Page 2 of My Return to the Walter Boys (My Life with the Walter Boys #2)

This time was different, though.

When my flight touched down at Denver International Airport, I couldn’t blame those past things for the uncomfortable fluttering inside my chest; New York was no longer the only place I’d ever lived, Katherine had become a mother figure to me, and her twelve kids?

They had taught me that I didn’t always need to be perfect.

Hopefully by then, I could find the words I needed to apologize.

***

I don’t consider myself a violent person.

But when Isaac Walter pulled up to the curb over an hour later with a shit-eating grin plastered across his face like he wasn’t inexcusably late, I couldn’t help but picture my hands wrapped around his throat.

After stowing my suitcase in the bed of the truck, I yanked open the passenger door and threw him the chilliest glare I could muster.

“Where were you? I’ve been waiting for—”

“Hey, Jackie. So good to see you,” he said, flipping down the sun visor to inspect his reflection.

“Before you give me whatever dressing-down I’m sure you rehearsed, I have a question for you.

” He raked his fingers through his jet-black hair before glancing over at me as I climbed inside. “Do you have your driver’s license?”

“No,” I said through gritted teeth. Growing up in the city, I never expected to need one. “Why does that matter?”

“Because if looks could kill, you’d have a body to hide and a very long walk home. Shouldn’t you be thanking me for picking you up?”

“Not when you were supposed to be here ages ago!”

“It’s not my fault your flight was delayed,” he replied, which I grudgingly had to admit was true. Katherine was originally meant to collect me from the airport, but then my morning departure was pushed back to the point where my arrival conflicted with Jordan’s soccer game.

“No, but your aunt promised me you’d be—”

“It doesn’t matter what she promised, because she did it without asking me first,” Isaac exclaimed, a muscle in his jaw twitching. He took a breath, then added in a calmer tone, “I had plans.”

“Okay, fine,” I grumbled as I buckled my seat belt, “but would it have killed you to let me know?”

“Sorry, but you called at a bad time. Well, bad for you. Amazing for me. Let’s just say I was…at the climax of things.”

I narrowed my eyes at his turn of phrase.

Judging by the smug tone of Isaac’s voice, ignorance was bliss, but if my suspicion about his tardiness was true, then I’d be willing to reconsider my stance on nonviolence.

The lacy blue bra abandoned on the floorboard was suspicious but not concrete proof.

While finding underwear in the boys’ shared vehicle wasn’t a frequent occurrence, it wasn’t out of the ordinary either.

What caught my attention, however, was the number of cigarettes in the empty Glacier Gulp cup Isaac was using as an ashtray, enough to make me think another person had been smoking in the truck with him.

Besides, the cab smelled like tobacco and—my face flushed.

Sex. The truck smelled like sex. I didn’t notice it initially since the eau de lung cancer masked the odor, but the distinctive scent of musk and sweat lingered in the cab.

“Oh my God!” I rolled down the window to let in some fresh air. “Were you screwing someone in here?”

“ Moi ?” He splayed a hand against his sternum, brows knit together in exaggerated offense. “That’s a serious accusation. What makes you think that?”

“Because it reeks of sex!”

“Okay, you caught me,” Isaac said, flashing me another violence-inducing grin. “But tell me—how do you know what sex smells like?”

The flush on my face deepened to the point of burning.

While I had zero experience with that , this wasn’t the first time the truck had been used for something other than transportation.

I would never forget the mortification of getting inside one day after school, wrinkling my nose, and asking what the foul smell was.

Danny, Lee, and Nathan had laughed the entire drive home.

“Let me get this straight,” I said, ignoring his question. “You made me wait for more than an hour because you were hooking up with someone?”

Isaac didn’t even attempt to look contrite as he put the truck in drive and carefully navigated back into the hectic Tetris that was the arrivals pickup area. “Like I said, I had plans.”

Taking a deep breath, I willed myself to remain calm.

Spending the summer in New York helped me come to a startling realization—I liked living with the Walters.

As a whole, they were fun-loving, supportive, and always made me laugh.

But while absence did make my heart grow fonder, it also made me forget how irritating some of them could be.

“You’re unbelievable.”

His lips quirked. “So I’ve heard. Repeatedly.”

Even though I wanted to throttle Isaac, it had been a long day of travel, and I didn’t have the energy to put up with more of his typical nauseating innuendos, so I put in my earbuds. Maybe I would bribe one of his younger cousins to help me get revenge once I had a good night’s sleep.

