Page 11 of Fourth Wheel

Iusemykeyto let myself in the front door, then call out his name to make my presence known so I don’t startle him this late at night.

“Jake!”

I don’t have to wander far—he’s still perched at the end of the bar, focused on his laptop.

He gives me a nod as I approach, then holds a finger up in my direction, his gaze shifting from the computer screen to the phone in his other hand.

“Dammit, Jake. I need to talk to younow.”

I don’t want to be here any longer than I have to be. I just need to know I’m not going crazy before I take my sorry ass home and put this whole night to rest.

“Justhold on,” he grits out without looking up from his phone.

I grip the edge of the bar to stop myself from pacing as he types out a message and sends it off before finally giving me his full attention.

“I wasn’t trying to brush you off, bro. I just had to let Cory know I might be later than planned.”

Okay, fair. But I need answers. And I’m fading fast. I shift closer and lean my forearms on the back of a barstool rather than take a seat beside him.

“That girl tonight… that girl was Wheeler’s sister.”

I don’t pose it as a question. I’m honestly embarrassed I didn’t connect the dots sooner.

Jake runs a hand through his hair and looks at me like I’m dense. “Um, yes. You heard me call her Fourth Wheel, didn’t you?”

I hang my head in shame. I heard it. I even wondered what it meant. But I never dreamed the “Wheel” stood for Wheeler.

I drop my chin to my chest and shake my head, eventually glancing up at my friend when he clears his throat.

“I had no idea she was Rhett’s sister.”

Jake’s eyes grow wide as he stares at me, unblinking, then his face morphs from shock to confusion before it finally settles on disbelief.

“How have you never met Maddie?”

Hearing her name spoken out loud for the first time breaks something inside me. I’m at war with how I feel right now—I’m at war with how shemademe feel tonight.

“Fuck. I don’t know,” I snap. “I’ve been a little busy picking up the pieces of my brother’s shattered heart after he was fucking destroyed by that girl’s family last year. I guess I haven’t had time to study the Wheeler family tree.”

Jake cocks one eyebrow and regards me, but he holds his tongue. Fielding and his infatuation with Maddie’s sister-in-law aren’t topics we talk about, and for good reason. The whole thing was a mess, and a lot of people got hurt because of it.

One person isstillhurting because of it.

My brother’s face flashes in my mind, and guilt rolls through me when I think about what almost happened tonight. How Maddieknewwho I was, yet she pursued me anyway…

I shake my head and blow out a long breath. “I’m sorry, man. This whole night’s got me all twisted up. I didn’t mean to take it out on you. I just can’t believe she almost got me like that. I can’t fucking believe I almost…”

“You’re good,” Jake reassures me. “Between you and me, I’mnotsurprised she tried to pull something. Maddie’s a piece of work. She’salwaysbeen a troublemaker, yet shealwaysgets away with it. But I am surprised you’ve never met her. You and Rhett played lacrosse together all four years at Arch, right? I’m sure she was at those games.”

I nod absentmindedly as I try to recall any memory I might have of the girl I almost hooked up with tonight.

“Wait,” I mutter as information clicks into place. “You told me not to serve her. I assumed she was younger than us, but is she actually… Fuck. She’s underage, isn’t she?”

Jake squints one eye and screws up his face in a grimace.

“Maddie’s twenty.”

For fuck’s sake.