Hating the Book Boyfriend (Book Boyfriend Builders)

20. JoJo

CHAPTER 20

JoJo

" S hit, shit, shit," this is not good. I say as I stare at a picture of me and Colton kissing under the mistletoe at the bar last night on the TV. "This can’t be happening," I moan as I look for the remote to hit pause. Our ability to tell Archie about us was just taken away. He's coming home this afternoon. There's a chance he's on a plane and hasn't seen this breaking news, but either way, we need to figure out what we'll say when he gets home. "Colton," I call out from the kitchen. "Come here. You need to see this."

I hear his boots slowly trudge down the hall. "Will you hurry?" I impatiently demand. He turns the corner, and I point to the TV. "Look, do you see that? We made the celebrity gossip rags." His eyes are downcast on his phone, and something about his stance has another thought crossing my mind. Maybe telling Archie about us is the least of his worries. The world finding out may be worse. That's when I notice something else. It's not his phone in his hands. It's mine.

"All this time it was lies. Here, I thought I was the one with something to prove. I was convinced I could demonstrate to you that my lies weren't the bad kind…" He drops his head and rubs the stubble on his jaw. "You know it's my own fault, really. I was a fool for you, blinded by trying to win your heart. There was nothing I wouldn't have done to prove myself to you."

"Colton, I don't understand. What are you talking about? I haven't lied to you. I wouldn't lie to you."

He shakes his head. "It's all starting to make sense. This whole time, it's been so easy for you to walk away. Every time something got a little hard, you wrote me off; now I know it's because you never planned on keeping me."

My heart feels like it's about to thump out of my chest as my body starts to shake. Less than ten minutes ago, we were fine, more than fine. We were perfect. What happened to whispers of love and me being his home? My eyes flash back to the TV, and the news that just broke, coupled with the fact that Archie will be home in a few hours, have me believing his words aren't a coincidence.

"If you're going to accuse me of being a liar to make yourself feel better about breaking up with me, you'll have to do better than that."

He rubs his thumb over his bottom lip, and his eyes never meet mine. "I guess I should have known you'd always be a thief. All it took was blond pigtails, cowboy boots, and one caramel-colored glance, and you stole my heart from the start." He tosses my phone onto the island in front of me. "You can keep it. I don't need it." Then, turning on his heel, he walks toward the front door.

"Colton…" I try, but he doesn't pause before closing the front door behind him. I pick up my phone, and a message preview from my group chat is on the home screen.

Libby: Deposits tripled this morning. I knew he'd be good for business. Solid work locking down Boston's most eligible bachelor. Book Boyfriend Builders are on the map!

I close my eyes as the deafening sound of my heart shattering consumes me. Colton thinks I used him to build my business. He doesn't believe anything we've shared is real, but by the way he walked out, maybe it wasn't. I may have been quick to run, but he didn't stay.

" J oJo, I'm home," Archie calls out, walking through the front door. I quickly wipe my eyes to hide my tears and busy my hands with coffee I don't even care to drink. I just need a reason to avoid eye contact. "Holy shit, the kitchen is done. When I left, Ron said we were still two weeks out."

Ron was the lead foreman on the job and apparently Jacob Kringle's uncle. He and I worked out a deal. If he finished early, I'd take on his younger brother as a client. That wasn't a hard choice. If his brother is anything like Jacob, whatever guidance or training he believes his brother needs most likely involves getting him out of his own way. Piece of cake.

"Yep, I told you I wouldn't burn the place down while you were gone. I beat your tree-selling record and whipped the construction crew into shape, getting the job done ahead of schedule."

I hear him roll his suitcase to the staircase. "I'm glad you're back, JoJo. Having another set of hands around here is a big deal. Had you not decided to move home, I was planning on bringing up the topic of hiring an assistant. I need someone to help manage all the balls I juggle."

His words feel like a dig. I know they aren't, but I turn around all the same, regret heavy on my chest. "I'm sorry, Archie. You should have been able to depend on me more. I feel terrible that you believed you couldn't."

"You act like you haven't been helping me," he says, emptying his pockets onto the entry table. "You might not be here helping with planting, maintenance, and harvest, but you have been helping grow our virtual footprint with social media, commercials, and news articles. The new website you commissioned gave us an edge. I think it's what garnered Urban Chestnut's attention."

The website really did turn out great. I can't take full credit for that. I had a concept, and a designer brought it to life. But Mom always told me, "Accept a compliment and learn to love yourself." I turn to the fridge and grab the sweet cream to add a smidge to Archie’s coffee. "I was happy with how it turned out. I'm glad Urban Chestnut saw our value through it."

Joining me at the island he slides a manila envelope to me. "What's this?" I ask as I pass him the coffee.

"The offer. I think we should take it, but if you don't like it, we won't."

"Archie, you didn't have to do this," I say as I open the envelope out of curiosity. "I trust your decisions. We both want the same things for the farm…" My words die off the second my eyes land on the number. "Holy crap. Is this for real?" This is three years' worth of tree farm profits.

"I assure you it's real. That's why I had to check it out in person. I thought there had to be something I was missing, but there was not. Everything checked out. Urban Chestnut is family-owned, second generation just like us."

I flip through the pages, and the yield numbers catch my eye. "Archie, there is no way we can meet their supply. Not without more land or cutting out trees."

