weren’t connected on LinkedIn.
The only things they’d exchanged were heated kisses and old emotions.
Nothing to see here. Moving right along.
She slammed a plate into the dishwasher with a little more force than necessary, and forced herself to take a mental step back.
His brother had just had a near-death experience from what little she’d been able to gather from Jenn, who had talked to Chase.
He could call Jenn, but not the woman he’d been flirting with just seconds before things went to shit?
Jo felt the sharp edges of jealousy clawing at her gut and slammed the dishwasher door closed.
Fuck.
She needed to get out of this house.
“Gran, I’m gonna go for a run. I’ll be back in a little while,” she yelled from the kitchen before heading to her bedroom to change into workout clothes.
Yes, a run sounded good. Not as gratifying as deadlifts or back squats, but maybe it would help improve her mood, if not relieve some of the tension she’d been feeling.
Once she’d changed into her running clothes, she strapped her Bulldog fanny pack to her waist, grabbed her STI Elektra off the nightstand, did a quick press check, and fastened it with the Velcro loops on the inside of the pack. She dropped an extra magazine into a different zippered pouch, along with her driver’s license and concealed handgun license. Her phone went in the front pocket, along with some earbuds just in case she decided she needed music.
Out on the sidewalk, Jo looked around, taking note of her surroundings while going through a series of warm-up stretches. She then set off at an easy pace, allowing her body to get into a rhythm before pushing herself a little more.
It grated that she was jealous of Jenn. She knew she had no reason to be, really had no right to be jealous. But it was there, simmering under the surface. It irritated her that for all these years, Jenn had been right there, such a big part of Chase’s life.
Never mind the fact that Jo had been the one to throw it all away. Cutting off ties with Chase had been her choice and no one else’s.
Not for the first time in the past eighteen years she wished she hadn’t made that decision.
It was easy—too easy—to imagine how their lives might have been different had she not thrown their friendship away. Somewhere, in the part of her heart that wanted marriage and babies and a dog, there was a picture of the two of them together, a baby on one hip and a toddler chasing that imaginary dog around the backyard. The kids had his hair and smile. Her eyes. The toddler—a boy—was already showing signs of being the best pitcher the world had ever seen. And the baby? Well, she adored her daddy.
Despite the fact that Jo had ended their friendship right at that age when girls started thinking about those happily ever afters with specific boys in mind, and despite the fact that she’d never truly acknowledged her feelings, she’d longed for him. As the years had flown by, she’d longed for him even more. The high school sweetheart love story. The long-distance phone calls and weekend visits while in college. The well-timed marriage proposal right after graduation, and the June wedding a year later.
She didn’t deserve those things, though. Didn’t deserve him .
How could she, when she’d so stupidly thrown it all away?
He’d been her best friend, and she his. And she’d thrown it away out of fear and confusion and disgust with her mother and a sense that doing so was the only way to protect him and his family.
Jo ran, her legs and arms pumping hard and fast, until she was sprinting down the sidewalk, yards and cars and people and children’s toys a blur. Her thoughts pushed, crowding in and shouting so loud they were drowning each other out.
Why the fuck hadn’t he called?
~~*~~
7:23.
The numbers stared back at Chase, and he vaguely registered the time.
He’d been at work since just before six that morning, needing to get back to the office and real life.
The only things they’d exchanged were heated kisses and old emotions.
Nothing to see here. Moving right along.
She slammed a plate into the dishwasher with a little more force than necessary, and forced herself to take a mental step back.
His brother had just had a near-death experience from what little she’d been able to gather from Jenn, who had talked to Chase.
He could call Jenn, but not the woman he’d been flirting with just seconds before things went to shit?
Jo felt the sharp edges of jealousy clawing at her gut and slammed the dishwasher door closed.
Fuck.
She needed to get out of this house.
“Gran, I’m gonna go for a run. I’ll be back in a little while,” she yelled from the kitchen before heading to her bedroom to change into workout clothes.
Yes, a run sounded good. Not as gratifying as deadlifts or back squats, but maybe it would help improve her mood, if not relieve some of the tension she’d been feeling.
Once she’d changed into her running clothes, she strapped her Bulldog fanny pack to her waist, grabbed her STI Elektra off the nightstand, did a quick press check, and fastened it with the Velcro loops on the inside of the pack. She dropped an extra magazine into a different zippered pouch, along with her driver’s license and concealed handgun license. Her phone went in the front pocket, along with some earbuds just in case she decided she needed music.
Out on the sidewalk, Jo looked around, taking note of her surroundings while going through a series of warm-up stretches. She then set off at an easy pace, allowing her body to get into a rhythm before pushing herself a little more.
It grated that she was jealous of Jenn. She knew she had no reason to be, really had no right to be jealous. But it was there, simmering under the surface. It irritated her that for all these years, Jenn had been right there, such a big part of Chase’s life.
Never mind the fact that Jo had been the one to throw it all away. Cutting off ties with Chase had been her choice and no one else’s.
Not for the first time in the past eighteen years she wished she hadn’t made that decision.
It was easy—too easy—to imagine how their lives might have been different had she not thrown their friendship away. Somewhere, in the part of her heart that wanted marriage and babies and a dog, there was a picture of the two of them together, a baby on one hip and a toddler chasing that imaginary dog around the backyard. The kids had his hair and smile. Her eyes. The toddler—a boy—was already showing signs of being the best pitcher the world had ever seen. And the baby? Well, she adored her daddy.
Despite the fact that Jo had ended their friendship right at that age when girls started thinking about those happily ever afters with specific boys in mind, and despite the fact that she’d never truly acknowledged her feelings, she’d longed for him. As the years had flown by, she’d longed for him even more. The high school sweetheart love story. The long-distance phone calls and weekend visits while in college. The well-timed marriage proposal right after graduation, and the June wedding a year later.
She didn’t deserve those things, though. Didn’t deserve him .
How could she, when she’d so stupidly thrown it all away?
He’d been her best friend, and she his. And she’d thrown it away out of fear and confusion and disgust with her mother and a sense that doing so was the only way to protect him and his family.
Jo ran, her legs and arms pumping hard and fast, until she was sprinting down the sidewalk, yards and cars and people and children’s toys a blur. Her thoughts pushed, crowding in and shouting so loud they were drowning each other out.
Why the fuck hadn’t he called?
~~*~~
7:23.
The numbers stared back at Chase, and he vaguely registered the time.
He’d been at work since just before six that morning, needing to get back to the office and real life.
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