Alex left the room and Jackson overheard him on the phone.

  “He’s playing a record,” Alex said.

  “Shit. Really?” Tommy asked.

  “Really,” Alex said in a matter-of-fact tone.

  “What the hell happened?” Tommy knew Jackson only put his grandfather’s old record player to use when he reminisced about the past or when he was destroyed emotionally. The only other times he remembered it playing was when Jackson got the news that his grandfather had died, the day of the funeral, and when he missed the old man so much it hurt.

  “I have no idea. He won’t talk,” Alex said.

  “I’ll be right there. Shit.” Tommy hung up and Alex headed back into the kitchen.

  “Tommy’s on his way. You wanna tell me what’s going on?” By now Alex knew it had something to do with Caroline. Jackson knew Alex supported his feelings about her and had sincerely thought they would end up together. He had told Jackson on more than one occasion that he hoped it would work out between them.

  Jackson looked up at his friend. He wiped at his eyes, but refused to speak. The truth was, he didn’t want to have to tell this story more than once, so he silently waited for Tommy’s arrival.

  Tommy barged through the door, took one look at Jackson and asked harshly, “What the hell happened? You look like shit.”

  “Asshole,” Alex barked.

  Jackson looked down at the table and tried to control his emotions. He didn’t want to cry in front of his friends, but this was too much. He eyed his friends and choked the words out, “She’s getting married.”

  “We’re going out.” Tommy walked over to the record player and turned it off. He grabbed a coat for Jackson and his keys.

  Jackson attempted to protest, but it was no use. “We’re going out. You’re not going to sit here miserable, listening to Otis Redding all night. Let’s go.”

  Jackson begrudgingly walked out of the apartment door, sat alone in the back of Tommy’s car, and stared out the window. He knew exactly where they were headed.

  The bar was filled with people and a crowd of familiar faces was the last thing Jackson wanted. He marched straight to a booth in the far back corner of the darkened bar. Jackson slid into the side that kept his back to the crowd while Tommy and Alex sat across from him.

  “Sally, can we get a pitcher here?” Tommy shouted at the slender bartender from their booth.

  “So, when did it happen?” Alex asked.

  “I guess he asked her last night. Happy birthday to her, right? I just can’t believe she said ‘yes.’”

  Tommy shook his head, disgust evident in his eyes and the grimness of his mouth. “What do you mean you can’t believe she said ‘yes?’ Of course, she said ‘yes.’ What was she supposed to say? ‘Sorry, sweetheart, but I’m in love with that dude from the airplane?’”

  Jackson’s stomach dropped as he tried to stop everything inside him from falling apart. He wanted to get angry; Tommy had been telling him for months now that this was a bad idea, but Jackson had refused to listen. Convinced that Tommy was a cynic and couldn’t possibly know what he and Caroline shared, he told himself over and over that Tommy was wrong.

  “Why you gotta be like that?” Alex chastised Tommy, as the bartender put a pitcher down on their table with an extra frosted glass.

  “You okay, Jax?” she asked, noticing the color and puffiness around his eyes.

  “Yeah, I’m good. Thanks, Sal.” He tried to smile at her so she’d leave.

  “All right, let me know if you boys need anything else. And Tommy, you don’t gotta holler at me like I’m some sort of cattle or something.”

  “Sorry, Sally.” Tommy winked and reached to playfully smack her behind, but she scooted away. “So, what are you going to do?”

  Jackson looked at his two best friends and shrugged his shoulders.

  “Well, what you ought to do is…” Tommy turned to look in Sally’s direction and gave his head a quick nod, “you know…Sally.”

  “Not this again…” Alex shook his head while Jackson peered over his shoulder at the attractive brunette. She glanced up and Jackson quickly turned away from her sympathetic gaze.

  “What? I’m just sayin’. She’s only had a crush on you since we were kids.”

  Jackson buried his head behind his hands. “Sally’s great, but I’ve never really thought of her in that way before.”

  “Well, maybe you should start. She’s hot. And you’re an idiot,” Tommy added.

