Can't Let You Go: A Wheeler Brothers Novel (29 page)

He snuffs out his cigarette in the ashtray that's on the counter. "I think it's time you leave, boy." He peers around me to Jen. "But leave your little girlfriend behind." He gets that sick grin again. "I'd like to get to know her better."

Before I can even think, I lurch forward and punch him.

"Bryce!" Jen yells. "No!"

Mark is on the ground, his hand covering his bloody nose. "What the fuck?"

"Bryce, you get out of here right now!" Rita pushes on my chest but I remain where I am, looking down at Mark.

"You even think about Jen like that ever again and I'll be back to finish the job." I take Jen's hand and grab her coat off the chair and start walking to the door.

"Bryce, wait," Jen says. "I can't keep up."

"I have to get out of here," I say, my blood pumping hard. I'm so pissed right now. I want to go beat that guy unconscious.

We get in the truck and I peel out of the driveway, wanting to get the hell away from that place as fast as possible.

"Bryce, slow down," Jen says. "The roads are wet. We could get in an accident. And put your seatbelt on."

I slow down a little and yank my seatbelt over my body. Jen takes it from me and clicks it in place.

"I'm sorry about that," she says. "I didn't know he'd be there."

"Jen, this is what I keep trying to tell you. Your mom is trouble and so are the people she hangs out with. You've gotta get some distance from her, and stop going over there."

"She didn't do anything. It was Mark. He's the one causing trouble."

"And your mom didn't do anything about it. That guy was basically saying he wanted to fuck you, and your mom just stood there, not saying anything."

"My mom is used to guys talking that way. She didn't think anything of it."

"She knows it's wrong. And talk about a lack of respect. That guy's supposed to be dating your mom but then he hits on you right in front of her."

"She needs to dump him."

"Yeah. But then she'll find another guy just like him."
 

"I know," she says, closing her eyes. She does her anti-stress breathing and I reach over and hold her hand. She takes another deep breath, then opens her eyes again. "Are we going home?"

"Yeah. Unless you want to go somewhere."

"I'd rather go home. Get into bed." She smiles.

I smile back. "Good idea."

"I meant so we could play hockey."

"Uh-huh. Sure you did." I squeeze her hand. "You okay?"

She nods. "I think so."

But I know she's not. I can feel it. She's still upset but trying to hide it. It usually takes a few hours for her to de-stress after being with her mom, or sometimes several days, depending on the mood Rita's in when Jen visits.

Back at my apartment, I put our coats away, then take Jen to the couch to sit down. "Can you do something for me?"

"What?" she asks.

"Can you go this whole week without talking to your mom or going over there?"

"I don't know. If I don't answer her calls, she'll keep calling or she'll show up here."

"Then will you at least agree to not go over there? You're supposed to be relaxing this week, having fun. And going over there just now was neither one of those things."

"I know." She nods. "Okay. I won't go over there."

"Shit." I chuckle. "That was easy. As long as you're in an agreeable mood, what else should I ask for?" I pause. "How about quitting one of your jobs?"

"No. I can't agree to that, although I'm probably fired from the restaurant so you might get your wish after all."

"Have you heard from them?"

"Not yet. Maybe I'll call Jerry tomorrow." She sighs. "But I dread doing it. I don't want to talk to him."

"Then don't. Just take a week off from all the stuff that stresses you out and let's just...be together."

She smiles. "That sounds really good."

"Better than a spring break trip to Cancun?" I ask kiddingly.

"Actually, yeah. It does." She kisses me. "I'd rather be here with you."

I feel the same way about her. I'd take a week with Jen over anything else. And I'd like a lot more than a week. Now that we're together like this, all I want is to be with her. Not just for a few weeks, or a few months. But forever.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Jen

It's Friday and I just got a message from my building manager saying the heat is fixed, but I'm not ready to go back there. I'd rather stay here with Bryce, and I think he wants that too.

"What are you doing?" he asks, sitting next to me on the couch.

"Looking for jobs." I click on my laptop.

"See anything good?" He looks at my screen.

