Now it was Sam’s turn to roll his eyes. “No, Mal, that’s not what I’m saying.” He huffed with annoyance. “I remember how crushed you were when the two of you broke up. Then I remember how much you used to dread coming here to visit Pops until you realized Jake wasn’t coming home for his summer breaks. And then, when he finally was back, you stopped coming here. You missed our annual visit and…”
“Okay, okay, I get it,” she quickly interrupted–not wanting the reminder of how she didn’t come this summer and missed her chance to see her great-grandfather one last time.
“I thought you had moved on–that you both had. So I don’t know if this is just proximity or you’re scratching an itch…”
“Sam…”
“Whatever it is, I’m not judging, okay? I just don’t want you to get hurt,” he said firmly. “I still have issues with Jake because of the way things went down with the two of you and until he proves that he’s changed…” He shrugged. “I’m still going to have issues with him. I can’t help it.”
And that’s what brothers were supposed to say and do, right? Mallory loved that Sam was being so protective of her, but she didn’t want Sam to be at odds with Jake. They had been friends long before she came between them. “He has changed,” she said softly. “We both have. I don’t know what we’re doing. I thought this was just a…a…temporary fling, but…”
“But…?”
“Yesterday morning, he made me feel like he wanted me to stay. Like really stay. Permanently. And not just because Mom’s here, but…for us. Me and him.”
“And you don’t believe him?”
“I’m afraid to,” she admitted and hated how pathetic she sounded. “The last time, I was all in. I was in love and wanted a future and thought that was where we were heading. I was the one to say ‘I love you,’ and he never really said it back. I don’t want to go there again. I don’t want to put my time and energy and…heart into a relationship that isn’t going to go anywhere.”
He nodded.
“I’m older now and…and I’d like to start thinking about my future–about settling down and getting married and having kids. I know that doesn’t mean it’s going to happen right now or that I need it to happen right now. But if I’m going to get involved in a committed relationship, I need to know that person is thinking along those lines too.”
“And you don’t think Jake is?”
“That’s just it. I don’t know.”
“You could try asking.” Sam smirked at her when she made a face at his sarcasm. “I’m just trying to be helpful.”
“Yeah, well…you’re not.”
He chuckled. “Why? Because I’m stating the obvious?”
Unfortunately, yes, she thought. And rather than examining that too closely, she decided to turn the tables on him. “So where did you and Mason go the other night? Anywhere fun?”
He shrugged. “You know, around. We hit up a few bars and then…I drove him home. God forbid we stay out too late and upset Aunt Georgia.”
It almost sounded plausible, except…he wouldn’t look at her. Considering they were twins, she knew that was their tell–the one way to know when one of them wasn’t being completely honest.
“And you just drove around and…what…had a couple of drinks? You didn’t meet up with anyone? Pick up anyone at any of the places? That doesn’t sound like you. I can’t speak for Mason…”
Another shrug. “Nah, it wasn’t like that. We just hung out and…you know…talked. I don’t have to hook up with someone every time I go out.”
Mallory slammed her hand down hard on the desk, causing Sam to jump. “Oh, my gosh! Stop lying!”
“What the hell are you talking about? I’m not!”
“You so are!” Shaking a finger at him, she stood up and leaned over the desk toward him. “For starters? You and Mason never hang out and talk. Next, any time you go anywhere in this town, you always hit on some random girl and try to hook up. So the fact that you’re sitting here telling me you didn’t, and all you did was talk to Mason absolutely screams of you being a big fat liar!”
“Hey!” He jumped to his feet.
“Why are you being so evasive? What could you have possibly done this time?”
His head lolled back and he growled before looking at her again. “Okay, fine,” he snapped. Turning, he shut the office doors and then leaned against them when he faced her. “We really did just go to hang out. Like I said the other night, Mason is way more tolerable now. He said he was stressed and just needed to get out and it didn’t seem like a bad idea. We grabbed a six-pack and went down to the beach to just chill.”
“So what happened?”
He shrugged again. “We drank and we talked. He’s freaking miserable. Aunt Georgia and Uncle Beau really dictate everything he does and as much as he’s tried to play along all these years, he’s kind of hit his limit.”
“Wow…”
“I know. So he was talking about wanting to move away, start a new career…it was crazy. Next thing I know we’re out of beer and we go and buy another six-pack.”
“Oh, no…”
He nodded. “I know. That’s when I should have realized we were in trouble.”
“Did you get pulled over?”
He let out a mirthless laugh. “Not exactly.”
“What does that even mean?” Honestly, it was beginning to feel like she was never going to know what happened. “Sam?”
“We went to go back to the beach, but there was a patrol car in the parking lot. So we drove down Main Street and decided to just pull into the church parking lot to finish drinking and talking.”
“Ew…you drank beer in the church parking lot? What is wrong with you? That’s just wrong.”
“Yeah, well…we thought it would be fine and no one would bother us. But…” He sighed. “After all those beers we were both feeling a little stupid and weren’t thinking clearly. I had to pee so…”
Suddenly it hit her. “You didn’t.”
But he nodded. “I did.”
“Sam…” she whined.
“Actually, we both did. And we were laughing hysterically and didn’t realize how loud we were and…next thing you know, Pastor Steve is out there chasing us around threatening to call the cops!” Then he laughed. “We were both running around with our dicks hanging out and jumped into the car and sped away!”
“No!”
But he nodded again. “I still can’t believe anyone was there! I mean, who would have thought the pastor would be hanging out at the church at that hour of night!”
She groaned. “That’s completely not the point. You guys are gross.”
He laughed lowly. “I swear, I don’t know how I got Mason home without killing both of us and then getting back here. I keep waiting for the cops to show up or–at the very least–Pastor Steve to show up here along with Aunt Georgia! So I’m kind of lying low.”