  “Enough. I don’t want to talk about this any more.” Jackson rubbed at his eyes and temples.

  Tommy raised his eyebrows with disapproval. “Whatever. So, are you going to fly out to California and kidnap this broad, or what?”

  Jackson’s chest puffed out before he let out a long sigh. “No. I’m going to walk away.”

  “Smartest thing you’ve said since meeting her,” Tommy commented and leaned into the tall backrest.

  Jackson winced. It wouldn’t take much to break him. He was so broken already.

  Shock instantly covered Alex’s face. “What? Don’t listen to Tommy. Have you even told her you love her?”

  “Does it matter?” Tommy asked.

  “Of course it matters! How can you be pissed at her, if she doesn’t even know how you feel?” Alex asked logically.

  “I hung up on her before she could tell me anything else,” Jackson admitted, his gaze falling to the floor.

  “You’re a charmer,” Tommy choked out.

  Jackson quickly looked up and shot his buddy a nasty look. “Shut up and pour the beer.”

  Alex chimed in quickly, “I’m just going to say this one time, okay?”

  “Here we go.” Tommy rolled his eyes. “Dr. Phil to the rescue.”

  Alex gave Tommy a quick punch in the arm. “You have to lay it all on the line. You can’t expect the girl to ruin her life for you if she doesn’t even know how you feel about her.”

  Jackson peered up from behind his beer glass and then continued chugging it.

  “I mean it, Jackson. You want her to leave her boyfriend…”

  Tommy interjected, “Ahem! Fiancé!”

  Alex continued, “My bad. You want her to leave her… fiancé…”

  “Thank you.” Tommy tipped his head and lifted his glass in the air.

  “But for what? For some guy who hasn’t even admitted what he really feels for her? She doesn’t even know you love her. She probably thinks you don’t. No girl in her right mind would leave what she has for that.”

  A subtle spark of light flickered from deep inside Jackson’s eyes. “You’re right.”

  “Of course I’m right.” Alex smiled. “And by the way, everyone knows you’re a good guy. You’d never intentionally hurt anyone. You’re not the girl-stealing type. I know it goes against everything you believe in to be in this type of situation, but you have to give your pride a rest and listen to your heart, or you’ll regret it.”

  Tommy rolled his eyes. “Jesus, Alex, are you really a girl? Do you have a vagina?”

  “You’re such a dick,” Jackson commented half-heartedly.

  “At least I have one,” Tommy bit off in response.

  Alex interjected. “My point is…would you be okay with losing this girl forever?”

  Just hearing those words made Jackson want to beat the living shit out of every guy in that bar. It also made his knees want to buckle and his stomach turn inside out. He couldn’t answer Alex, so he simply shook his head and lost himself in the pattern of wood on the table.

  “Then you have to tell her how you feel…give her all the information she needs…that’s the right thing to do. Expecting her to make life-changing decisions based on how only she feels isn’t fair, especially when she doesn’t know that you feel the same way.” Alex glanced down toward his friend who refused to look up.

  Jackson swallowed the last of his beer and asked, “Are you done?”

  Alex laughed. “Yeah, I’m done.”

  “Good.” All Jackson could think about was how much physical pain he was in, and how much beer it would take to numb it. “Someone get another pitcher.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Caroline felt ill. If you’d asked her a year ago what she wanted out of life, this was definitely part of the plan. She had always felt that Clay was the one.

  That is, until she met Jackson.

  Now everything was wrong. It all felt out of place. She struggled with her feelings and desperately tried to sort them out, but nothing seemed logical. Everything was a huge mess. Were her feelings for Jackson real, or were they fabricated, at best? She didn’t know for sure.

  After a quick call to a “not so surprised about all the drama, but was still sorry it was happening” Tracey, Caroline called Bailey who said, “Get over here and stay with me tonight.”

  Caroline knocked on Bailey’s apartment door and her shoulders dropped in relief at the sight of Bailey’s sympathetic face. Bailey grabbed her in her arms and that was all Caroline needed to start the waterworks.

