Good Boy by Megan Lowe
Chapter 21
Aweek on from Jase and my conversation and I still don’t know what my gut is telling me about Cav. Thomas is still hanging out with us, and Cav is still shooting me dirty looks but hasn’t done anything about it. Yet. I’m not stupid enough to think it’s not coming. I know it is; I just have to be prepared to act when it does. But at least I have Thomas to help me when he does. So far, things are okay. I think he’s waiting for Cav to make the first move. It’ll look better that way, if Cav attacks. In the meantime though, life goes on.
“Hey, so I hear Navy Pier is doing something this weekend. You know, one last party before winter hits,” Chloe says at lunch.
Thomas nods. “They’re opening the bridges on Saturday so the boats can get to dry dock. It’s pretty cool to watch.”
“Jase and I are going to be inside one of those bridge house things, you know, watch the gears raise the bridges,” I tell them.
“No shit?” Thomas asks.
“No shit,” I reply.
“I’ve always wanted to see that.”
“We got tickets ages ago. It was nuts trying to get them, but we’re both into mechanics and engineering so it was worth the hassle.”
“Sounds scintillating,” Chloe says, rolling her eyes. I give her a playful shove.
“It is actually pretty interesting,” Thomas says.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“See?” I poke my tongue out at Chloe.
“Anyway,” she says, talking over the top of us. “Saturday night? Navy Pier?”
“I dunno. I promised Jase we’d spend the day together. We’ll do the bridge thing, then head to Wildberry for some pancakes and then maybe hit up Sears Tower.”
“Touristy shit.”
I shrug. “We’re from Michigan. We haven’t done that stuff before. Besides, he’s having a bit of a hard time at the moment. I want to make sure he’s all right, that he knows I’m there for him.”
Thomas puts his hand over mine. “I’m sure he does.”
I look down at our hands, bringing Thomas’s attention to it. He removes it like he was burned. There’s been more and more of these sorts of innocent touches between us lately. I don’t quite understand what he’s doing. I don’t think he’s interested in me, and there’s no way he can know that Cav/James and I had a… whatever it is we had, so what is his end game?
“Sorry,” he mutters.
I wave it off. “It’s fine.”
“Just bring him to the Pier,” Chloe says, glaring at Thomas’s hand. “It’s the last real blowout before we all start freezing our asses off.”
“You know, I wouldn’t have thought Navy Pier was your thing.”
She shrugs. “It’s all about the people you go with. It probably is pretty lame, but I have no doubt we all could have some fun.”
“Then let’s have some fun,” I say. “I’m pretty sure we could all use it.”
“That was awesome,” Jase says as we exit the bridge house and walk along the river for a bit, watching the boats sail past.
“It was pretty cool,” I agree. As much as I love Michigan, the architectural look and feel of Chicago is right up my alley.
We walk for a bit, both content with our own thoughts before I break that.
“So, ah, how’s school?” I ask.
Jase groans.
“What?”
He looks at me. “Really?”
“What?” I ask again. “It’s a legit and warranted question.”
“You really want to ruin what’s going on right now by asking about school?”
“That good, huh?”
He shrugs. “It is what it is.”
“And just what is it exactly?”
“It’s high school, Con. It’s not supposed to be good except for like, twelve people.”
“And you’re not one of the twelve.”
He shrugs again. “It’s totally fine. I’ve only got three-and-three-quarter years left.”
“A lot could change in that time.”
“Yeah, maybe.”
“Is there, um, anyone in particular who’s being, um, particularly horrible?”
“What are you gonna do?” he asks. “Go to Principal Rowling? Or maybe you’ll go to Amy, seeing as though you two are all good now, and she can go to the school.”
I stop him with a hand on his arm. “Whoa. Where is this coming from?”
He throws up his hands. “You can’t fight my battles for me, Con.”
“I told you before, I don’t want to fight them for you, I want—”
“To fight them with me, yeah, I got that.”
“So why won’t you let me?”
“Because it’s just as bad. Oh, look at little Jase, he needs his older brother to come fight his battles with him.”
“Is that what people are saying?”
“No, but they will.”
“How do you know that?” I ask.
“I just do, okay?”
I grab him by the shoulders. “No, it’s not okay. You’re having a hard time, and I want to be there for you, help you through it if I can.”
“And if you can’t?”
“Then I’m going to die trying.”
Jase’s face pales.
“Shit. I didn’t mean it like that. I mean, I’m going to do everything I possibly can to help you get through this, okay? It’s you and me, just like it always has been.”
He nods.
“Now, you want to tell me why you’re pissed me and Amy and have sort of figured out our shit?”
He scuffs the toe of his sneaker into the ground. “Not really.”
“Seems that’s a common theme today,” I muse.
He shrugs yet again. “So?”
“So it pisses me off. It doesn’t do any good to bottle shit up, Jase. You know that.”
“What are you? My therapist?”
“Nope, just the older brother who’s been through everything you’re going through. Remember that?”
He looks up at me, eyes blazing. “Yeah, I do. Do you?”
I rear back a little. “Of course I do.”
“But you’re more than happy to ditch me for Amy anyway.”
“Hey, hey, hey,” I say. “Who said I’m ditching you?” I look around. “I don’t see her here now, do I? She’s not hiding in the bushes somewhere, is she?”
He mumbles something under his breath.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that,” I tell him.
He shakes his head. “It doesn’t matter,” he says. “Just like me.” He mumbles the last bit.
“Who the fuck said you don’t matter?” I demand. “Who, Jase?” I ask when he doesn’t answer.
“It’s what’ll happen,” he says. “You’re finishing school soon, and you and Amy will be free to do whatever you want, and I’ll be stuck here.”
“First off,” I say, “technically Amy is free to do what she wants now. I know she hasn’t always been here for us, but she is trying. Secondly, I’m eighteen, legally an adult, which means I too am technically free to do what I want, but no matter where I am, I will always be here for you if you want me to or not. Even if I manage to get my ass accepted into some college somewhere.”
Mom was an alumnus at UM, but Dad went to Northwestern, just like Amy did. I know if I want to go there, I’ve got a legacy spot, the same as Jase will too.
I hug him tight. “Just because Amy and I have sort of, and I stress sort of worked out our differences doesn’t mean we’ll forget you or ignore you or leave you out. In fact, you’re probably the only thing we have in common, besides, you know, DNA.”
He chuckles and clings to me tighter. “It’s just hard sometimes,” he says. “I miss them so much. I miss my friends, my old school, everything. You’ve got new friends and have fixed things with Amy, and what do I have? Nothing.”
“You have me,” I tell him. “You will always have me.”
He nods.
“And I promise things will get better at school. Come sit with us. I dare anyone to say anything, okay?”
He nods. “Thanks, Con.”
I press a kiss to the top of his head. “You never have to thank me. Ever.”