. Quill." I tapped the pen name on the cover.

Karis ran her hand down her face and spun in a slow circle. "Oh my god, it was right in our faces the whole time. It's not even subtle if you know her whole name."

I stuck my bookmark between the pages, closed the book and set it aside. "What is going on?" I really didn't like the sinking feeling in my gut.

She waved her hand at me. "Do you have any idea how famous your lady friend is?"

I shrugged. "I know she has some intense fans. And clearly she's known in the book world."

"Marley is one of the most famous authors on the planet, you numb nuts. That book you're reading?Everyonehas read it. Walk in any bookstore and it's on the display. People cosplay those characters. They write fan fiction. They writesongsabout it."

That sinking feeling plummeted into a blackhole.

My life is the very definition of complicated.

You'll be jumping right into the circus.