Page 67 of Run to Me

“Nope. I’m out,” Rock declares. “I’ve got a creamy éclair waiting at home.”

Brody waggles his dark golden brows, and Jake’s face twists in faux revulsion.

“You shouldn’t talk about your wife like that, man. It’s disrespectful,” he says.

A flush creeps up Rock’s neck. “I mean the actual pastry, asshole. Don’t mention my wife, or I’ll knock your teeth in.”

Jake smirks. “Please don’t. Tate loves my teeth.”

“Will she like mine?” Brody bares his teeth and dances away before Jake can slap him.

“I’m out of here,” Trevor announces. He tucks his yoga mat under an arm and shakes his head at the three stooges. “Javier, it’s been a dream.” Javi flips him off. “Jenny, come by the house later.”

“Don’t call me Jenny.” I glare at him, and he chuckles as he saunters away.

Brody and Rock stand around like they’re waiting for permission to leave, which Jake grants them.

He quirks a brow at Rock. “Don’t you have something creamy to see to?”

Brody mutters, “I wish,” as he trudges toward the gate with his head hung low.

Once he vanishes, Rock puts aside the jokes and jerks his chin in Brody’s direction. “Any of you know what’s going on with him? He won’t open up to me.”

“No clue, man. He’s different,” Jake says, his concerned gaze fixed on the gate. The three of them may act like dummies, but they care about each other.

“Because of Ainsley.” When they turn to me with questioning looks, I shrug. “We all know he’s interested in her. He follows her around like a puppy.”

The pot and kettle comparison isn’t lost on me. I’m not ashamed to admit I’ll follow Maisy anywhere.

Rock says, “He brought her to our house a while back, but we haven’t seen them together since. I thought he was being nice to the new girl.”

Jake rubs a palm along his stubbled jaw. “What about the other changes, like the haircut and the moodiness? And has anyone seen him with a woman lately?”

“It’s been a minute,” Rock says. The space between his ginger brows cinches in thought. “In fact, I can’t think of the last time⁠—”

“Bro, you coming?” Brody shouts from the front yard. “You’re my ride, Rocky Road!”

“Shit. I should go.” Rock claps Jake on the back. “To be continued. Later, fellas. And Javi.”

Javi waves with a middle finger. He’s waiting patiently on the sidelines for the Maisy discussion. Part of me wants him here for support in case Jake pressures me to open up about her. Another part wants him to leave so he doesn’t learn how badly she has me spinning out again.

The three of us head inside the house, and I toss each of them a water bottle from the fridge before we settle in the living room. I take the recliner, and Jake sits on the end of the couch nearest to me. With an ankle resting on one knee, he’s relaxed. Unlike me.

“Talk,” I say.

“Explain to me why my brother, my best man, missed his own speech at my wedding because he disappeared with Maisy Donovan. Maisy, Jensen? Why? How long? And again, why?”

I refuse to look at Javi, who’s at the other end of the couch. His brown tunic blends in with the leather, like he’s a fly on the wall. Every ounce of his judgment penetrates my skin, so I keep my inscrutable eyes on Jake.

“We had some issues to work out,” I say.

“Issues.”

“You wouldn’t understand.”

“Try me,” he says without breaking eye contact. He enjoys the game of finding out who will look away first.

I sigh, ceding the loss, and rub my temples as I slouch in my chair. “It’s complicated.”