"This one is for a job in Evanston. The pay is really bad but at least I'd get experience."

"Would you like working there?"

"Honestly? No. It's an insurance company, which I have no interest in. But I can't be picky."

"Why not? Why pick a job you're going to hate?"

"That's just how it is when you're starting out. You have to take whatever job you can find that will give you a paycheck and experience. The problem is, I'd have to work there for at least a year before going somewhere else so that I don't look like someone who can't keep a job."

"So you'd have to work at a job you don't like for a year? Jen, it's not worth it. Just find something else. Don't even apply for that one. Is there anything else that looks good?"

"There's a job working for a company that makes fitness equipment. It sounds like a great place to work. They have an onsite fitness center and they give employees free meals. It has a great benefit package and the job is just what I'm looking for. Entry level but you still get responsibility."

"Did you apply?"

"No. It's in San Francisco."

"Jen, if it's a good job and you're excited about it, then you need to apply."

So he's okay with me moving? I set my laptop down and prepare for the discussion we've both been avoiding. But then his phone rings.

"Hey, Dad." Bryce nods. "Yeah, we're coming. We'll see you soon." He ends the call. "We need to get going. Everyone's already there."

Tonight we're going to a Wheeler family dinner. We usually have them on Sundays, but we're having one tonight because Bryce's aunt and cousins are leaving tomorrow.

"You ready for this?" Bryce asks as we're walking up to his dad's house.

"Yeah. Why?"

"It's going to be hard to pretend we're not dating."

We still haven't told his family about us, and we didn't want to tonight with his aunt and cousins there. We'll wait for the next dinner, when it's just Bryce's dad and brothers.

"I'll sit at the opposite end of the table," I say. "I won't even look at you."
 

Bryce stops in front of the door. "Then this'll have to hold me over until we get home." He puts his hands along the sides of my face and kisses me.

"Shit, I knew it." I hear Austin's voice and turn to see him standing there holding the door open. He turns his head and yells into the house, "Bryce and Jen are dating!" Then he turns back and smiles at us. "I knew you guys couldn't live together all week without something happening."

Bryce rolls his eyes. "We didn't want anyone to know. So thanks a lot for the announcement."

"Anytime," Austin says, laughing. "Tell me when she's pregnant. I'll make sure everyone knows."

"Jen's pregnant?" Jake appears behind Austin.

"No!" Bryce says, pushing Austin aside so we can get in the door. "Don't listen to Austin. He's just making up shit."

"So you two aren't dating?" Jake asks as Ivy walks in the room.

I look at Bryce to answer. He smiles at me and pulls me into his side. "We're dating."

"That's awesome!" Ivy says, running up and giving me a hug.

Mitch walks in. "What's all the noise about?"

"Bryce and Jen are dating," Jake says.

"Good for you," Mitch says casually, but he's grinning from ear to ear.

"About damn time," Nash says, appearing with Callie. "But now we're going to have to find something else to talk about."

"Shit, you're right," Jake says. "What the hell are we going to talk about? We've been talking about Bryce and Jen for years."

"Talk about Austin," Bryce says. "You can start nagging him about getting a girl."

"I don't have time for a girl," he says. "I'm too busy with the band. Hey, are you guys coming tomorrow night?"

"Yeah," Bryce says. "We'll be there."

The last time Austin's band played, Bryce invited me to go with him to the bar but I wouldn't do it. It was too hard to be out with him like that, as if we were a couple when we really weren't. And from past experience, I knew that if I left him alone for two seconds, girls would come up to him and I'd have to pretend to be okay with it. And that would just remind me that Bryce dated other girls, which is something I tried not to think about. I'm sure he did the same when it came to me and other guys.

