HERE IT COMES. Whatever it was Jackson was about to get off his chest was nothing good, I could tell, so I braced myself the best I could.

“Okay, so tell me,” I said.

He avoided my gaze. “It’s about the phone calls today.”

I fucking knew it. But I tried to stay nonchalant as I asked, “What about them?”

“It’s not what you think.”

Maybe it’s exactly what I think.

“There’s a woman back home. Sydney.”

A woman. What a surprise.

“She works with me, and she’s also a…friend.”

“A friend,” I repeated, squinting at him. “Like we’re friends?”

“No,” Jackson said quickly. “There aren’t any romantic feelings on my side, not like that, but it’s…complicated.”

“Is she your girlfriend?”

“I’ve never called her that, no.”

“Then what’s so complicated?” I asked, trying and failing to keep the jealousy at bay.

“I’m supposed to marry her.”

My heart plummeted to the ground as I struggled to comprehend the bomb he’d just dropped. Jackson was getting married? No. Fuck no. And to a woman? “You’re not fucking serious right now.”

“Yeah. I am.” Jackson paused. “But Lucas…I don’t have any intention to marry her.”

“You’ll have to excuse me if I’m a little confused.”

“It’s sort of a…” He searched for the words. “An arranged marriage sort of thing.”

My jaw fell open for all of two seconds before I pushed up off the swing. “Okay, now I know this is a joke,” I said, but Jackson grabbed my arm before I could move past him.

“Why would I joke about that?”

“Because no one has an arranged marriage anymore, Jackson. For fuck’s sake, grow some balls.”

Jackson bristled as he stared up at me. “You think I’d get pushed into something I don’t want to do?”

“I know you would. You have.”

“This is different. Sydney, she’s…” He sighed. “She’s a good girl. An even better friend. I’ve known her since we were kids, and she’d do anything for me, us. It’s always been sort of hanging over our heads that eventually we’d end up together. It’s what our parents want, and it’s what Sydney seems to want.”

“Is she what you want?”

Jackson hung his head and let go of my arm. “No. And I’ve done everything to discourage her but flat-out say no, and I never have a good enough reason to tell her that.”

“Uh, how about you don’t want to.”

Jackson rested his elbows on his knees and steepled his hands in front of him. “Lucas, I never thought I’d see you again.”

“Surprise, motherfucker. Here I am.” God, I was being an asshole again and I knew it, but what the fuck was I supposed to say? Congratulations?

“Yeah, here you are. And the thing you have to understand… I thought my time with you had been a fluke. That it was some exaggerated version of events that had happened when I was a hormonal teenager. I spent all this time thinking I was nothing to you, and since then, I haven’t met anyone, male or female, who made me feel the way I did back then. Or thought I did.” He looked down at his hands. “So you’ll have to forgive me if I considered living a decent life with a good person and making her happy.”

“Aren’t you a fucking martyr.”

“That’s not fair.”

“So it’s fair for you to settle? To not try to be happy and do something for yourself?”

Jackson’s cheeks reddened. “What are you implying? That I should’ve come down here sooner when I thought you were fine playing the field?”

“Yeah. Sure. Why not?”

“I get this is surprising, but you don’t get to be pissed off about this. Surely there’s been somebody for you since…”

Since you broke my fucking heart? I smirked. “There’ve been many somebodies.”

Jackson’s eyes bugged out. “What?”

“Hey, you asked.”

“You’re not supposed to say there’s been many. Are you serious?”

“What am I supposed to say? That I’ve been celibate since you?”

“Of course not. Sorry… I didn’t realize you’d had that many relationships.”

“I haven’t.” When a confused expression crossed Jackson’s face, I said, “Well, you didn’t say relationships, did you? The answer to that would’ve been zero.” Leaning against the balcony railing, I crossed my legs at the ankles. “I fuck, Jackson. I don’t let them in. I don’t let anyone in.”

Jackson turned positively green, and he looked back down at his hands, like he was trying to come to terms with that fact. “Many somebodies and no relationships,” he said in a low voice. “That explains the sex god comment, then.”

“The what?”

He sighed and sat back in the swing. “At the diner I overheard a couple of guys mention your name, which is how I knew where to find you at Argos. They called you a sex god. And there was something about ‘that hottie with a body Lucas ignoring his twink ass.’”

“Flattering they know I’ve got standards.”

“Apparently you also have a reputation.” His eyes turned to slits. “What, do you go out and party every night and bring guys home? Is that your life now?”

“No,” I said. “I never bring them back here.”

“Lucas—”

“And I haven’t been out partying for days now, so that’s not an accurate conclusion either.”

“You’re a little fucking slut, aren’t you?”

“Hmm, would we say little…”

“Jesus Christ,” he muttered, running a hand through his hair as he got to his feet. “Lucas, be serious. Why all the men?”

“What does it matter? I’m single; I’m allowed to do that. You, on the other hand, just admitted you’re practically engaged. Maybe we should talk about that for a second.”

“There’s nothing to say. I’m not engaged, nor will I ever be, at least not to Sydney. She thinks this trip is me taking time to think things over and plan a proposal, when it’s really me trying to figure out how to break it to her without being an insensitive jackass.” He looked up at the ceiling and took a deep breath, and on the exhale, he said, “Like I told you, it’s just our families trying to meddle—”

“But you’ve slept with her.”

Jackson’s mouth clamped shut, and as he stared at me, his silence confirmed my statement.

“Right,” I said, breaking eye contact. “Well, I think that calls for a drink.”

“You’re already drinking,” he pointed out, nodding at the glass in my hand.

“Something stronger, then.” I flung open the back door and stalked through the kitchen to the shelf I kept the liquor in. I grabbed the gin and an empty glass and didn’t even bother with the ice or a mixer.

“For fuck’s sake, Lucas,” Jackson said, coming up behind me. “I don’t want to fight with you.”

I unscrewed the cap and poured the gin into the glass. “This isn’t fighting. This is a distinct difference of opinion.”

“You know what this is, right?” Jackson said. “We couldn’t have each other, so we fucked others to try to chase the other one away. Did it work for you? Because it sure as shit hasn’t worked for me.”

I spun around, ready to make up a lie to dispute that, but Jackson was right there, a wall of muscle right up on me, not backing down and not letting me get away. His voice was a low growl as he said, “If you think I haven’t thought about you every day and wondered what would’ve been, then fuck you.”

My chest moved up and down with my rapid pants, and the fire in my veins had me bursting forward. “No. Fuck you,” I said, pushing him back until his hips hit the island, and then my hands curled around the fabric of his shirt and we both attacked.