Filed to story: My Life with the Walter Boys Book (I & II) PDF Free
“No.” Cole glanced at me and then quickly away again, his lips pressed into a flat line. “Mom mentioned Nathan has a checkup with his neurologist.”
Not Jackie was left unsaid. Being excluded stung, but I refused to rise to the bait, since last time, it resulted in me losing my bedroom.
It took Alex a moment to realize what was happening, but as I squared my shoulders and headed toward the door, his eyes finally lit with understanding. “Yeah, sure,” he told Cole. “Sounds fun.” Then he turned to me with a smirk. “Hey, Jackie, you want to come with us?”
***
Two days later, I learned that at the end of every summer, right before school started, the Walters planned a day trip to the waterfall. It represented a final moment of freedom before the onslaught of homework, extracurricular activities, and endless practices began. Though I’d always seen the waterfall as a little slice of paradise, I had a feeling that today it would be nothing less than pure magic. There was something in the air, a giddiness shared between the Walter kids that made me feel weightless as I watched them race up the path toward the clearing.
Sunlight burst through the gaps in the trees overhead, dancing across the surface of the water. I paused for a moment to admire the view and breathed in the fresh Colorado air. Meanwhile, Cole, Lee, Jack, Jordan, and Parker were a flurry of moving limbs as they shrugged out of their clothes and tossed their bags to the ground. Lee was the fastest, letting out a whoop of victory as he dove into the water. The others followed suit, all letting out sighs of appreciation as they surfaced.
It was a cloudless day, blue skies for miles in every direction. The heat of the sun felt like warm silk against my skin. I laid down a towel on the edge of the sand alongside Isaac, who’d begrudgingly admitted he wouldn’t be able to swim due to his new tattoo. He pushed his shirtsleeves up over his shoulders, grumbled something about not being able to perfect his tan, and rolled onto his stomach, phone in hand. Alex had invited Kim, and the two lovebirds set up their towels on the opposite end of the small beach so they could flirt in private.
Reaching into my bag, I fished around for my copy of
Great Expectations
, which was the first book we’d be reading in AP English Lit class this semester. I was determined to get ahead before the school year started, so I’d emailed my teacher last week to request the syllabus. Though Isaac said nothing, I could tell he was holding back a teasing comment as I opened to the first page. I’d only managed to read a few sentences when a dramatic shriek drew my attention to the water. Parker was being hefted into the air by Cole, who was laughing like a maniac. I couldn’t help but watch as his muscles rippled with the effort of holding up his giggling sister.
My mouth felt suddenly dry. Ending things between Cole and I was the right decision, but it was hard not to admire him from afar. The mischief in his eyes was a stark contrast to the scowls I’d been treated to over the last few days. Even if the warmth of his affection wasn’t directed at me, I was happy to see it, and I kept my eyes locked on Cole as he tossed Parker back into the water. Jack and Jordan erupted into loud war cries and surged forward, each clinging to one of his limbs. When Parker resurfaced a moment later, the look on her face spelled trouble; she threw herself at Cole, making the fight three against one. Even as he was overtaken and dragged under the water, Cole’s expression was one of pure joy.
Something stirred in my gut at the sight. Cole was so good with his younger siblings—playful, but patient—and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t find that hot as hell.
It took me longer than it should have to notice the playing had paused. Cole was watching me from across the water, though there was no trace of the warm smile he’d worn only seconds ago, and heat flooded my cheeks. I tore my gaze away and refocused on the book in my hands. The chaos resumed soon after, but I forced my eyes to remain on the open page.
As the sun moved across the sky, the day growing later, I settled into reading and making small notes in the margins of the text. Things had finally quieted down a bit. While Jack, Jordan, and Parker snacked on Goldfish crackers at the edge of the water, Lee floated lazily on his back, eyes closed with the sun beating down on his face. Next to me, Isaac let out a loud groan and finally moved from his towel, stretching his arms over his head as he stood.
“Gotta piss,” he said, ambling off into the woods for privacy.
