Jase is protective over her. I see how he acts with her; I saw it the night of the concert. Holding her hand, touching her back—almost assuring her. Of what? I don’t know. But I see it with Mark too. These guys care deeply for her, there’s no question about that.

When I look up at Jase, he’s staring at me, almost zoned out. “You’re up,” I say.

He moves to make his shot, sinking his ball into the side pocket.

“You guys want another bucket of beers?” Mark asks.

“Yeah,” Jase tells him before Mark heads over to the bar.

I take this time to try and get a little more info on this girl, so when he lines up his next shot, I ask, “So, what’s her story?”

“No story,” is all he says and then misses his shot.

I walk around the table, looking for my play, when I try to casually ask, “You’ve known her a long time?”

“She’s not like that, man. Not even close,” he quickly responds, and I suddenly feel like I’m way out of my league. Jase doesn’t know me like that, but knowing Gavin, I’m sure he’s told Jase stories. By the time I met Jase, and even Mark, I had pretty much stopped fucking around.

I lean over the table, ready to take my shot, when I peek up at Jase, who’s staring. “She’s like a sister to me,” he adds, and I know he knows I’m interested in her. And I also know that he doesn’t think I’m good enough. Maybe he’s right.

Call me when you get a chance.

I read the text from Jase while I’m working from home today. Our conversation a couple nights ago was a little awkward, so I’m curious as to why he wants me to call him. I don’t waste any time thinking too much about it when I tap his name and it begins to ring.

“Hey, what’s up?” he says when he answers.

“Not much. Just getting some work done. You?”

“Heading home from class,” he says before adding, “Look, I’m sorry if I came across short with you the other night. I wasn’t trying to make you feel like you couldn’t hang out with Candace. I just get a little protective of her at times.”

“No worries. I know the two of you are close, so I wouldn’t ever . . .” I trail off, not even sure of where I’m going with this statement, but he cuts the silence and says, “Yeah, I know. But, hey, if you wanna come over tonight, Candace and Mark will be here. We’re just gonna lay low and hang out.”

“Yeah, man. I’ve got some things to take care of, but I’ll stop by later.”

“See ya.”

“Later,” I say and then hang up.

I spend the day taking care of a few work things. I’m trying to lessen the time that I have to spend up at the bar, so I’ve been getting most of my work done from home. Michael has been putting in the hours, and I feel I’m at a point where the bar is running smoothly without me having to be around all too often.

It’s a little after eight when I head over to Jase’s apartment building. When I get there, Mark lets me in, and I look over to see Candace wrapped up in Jase’s arms on the couch. My head takes me to wishing it was my arms wrapped around her. I shut that thought down fast, but it lingers in the back of my mind. Truth is, I’ve never been that way with a girl in my whole life, so to see Jase have that with someone who’s only a friend makes me a little envious.

He looks up at me when I walk by and says, “Hey, there’s beer in the fridge. Help yourself.”

Giving him a nod, I head straight into the kitchen to grab one. When I turn around to get the bottle opener, Candace walks in, holding an empty wine glass.

“Could you hand me a bottle of water?” she asks, and I open the fridge to grab one.

Handing it to her, I take the wine glass out of her hand, and with a smirk, I say lightly, “I thought you never did anything fun.”

When I walk over to the sink to set her glass down, I hear her respond, “I never said that. I said I like to keep busy.”

I turn around to face her and lean back against the counter. She stands there in what looks to be a pair of Jase’s boxers and a UW t-shirt. Her hair is piled on top of her head again, and I don’t think she could look any more attractive than she does right now—relaxed.

“Did you have a better day today?” I ask, knowing that the last time I saw her something had clearly upset her.

“It was okay. How about you?”

“Hung around my place for the most part.”

“Candace,” Jase calls from the other room, “It’s back on.”

She doesn’t say anything else to me, she just turns to go sit next to Jase on the couch, pulling her legs up as he wraps his arm back around her. I sit on the other end of the couch while Mark is comfortable in a chair.

I turn to the TV to see some drunk jackass climbing his kitchen cabinet just to have the whole structure rip off the wall and fall of top of him, dishes and all. When I hear Candace laughing, I turn to her and ask, “What the hell are we watching?”

“‘Ridiculousness,’” she answers, keeping her eyes fixed on the TV.

Jase looks over her to me, and says, “For such a refined girl, she loves this show.”

“You’re the one who first told me about it,” she accuses him.

“Just ignore their banter,” Mark says to me. “They both love trash TV.”

I listen to the three of them go back and forth and their connection seems strong with one another. I know that Mark just recently started dating Jase, so to see them interact like this, like they’ve known each other for years, makes me realize just how alone I am. The deepest friendship I feel like I have, outside of my mom and Tori, is Max. But it’s nothing like these people have. So I sit here, drink my beer, and enjoy the company.

Before I call it a night, I catch Candace quietly sneaking off to go to bed in Jase’s room. My curiosity grows as to why she’s staying here, but I don’t ask. Mark tells me to meet him at his place in the morning to pack up for our hike as I head out.

After about three hours of hiking, we start making our way down Tolmie Peak. It’s been raining for the better part of the hike and the four of us are cold and drenched, and when I hear, “Crap!” I look back to see that Candace has fallen in the mud.

Jase and Mark are further down the trail, so I go back and hold out my hands for her to grab on to, pulling her out of the mud.

“You’re a complete mess,” I tease.

“Yeah, I know,” she says, almost unfazed that she’s covered in mud.

She keeps her hold on my hand, and I like it, as we make our way down to the bottom. Once there, she lets go as we continue our trek back to the car. Jase and Mark are several steps in front of us, lost in their own conversation, and it’s not long before Candace starts talking. She seems more comfortable around me, but we did just spend most of the last three hours hiking without the company of Jase and Mark. They’ve been keeping their distance from us.

“So, how did you come about owning a bar?” she asks me.

“Just kind of fell into it. When I graduated college, the economy was starting to decline, and I couldn’t find a job. So, when I found out that the previous owner of that bar was about to shut the place down, I worked out a deal with him and was able to do a slow buyout.”

“You went to U-Dub?”

“Yeah, I graduated back in 2007.”

“So, that makes you . . .?” she pries.

Laughing at her, I answer, “Twenty-eight.”

“What did you study?” she continues, and I like that. For once, I’m not having to struggle to get her to talk.

“Business Finance. So, it wasn’t too far out of reach that I would come to own my own business.”

“You enjoy it?”

“I do. When I did the buyout, I changed the whole place out and created a new vibe for it. It wasn’t before long that the business was taking off quicker than I expected. At this point, the staff pretty much runs the place, and I have a trustworthy manager, so my schedule is very flexible.”