“Aw, come on, Jackie,” he pouted. “Don’t be like that. We haven’t seen each other all summer.”

“Which clearly wasn’t long enough.”

Turning up my music, I pointedly focused my attention out the window and settled in for the drive.

I only had to ignore Isaac for two minutes before he gave up trying to talk to me, and without the distraction, my thoughts wandered back to Cole.

How could they not when the last time I took this road, albeit in the opposite direction, I’d been on cloud nine even though I was soaked to the skin?

My heart stuttered as I recalled our goodbye kiss, but I quickly shoved my feelings down; they’d only make my reunion with Cole more difficult.

By the time we reached Copper Valley, the small mountain town near the Walters’ ranch, my mouth tasted faintly of blood from chewing on my lip. My nerves were quickly forgotten when we drove down Main Street.

“What’s going on?” I asked, looking out the window as workers unloaded barricades on the corners surrounding the town square.

“Oh, are you speaking to me now?”

“That’s subject to further review.” Like whether he continued to be an ass.

“They’re setting up for the block party tomorrow,” he explained. “There’s gonna be cotton candy and face painting and a water balloon toss. Exactly the kind of wholesome bullshit you’re into. I’m sure you’ll have a blast.”

I raised an eyebrow. “And you wonder why I don’t want to talk to you?”

Ten minutes later, Isaac pulled onto a familiar gravel drive.

When we crested the hill and the ranch came into view, a slow smile spread across my face.

Everything looked exactly the same. Backdropped by endless blue sky and green fields was the large farmhouse with welcoming yellow shutters, multiple additions, and a wraparound porch that still needed a paint job.

Katherine was out the front door before my feet hit the ground. “Jackie, you’re here!” she said, pulling me into a tight hug. “Oh honey, I missed you so much. When Isaac told me your flight was delayed again, I felt awful. You must be so exhausted.”

Delayed again ? I narrowed my eyes at Isaac over Katherine’s shoulder, and he smirked.

Ugh, what a lying little shit!

I pulled away from the hug but didn’t bother correcting Katherine. Snitching was a cardinal sin among the Walter siblings, a lesson I learned the hard way, so no matter how much his dishonesty irked me, I refused to make the same mistake twice.

“Thanks, Katherine,” I said as she guided me into the house. “It’s good to be back.”

***

My sister, Lucy, used to love making fun of my obsession with lists.

Blame my type A personality, but making them soothed my soul: daily to-do lists I completed with regimental proficiency, whimsical bucket lists I never looked at again, birthday and Christmas gift ideas lists organized by price, best-of lists used to rank my favorite books and movies.

I even had one to rule them all—a master index list of all my important lists.

A few weeks into summer, when Danny mentioned how homesick he was, I made a list of everything I missed about Colorado so he wouldn’t feel so alone.

At the very top of that list was Nathan’s music.

I loved hearing him play, whether he was in the middle of composing a new song and the notes were clumsy or it was a piece he long ago perfected, because it helped me slow down; no matter what I was doing or how many thoughts were rushing through my head, I always stopped to listen.

So now, when I reached the upstairs landing and was met with a soft guitar melody coming from his room, the stress of the travel day immediately melted. Eager for our reunion, I left my suitcase by the stairs and stepped inside without bothering to knock.

It was a mindless mistake.

Nathan’s bed was empty, but movement on the opposite side of the room captured my attention.

Three whole seconds passed before I processed the scene in front of me, and when I finally did, I drew a sharp breath.

Alex was settled against the headboard, his hands grasping a girl’s slender waist. It took me another second to recognize her long, sleek hair and realize said girl was Kim , Alex’s childhood bestie and one of the few friends I’d made after moving here.

She was straddling his lap, her mouth attached to his neck, and both of them were shirtless.

“Oh my God!” I bumped into Nathan’s desk as I scrambled backward and accidentally knocked a guitar capo to the floor.

Kim’s head jerked up. She squeaked at the sight of me, then rolled off Alex to cover herself.

“Crap, I’m sorry,” I said, squeezing my eye shut to avoid seeing anything else. Without waiting for a response, I fled the room.

“Jackie?” The bed squeaked, and a pair of feet slapped against the hardwood. “Jackie, wait!”