I laughed softly to myself—Isaac always had a way with words—and shifted from a sitting position onto my back. After being hunched over reading for so long, it was nice to stretch out and relax. I’d just closed my eyes when the sunlight shifted, the backs of my lids growing dark. With a sigh, I cracked a single eye open. Cole stood above me blocking the sunlight, legs planted wide and arms crossed over his chest. Not even his muscles could distract me from the cold expression he was wearing.
“It’s a little inappropriate to gawk at me when I’m playing with my siblings. Did you forget you dumped me, like, a second ago, or are you just desperate for attention?”
We weren’t dating
, I wanted to say, but I kept my mouth shut.
His words were a sharp reminder of why it wasn’t a good idea to give any more of my heart to Cole Walter. His warmth made me feel limitless at times, like I could do anything and be anyone I wanted. But if I wasn’t careful, the spiteful side of his personality he so often wielded like a weapon had the power to cause lasting damage.
The glower on his face only deepened at my nonresponse. I had the urge to say I was sorry, that I wished things could be different, but I knew that would only make things worse.
“Everything all right guys?” Isaac hovered a few feet away, his hands stuffed in his pockets. He looked back and forth between Cole and me, immediately sensing the tension.
Cole rolled his eyes and stalked off toward the water.
“Please tell me you didn’t hear that,” I said quietly.
He smirked. “Trouble in paradise so soon?”
“It’s none of your business.”
“Oh, come on,” he said as he settled back onto his towel. “What happened?”
My head tilted to the side as I contemplated his question. I could feel the sincerity in Isaac’s words, but he loved to see me squirm, so I knew he might use my answer as ammo. Ultimately, I couldn’t ignore the knot in my chest; the fear of sharing something real with him only to have it thrown back in my face was enough for me to keep my lips pressed together.
After a few long seconds, Isaac shrugged. “Cole is an asshole, as I’m sure you’re aware, but you didn’t deserve that.”
I could have cried at his comment, but I kept myself under control with a few quick breaths. “Thank you, Isaac.”
He nodded in acknowledgment. I thought that was the end of our conversation, but the next moment, he was speaking again, his voice soft. “Thanks for moving in with Parker. I’ve shared almost everything with my brother and cousins. It’s nice to finally have something of my own.”
***
Kim cornered me the instant we returned to the Walters’ to get cleaned up for dinner.
“Jackie?” she said once everyone had piled out of the truck, exhausted but content from swimming all day. “Do you have a moment?”
At her question, Alex looked up from the tailgate where he was helping Lee unload a cooler. He widened his eyes at me, gaze unwavering, and I gave him a slight head tilt in acknowledgment.
“Sure.” I hitched my beach bag onto my shoulder, then nodded toward the house. The air conditioning was running at full blast when we stepped inside, and after spending hours in the sun, goose bumps spread up my arms. “Let’s go upstairs,” I said, fighting back a shiver. “We can change out of our suits and talk.”
When I pushed open the door to my new room instead of leading her to the art studio, Kim frowned. “What are we doing in here?”
“It’s a bit of a story, but I’m sharing with Parker now.” I dumped my bag on my desk, then turned around to face Kim. She was standing at the edge of the braided area rug—an orange and navy eyesore that Parker refused to give up—arms pinned against her stomach. Despite being one of the tallest girl in our grade, she’d managed to make herself look small.
“I’m assuming you want to talk about Alex?” I asked.
“Yeah, I…” Her gaze dropped to her feet.
If I didn’t already know that Kim was a genuine person, I’d think she was laying the guilt on a little thick—after all, she’d spent the entire day giggling and whispering with my ex—but based on the explanation our friends gave me, she’d approached the situation with Alex in a live-in-the-moment kind of way. It was something I was still aspiring to do more of, so I couldn’t fault her for that.
She took a pained breath and tried again. “Everyone’s already told me that you’re not upset about us dating, and I appreciate that, but I feel like such an awful person. I never should have—“
I held up a hand. “Kim, I’m going to stop you right there. Like you said, I already spoke with Alex and Riley, Heather, and Skyler. They explained the whole situation to me, and to be honest, I feel bad too; if I’d known about your feelings for Alex, I never would have encouraged him,” I told her. “I want the two of you to be happy, so as long as you’re good with me, I’d love if we could move past this awkwardness.”
Kim’s head whipped up. “You really mean that?”