Page 469 of Seasons of Love
Mal sighed. He didn’t disagree with Griff.
“I shouldn't have touched you in the office either. Even if Brian already had photos of you two kissing, seeing us in the conference room just gave him more ammunition.”
I understood what they were saying, but the words didn’t sit well with me.
“Do you regret it? Both of you?” I pulled away from Griff and took a step back to look at them. “Of course you do.”
“No,” Mal said. “We don’t. I don’t regret a single thing we did together, Jake. But we have to be realistic here. How are people going to accept us? We’ve barely had time to figure things out ourselves, and now Frank’s business and his reputation are at risk because of us.”
What was he saying? I looked at Griff. His eyes were full of pain and unshed tears.
“Please leave. I need to…I can’t do this right now.”
Griff reached out to me. “Jake.”
“Please…if you care about me at all, just give me some space. I need to talk to my uncle.”
I left them and walked toward the stairs, but I stopped before I reached the first step.
What was I going to do? What was I going to say?
I turned around and went outside. Machine gun noises came from whatever movie Gabe, Zak, and Sam were watching, and I was glad they masked my footsteps on the tiled floor of the kitchen.
The air outside was cool, but I welcomed the chill. It meant we were in for another hot day tomorrow, but for now, I craved the cold.
I breathed in and smelled the grass and the remains of the fire. If it wasn’t for the glasses and bottles scattered around the garden, you’d never know there had been a party only an hour ago.
The sky was clear and full of stars. I lay on one of the couches and stared up at the dark vastness. We were far away enough from the mainland that we didn't get as much light pollution.
My head was all over the place, trying to make sense of what had happened.
I’d known John since I was a kid, and even though I hadn’t seen him for years, I knew he was close to my uncle.
How could he do this?
I’d seen the betrayal in my uncle’s eyes. It was right there with the disappointment.
Betrayed by his friend of over forty years at the hands of his nephew.
How could I take this all back? How could I make it better for him?
I don’t know how long I stared at the sky, looking for answers in the stars, but at some point, I must have fallen asleep because when I opened my eyes, the sky was no longer dark. There was a blanket over me, and my face was warm from the rising sun.
“Good morning.” Gabe held a cup of coffee in his hand, so I sat up and accepted it.
“This is great, thanks. I can’t believe I fell asleep out here.”
“Zak came out to check on you, but you were out cold. You were lucky. Any other time of year, we’d have dragged your sorry ass inside.”
“Thanks…I think.” I took another sip of the coffee. “Is Uncle Frank awake?”
“Yeah. He went out with Jessie, so he should be back any time now.”
As if on cue, Jessie came out from the kitchen and ran toward us.
“Hey, baby girl. Good walk?” She licked my face in answer and then jumped on the couch, settling next to me.
Uncle Frank came out, holding a cup of coffee.
