The Heartbreak

Chapter 20

“Hey.”

As soon as I opened the door, Jack walked past me as if he had come visit me very often. At one point in our lives, he did, but that had been about five years ago, before my father left. So yes, this caught me off-guard.

In front of the door, Ollie was grinning at me. We did what guys do when they are friends and they don’t see each other for a long time: the awkward macho hug. After a few slaps on each other’s backs, I let him in. Jack was already lounging on my couch.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Jack turned his head to see me and shrugged his shoulders.

“The girls kicked him out of the house,” Ollie said with amusement. He even laughed when Jack kept glaring at him.

“Girls?”

“Yeah. They got together to wrap gifts and things. Christmas stuff, you know?” Ollie’s quizzical expression was enough to tell me everything I needed to know. “You know Christmas is around the corner? I mean, I understand why you would be lost in time and space, after everything that has happened with Jo. But it’s winter’s break. That’s why I’m here.”

This was my turn to glare, but at Jack. He just made a rude noise and shook his head. “I didn’t say anything. This guy likes to gossip like a girl with his girlfriend.”

Ollie’s pale face tinted pink, which was funny. Of course he wasn’t embarrassed; he was angry for the comments. “Skye and I happen to talk to each other a lot and keep a very good communication.”

Jack scoffed.

I thought he was being a bigger asshole than usual, but who knew his problem. Last thing I was aware of, he and Rei were just trying things out. That more likely than not meant a lot of making out and a few other things, for what I had heard and unfortunately seen a couple of times in the employee lounge when we were both working on similar shifts. She visited him a lot, and he spent a ridiculous amount of time complaining about her and how annoying she was. Then, every time he saw her, he grinned like a toddler in front of his favorite toy.

“Jack has great communication with Rei,” I told him, laughing a bit. “He just can’t get the words out so he sticks them in her throat with his tongue. Pretty disgusting imagery that I’ve endured for last month.”

Ollie laughed and Jack threw a throw pillow at me.

“Don’t get jealous because you don’t get any. Not my problem.” Jack grinned and flipped me the bird. It was careless of him, because my impressionable little sister was somewhere around the house, and so I threw the pillow back at him. “My sister’s been totally losing her marbles since Thanksgiving, so thank you for that. Home has been ground zero, since my nonna and she fought that day.”

“I didn’t mean-“

“I know!” Jack sat up and reached for the TV controller. “I don’t get what she likes about you so much, and I don’t think I want to know.”

“You think it’s something sexual?” Ollie said it as if it were the most normal thing in the world, but he wanted to become a social worker or something, which was really shocking for a guy who was very intimidating unless his face turned red with anger or embarrassment. I just wanted them to shut up, because neither of them was helping.

“Kind of. Thank you for making me throw up in my mouth a little bit.” He turned to look at me before I could even open my mouth to tell him nothing like that had ever happened with Jo, he silenced me. “Just don’t give me details. I don’t ever want to know.”