  She tossed her purse onto the faded blue couch and leaned against the wall. Then she fell apart. She could barely speak through her sobs and when she did, Bailey could hardly understand what she tried to say. “So you’re saying that you told Jackson about the proposal?”

  Caroline nodded.

  “Oh, God, Care. Did he freak?”

  Caroline nodded again and Bailey walked to the kitchen and poured a tall glass of water.

  “Here, Care, you’ve got to calm down. Please. Take some deep breaths and then let’s talk about this.” Bailey sat against the wall next to her crying friend.

  “O…o…” But all Caroline could do was cry and try to breathe. “O…okay.” She tried desperately to stop the tears that fell. “He’s so angry, Bailey. He’s so mad at me.”

  Bailey rubbed her hand along the length of Caroline’s back. “Of course he’s angry. He’s devastated.”

  “What do you mean?” Caroline looked at her with tear-filled eyes.

  Bailey chuckled. “What do you mean, what do I mean? Stop being stupid. He loves you. He doesn’t want you to marry someone else. Can’t you see that? You have to know that. I mean, reverse the situation—how would you feel?”

  Caroline sat for a moment and allowed her mind to do exactly that. Now it was Jackson who had the girlfriend. And Jackson who delivered the news that he was engaged. She immediately felt nauseous at the made-up thoughts and reached for the empty trash can nearby.

  “Oh no, you don’t. No emotional puking on my watch, missy.” Bailey snatched away the blue canister and handed her the water instead.

  “How do you know he loves me?”

  “Are you really that naïve?” Caroline flashed a look through angry eyes, which only made Bailey grin. “He’s a GUY, Caroline…a guy who is getting nothing from you. I mean, no loving, no nookie, no nothing!”

  Bailey cocked her eyebrows and threw a hand in the air. When it was clear that Caroline still didn’t understand, she continued. “Ugh. He still texts you, emails you…spends hours on the phone with you. He goes out of his way to spend time with you and pay attention to you. Guys don’t do that—especially when they’re not getting anything physical in return—unless they care about you.”

  The words sent Caroline into a tailspin of emotions. Shooting pains ricocheted through her chest. “What do I do? I’m such a mess, Bailey. What do I do?”

  Bailey looked at her friend. “I can’t tell you that. Look, I know you love Clay. And I know that Clay is a really great guy.”

  Caroline nodded her head in agreement. “So you think I should stay with Clay?”

  “I didn’t say that. I just said I know you love him and I know he’s great. And I think you guys could be perfectly happy together.” Caroline acknowledged Bailey’s words with a knowing look.

  “But I also know that in all the years I’ve known you, I’ve never heard you talk about any guy, ever, the way you talk about Jackson,” Bailey continued. “And I’ve never seen you light up the way you do when it comes to him.”

  Bailey paused for a moment. “I also know that you wouldn’t be doing this for just any guy. I think if you could make your heart stop feeling things for Jackson, you would because you think that’s the right thing to do. You never want to hurt people and you always want to do the right thing. I think people come into our lives for a reason, Care. For whatever reason, Jackson came into yours…but for a completely different one, he hasn’t left. And you haven’t let him. So you tell me.”

  Caroline answered, “I know what I want. Like, I know what my heart wants me to do. I know where I want to be. And it’s not here. It’s not with Clay. And just saying that out loud makes me feel like a terrible, awful person. Everything about this situation seems so wrong…hurting Clay…breaking off the engagement. That doesn’t feel good. Why should being with Jackson be this difficult? If we’re really supposed to be together, wouldn’t it be easier?”

  “Are you kidding? Who made that rule ’cause I’d love to give them a piece of my mind,” Bailey sassed.

  “I don’t know that I can do it.”

  “Do what exactly?” Bailey pressed.

  Caroline eyed her. “I love Clay. I really do.”

  “No one doubts your love for Clay.”

  “But what if leaving him is the wrong choice?”

  “No one said you have to leave.”

  “Am I being stupid, though? I mean, realistically, I barely even know Jackson. It’s wrong to leave my boyfriend for someone I don’t really know, isn’t it?”