Bryce's aunt and cousins walk in the room and we give the announcement again and get more congratulatory hugs. You'd think Bryce and I just announced our engagement the way everyone is reacting. But we're not even close to announcing that. In fact, on the way over here, I was thinking it's too soon to be asking Bryce about our future. We've dated for less than a week, and when we get back to our regular lives and don't see each other every day, things may change. A week from now, we could be broken up. That's why I've decided to go ahead and apply for that job in San Francisco, along with a couple other out-of-state jobs. I'm not saying I'd take them but I'd still like to apply and see if I could even get an interview. And if I
did
move, I could always move back here in a year or two. It wouldn't have to be permanent.

We have the big family dinner, and afterward everyone sticks around to play a card game, except for Bryce and me. When we said we were leaving, they all gave us this look like they thought we were racing home to have sex. It was so embarrassing. I'm sure I was blushing.

"The heat is finally fixed at my apartment," I say when we get to Bryce's place. "So I guess I'll just pack my stuff and head out."

"Yeah, I don't think so." He kisses me.

"I've been here all week. Don't you want your place back?"

"I like it better with you here." He brings me to the couch and pulls me onto his lap. "You don't really want to leave, do you?"

"No. But I do have to leave around noon on Sunday. I need to get groceries and get ready for class on Monday."

"So how's this going to work? When are we going to see each other?"

"I don't know yet. I have a lot of work to do between now and the end of the semester. I won't have much free time, and I don't want you driving way across town to see me if we can only see each other for an hour."

"I don't care about the drive. We need to see each other on more than just the weekends."

"I'm sure we'll find time. You managed to see me before we were dating without us even making any plans."

"Yeah," he smiles. "There might have been some planning on my part."

"So you weren't just
in the area
?" I emphasize that last part because that's always the excuse he'd use when he'd stop by.

"Sometimes I was, if I had a job around there, but other times, I just had to see you."

"Bryce, you didn't have to make up excuses to see me. All you had to do was call me and we could've gone out and done something."

"Yeah, your boyfriend would've loved that. That idiot never wanted me around. None of the guys you dated wanted me around."

"That's because they could tell how much I liked you, as more than a friend. I couldn't hide it. And I'm sure I talked about you way too much when I was on dates."

"I did the same thing. That's why I didn't date girls for very long. They got sick of hearing about you. And then I'd cancel dates whenever you needed me for something, which really pissed girls off. Once I even had a drink thrown in my face for ending the date when you called."

"Bryce, you should've told me you were on a date. I wouldn't have bothered you if I knew that."

"So you'd rather have me out with another girl?"

"No. But we weren't dating then, so you were free to do what you wanted."

"That's not what I wanted. I wanted
you
, Jen. I've always wanted you."

"I've wanted you too. And..." I pause.

"And what?"

"I thought I had you, after we kissed on graduation night. But then..." I look down, "you barely talked to me. For almost a year."

"Jen." His hand cups my face. "I was just a stupid kid back then. I made a mistake. I shouldn't have treated you that way. I was just confused. I didn't know what to do."

"While you were confused, I cried in my room, for weeks, wondering where my best friend went and why he wouldn't talk to me." My voice cracks and a tear slides down my cheek.

"Jen, I'm sorry." His arms go around me and he pulls me into his chest. "I wish I could go back and change that entire year. I made so many mistakes. I thought I was helping you by not talking to you but I only made it worse."

I wipe my eyes. "How would ignoring me help me? I don't understand."

"That kiss was...intense. I didn't expect it to be that way. After it happened, I didn't know what to do. I wanted you more than ever but I kept thinking you'd have a better life without me. I didn't even want to try dating you because I didn't want to hold you back. So I pushed you away. Pretended I didn't care. But Jen, I DID care. I missed you and thought about you every day."

"Why did you think I'd have a better life without you?"

"Because I had no future. At least that's what I thought back then. Now I have a good job and make good money, but back then, I felt like I was headed toward a dead end. Everyone was going to college and it seemed like they all had these great futures ahead of them and I didn't. I was just working construction."

"Bryce, I wish you would've told me this back then. You have no idea how much time I spent trying to figure out what was wrong and how I could get you to talk to me again."

"Shit." He looks down. "I knew you were upset but I didn't know—" His eyes lift back to mine. "I thought you'd start college and make new friends and forget about me."