I took the drink gratefully. “How was your night?”
“My night? Great. It was great. What about yours?” His delivery was stern, almost as if he didn’t actually want to know. Why was he acting weird?
“It was… great.” Apparently, awkward was all that was in the cards for my night. “It was a good date,” I lied, the same way I did most times people asked me how I was doing. It wasn’t like things were terrible, but they definitely weren’t wonderful.
“I’m glad.”
Confusion marred my thoughts as I admitted, “That was my first date in a while. I think I forgot how to do it.” Was it just me, or did Jack’s eyes brighten at that? “I should have known better. These things don’t often go well for me. What about you?”
“I don’t date.” He peeled the label off his bottle and left it on the coffee table, but I didn’t have it in me to fight right now. Then his words sank in.
“Really?” It was a bit of a surprise. The man was objectively handsome and usually not the bane of people’s existence.
“Yeah.” He didn’t elaborate, just gave me very direct eye contact, as if he knew all my secrets. It was unnerving.
“Well, that’s a shame.”
What was I saying? The way he was acting was definitely strange and had me running through every scenario where he could be annoyed or frustrated with me. I landed on the worst of all worst-case scenarios: wondering whether I’d put my vibrator away after cleaning it this morning. Oh. God. I scanned through my memories of this morning, stopping on the one where he squeezed my throat during my fantasy—I cringed at that thought—and remembered washing it in the bathroom sink, shaking it dry, putting it back in my suitcase. I let out a puff of air. Okay, that couldn’t be it. But maybe he had seen my awkward goodbye?
“What were you up to?”
Jack took a sip of the beer he’d placed on the table. “I stayed in. Finished the dishes. Talked with my mom for a while.”
“Must be nice.” Apparently, the wine had gotten to me. I hadn’t meant to say that out loud.
Jack didn’t miss it, unfortunately. “What do you mean?”
“It’s nothing. I just haven’t spoken with my mom in a few years. The last time I called, she sent me to voicemail.” I twisted the hair tie from my wrist, and it snapped against me. Ow. “I talk to my sister, though.”
Jack did me a kindness by not asking why that was. “I didn’t know you had a sister.”
Really? Because you sure do know everything about me.The tone in my head was laced with resentment. I didn’t care if it was spiteful.
“She’s actually my stepsister. We’re seven years apart. My mom and stepfather, Dean, married when I was twelve. But Mandy’s my favorite thing about them getting together.”
“What’s she like?”
I leaned my head back on the couch and smiled. “She’s sweet. Loves baking and reality TV. And she’s funny. She was always putting on these plays when she was little. I occasionally contributed, but I don’t have an acting bone in my body. She can do anything. She’s working her way through the company at an alarming speed. I just hope she chooses to forge her own path, you know?”
“Are you concerned she won’t?”
“I’m worried she’ll become a little clone of our parents.” I didn’t usually reveal this information, but this was one of the only times Jack and I had ever had a heart-to-heart, and I figured I could give him something. Plus, it felt nice to say out loud instead of internalizing everything. “I worked for their company for years, until I quit to travel blog full time. Then I was no longer welcome at home.”
Jack stared, his lips slightly open. “They disowned you?”
“Disowned me, shunned me, whatever you want to call it.” I took a sip of my beer, my cheeks warming at my admission. “The Breckenridge reputation always comes first, the business a close second, and like a lot of families in our social circle, anything else was unacceptable. Mandy might not share our last name, but she’s an honorary one, just the same. In this circumstance, I just want to be able to see my sister for the holidays. Even if she thinks I need to extend an olive branch first, also known as coming home with my tail between my legs. Who knows? Maybe someday they’ll get over it and welcome me back, but I don’t see that happening any time soon.”
“And you’d want that?”
His question caught me off guard. I was surprised an answer rolled off the tip of my tongue. “I mean, they are my family.”
“Yeah, but not everybody deserves a second chance.”
I blinked a few times and considered this. I’d taken the first step in calling them, but I didn’t have a real plan after they’d answered. I was almost desperate enough to apologize, but I didn’t know what strings would come with that apology.
“Maybe. But enough about my family. What about yours?”
He took a long sip of his beer, and I considered getting up. It was hard enough to reveal my darkest secrets without any reciprocation. But then he offered something in return.