  “Are you leaving Clay for Jackson?” Bailey inquired.

  “No.” Caroline looked at the floor, tears spilling all around her. “But if I did, everyone would hate me. Good people don’t do things like this. They’d all get shirts that said ‘Team Clay’ or something.”

  Bailey couldn’t stop from laughing. “I’d totally wear one of those.” Caroline’s face writhed in pain as the tears fell harder. “I’m just kidding, Care. You can’t worry about what other people would think. You’re the one who has to live with your decisions, not them.”

  Caroline sniffed and put her head in her hands. “Before Jackson, I’d never thought about any guy other than Clay. I knew exactly what I wanted and where my life was headed.”

  Bailey’s brown curls shook in understanding as Caroline continued. “But now that I’ve met Jackson, I am questioning everything. It’s like nothing in my life will ever be the same, no matter what I do.”

  “I know. Look Care, this is a lot to deal with in two nights.” Bailey stroked Caroline’s long blonde hair and wished she could take her pain away.

  “I am exhausted,” Caroline admitted.

  “I’m sure you are.” Bailey smiled tenderly at her lifelong friend “And one last thing.”

  Caroline cocked her head to one side and muttered, “Yeah?”

  “Sometimes other hearts have to break in order to keep yours intact.”

  Bailey’s words shot straight to the source of Caroline’s angst like a sharpened arrow. She felt them blow straight past her mind, down her throat, and bury themselves in the center of her chest. “That was deep, Bails.” She took a deep breath. “Thank you.”

  “I love you, Care. This will all be okay. It will all work out.”

  “I love you, too. Thanks for being here with me.” The girls hugged and Caroline’s tears finally slowed.

  “That’s what best friends are for.” Bailey gave her another squeeze. “But now it’s my job—as your best friend, of course—to put your ass to bed.”

  Caroline snickered a little and walked slowly into Bailey’s oversized bedroom. She was grateful for the escape. She was in no shape to be at home with Clay. Bailey had taken care of it all. She sent Caroline to the shower and then called Clay.

  “You know how we girls get when it comes to weddings. Lots to plan and talk about!” Bailey could pull off any lie she needed to if it protected her friend, which worked out really, because Caroline was a terrible liar.

  “I’ll tell her. ’Night, Clay.” Bailey hung up and wondered how the hell Caroline was going to make it out of this situation in one piece.

  Caroline walked out of the bedroom and tried to dry her long wet hair with a towel when Bailey spoke up. “I called Clay. He knows you’re here and staying the night. He said to tell you goodnight and he loves you.”

  Her eyes started to water again as Caroline struggled to keep her emotions in check. “Thank you so much, Bailey. There was no way I could have talked to him.”

  “I know.”

  Caroline grabbed her purse from off the couch, opened up the zipper compartment, and pulled out the note Jackson had sent her along with the heart charm. She ran her thumb across the words in the note, thinking of how his hand had also touched that paper.

  Affection swirled within her as she placed the charm on the nightstand and crawled into the queen-sized bed. The paper firmly clutched to her chest, she quietly cried herself to sleep.

  Chapter Twelve

  When Caroline woke up the next morning, emotions from the previous night flooded her mind like a hurricane. Everything felt exactly the same.

  “Morning,” Bailey said from her side of the bed.

  “Hi.”

  “How do you feel?”

  “Just as awful and confused as I did last night.” Caroline’s face crinkled. “But you know the worst part?” Her eyes filled up with tears.

  “What?”

  “All I keep thinking about is Jackson. Why hasn’t he called, or texted, or something?”

  Bailey smiled softly from her pillow. “I don’t think that’s the worst part.”

  Caroline stared at her friend. “God, I am so tired of crying. How is it possible I have any stupid tears left? This is ridiculous.”

  Bailey smirked. “You should try to call him. And you should do it now, while you’re here and we can still buy you time with Clay.”

  Caroline nodded. “Okay.”

  Bailey stretched and let out a yawn. “I’ll be in the other room if you need me.”