The Mail Boy

Chapter 23

"It always is," he replied, smirking.

                                                              ~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later on, after lunch, Jake and I decided to go for a ride. He wanted to have a conversation alone with just me and we both knew Maya would eavesdrop if we had it at their house, so he suggested we go for a drive. About an hour later, we were both sitting in his Lexus SUV.

"So, where should we start?" Jake asked.

"You tell me," I mumbled, grudgingly. There were rare instances where I didn't want to talk to Jake. This was one of them.

"How about with how you two met. I want to know how far involved you are," he said.

"If you're thinking what I think you're thinking, then you're thinking wrong," I defended. He laughed lightly, glancing at me.

"I know you haven't done anything stupid. I just want to know how much you've invested in this relationship," he replied.

"Fine," I said, sighing. "We met a while ago at Midas, but we didn't know who each other was. Then when I started working at Belleza, we met again, but this time officially," I told him.

"And?" he prodded.

"And, what? We hit it off, became friends, and then started dating," I replied.

"You are giving me the minimal amount of detail on purpose," Jake said.

"I really don't want relationship advice from my best friend's older brother," I grumbled.

"Best friend's older brother who's also like your own older brother," he corrected.

"My previous statement still holds," I said. He gave me a look.

"You don't really have a choice at this point," he said.

"Why does it matter?" I asked.

"Because the way Maya put it, you've fallen too hard and too fast for this kid and I'm worried about where you're going to end up," he replied.

I felt my cheeks flush with color at his incredible thoughtfulness for me. He really did care a lot about me.

"Ok, fine," I said, leaning back against my seat. Jake pulled into the parking lot at the harbor and we got out. We sat down at the docks. I leaned against one of the wooden poles, facing the water. Jake sat with his knees drawn up to his chest.

"Ok, go," he said.

So I recounted the same story I told my mother to him, except with more detail, since that's what he was asking for. He listened carefully, nodding and interjecting at random intervals. When I got to the bit about how Sean was hiding something from me, his face turned serious and a frown formed on his perfect face.

"Ok, so on the one hand, I can see how it would be extremely aggravating for you with him not telling you what's going on. I mean, what's going on in his life that he's being so shady about it?" Jake said after I finished.

I nodded, glad he agree with me. But I knew there was another side to his reasoning.

"But on the other hand, I understand why he wouldn't tell you. I mean, what if it's something really personal and he's not up for sharing it? I mean, hell, I wouldn't want to tell anyone either," he said.

"It's just annoying because I've told him so much and he hasn't told me a thing," I told him.

"Yeah...relationships can be complicated," he said. "But Tori, you really shouldn't have opened up to him as quickly as you did," he told me.