"I guess it's good we know someone with more land."

My eyes meet his in question before realization sets in, and dejection takes over my expression as I drop my head. "If you're counting on Callahan as part of this deal, it won't happen."

"Why's that?" He grabs a beer out of the refrigerator. "I need something stronger than coffee." I anxiously tap my fingers on the granite top, trying to figure out the best place to start when he adds, "He told me he was going to marry you."

"He did what?" My head whips up in shock. He takes a long pull off his beer and studies my face. I can't tell if he threw that out there to get a reaction from me or if it was genuine. My brother isn't stupid. We are too close, and Colton doesn't do discreet well. If I had to guess, the morning after Friendsgiving gave us away. There were already signs, but both of us coming to the house dressed in the clothes we wore the night before said it all. We were sneaking around. Unable to handle his silent scrutiny, I rush out, "Fine, I've been seeing Colton. But not before…" I grip the countertop, suddenly, sweaty as fuck. "What I mean is nothing happened in the past, this is all very, very new. Or rather was new." I press my palm to my forehead. "Either way, it doesn't matter anymore. You'll probably want to reconsider whatever plans you had that included him. He's back to hating me, and out of spite, he'll probably kill whatever deal the two of you had."

"Okay, let's rewind." He sets his beer down and pinches the bridge of his nose. "Do you mind telling me what happened between now and when I left that has my eternal bachelor best friend, Mr. Stag-or-die, himself, reneging on his ask to marry my bull-headed sister?"

"Wait a minute, you keep saying marry, which I want to come back to, but you knew? You knew about us before you left?" The words he's saying and how he's acting as though my relationship with Colton isn't a big deal tell me he's past assuming we were sneaking around. He knows we were together, and his lax attitude now suggests he's okay with it. My mind doesn't know which piece of information to settle on.

"I suspected something was up the second I picked both …" he emphasizes the last word before continuing, "of you up at the hotel."

"Nothing happened, Archie, I swear it."

He waves his hand. "I know. Colton told me everything when I asked if he would sell me some of his land the night of Friendsgiving." I lean onto my elbows and massage my temples. What does he mean Colton told him everything? My brain hurts as I struggle to understand why he wouldn't tell me he talked to Archie. It's literally been the crux of our relationship. Our first fight never would have happened had he just told me. "I don't believe that a man who's had a crush on you from the day you first met would just walk away. So what happened? He's my best friend. I'm sure together we can figure it out… unless he hurt you, in which case he's a dead man."

I shake my head. "No, he didn't hurt me. I hurt him." I stand up. "God, I don't even know where to start, so I'm just going to say it. I've been leading a double life, or at least that's how it feels. Two years ago, I started writing books.”

"No shit! JoJo, that's amazing."

I roll my eyes. "It's really not though. Don't get me wrong, I love it. I love to create, you know that. I spent my youth doodling in notebooks, making stories up in my head, but making real money from a hobby is hard. I may have written and published the books, but I've yet to sell enough to break even with my investment." I quickly open the refrigerator for my own beer and add the next piece. "So a few friends and I started a book boyfriend business, and Colton now believes I used him to boost business because how could locking down Boston's most eligible bachelor not put us on the map?"

When I turn back around, his eyes are as wide as saucers. "You started a what? Book-boyfriend business… what is that, like, some sort of escort service?"

"Yes, I'm a certified pimp now," I deadpan. "No, we teach men what women want. Women love fictional men written by women. We give them the tools that should land them the date so they have a shot at getting their dream girl."

His eyes widen more before blinking in rapid succession. "So what happened when you explained all of this to him?"

I drink my beer before saying, "He saw a message come across my phone from one of the girls and assumed I'd lied to him this whole time. I tried to explain, but he didn't give me a chance. Instead, he walked out the front door."

"When was that?"

I narrow my eyes as if the timing of his leaving matters. "I don't know, an hour ago."

"And why haven't you gone after him?"

"Because if he was my forever, he would have never walked out that door."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. Colton may have walked away, but it doesn't mean he walked away because he was done. Maybe he believes you're not ready."

A thought occurs to me. He may be right. Maybe Colton didn't tell me he talked to Archie about us for that exact reason. He never believed I was all in.

"You said he wanted to marry me. Did he use those words?"

"When I offered to buy the land, he had terms of his own. He didn't want to sell, he agreed to let me farm the land, but only if I would teach him how to grow. His second stipulation was that when you agreed to take his last name, the Estes Peak label would say farmed in collaboration with J. Callahan Acres."

I know why he didn't tell me he talked to my brother. He wanted me to believe him. Lips tell lies, actions rarely do. Coming clean to Archie wouldn't have been the easy way out, but at the end of the day, talking to him only amounted to words. Colton was setting a pattern with his actions. Showing up when I thought he wouldn't and staying when I expected him to leave, he was trying to show me that I meant something to him. That I mattered.

"Shit. I need to find him." I start looking around for the truck keys. "He's probably already halfway to the airport."

"I don't think he got that far." The perplexed look on my face is question enough, and he nods toward the table. "He left his phone, and my truck is still in the driveway. Which means he's on foot."

"I know where he's at,” I slam my hands down on the countertop.

He tosses the keys that were laying on the far end of the counter. "Take the truck."