“Birthday wishes don’t always come true, so I don’t waste a chance when I blow out a candle.”
REVIEW
Would I read it again? Yes No Maybe
Spice level legend How spicy is this book?
SUMMARY
Jordan - 19 year old who has been through some shit. Her mom left the family when she was little, her dad is a drunk, her stepmom doesn’t give a flying fuck about her, her ex-boyfriend used to slap her around, her current boyfriend (Cole) is a loser who doesn’t want to go to work and just wants to get drunk all the time (in his defense, he is 19), one of her friends died in a car accident. She has been forced to grow up beyond her years. When we meet her, she is working in a bar, living in her apartment with her boyfriend, her car is broken down, and it's her birthday.
She unexpectedly gets off work early but can’t get a hold of Cole (he’s her ride). She decides to walk down to the local theater that is showing an old movie. She accidentally spills her drink, drops her phone, and ends up meeting a guy. He offers to share his popcorn, and she shares her donuts (her birthday “cake” her boss got her). They watch the movie together and he mentions he’ll be back in a few weeks for the next movie.
As they are leaving, she finally gets a hold of her boyfriend, but she can’t hear him, and they get disconnected. The guy from the theater, was like wait what's your boyfriends last name? Oh…I’m his dad.
Pike - Cole’s dad. Cole was an accident between Pike and Lindsey when they were 18. Pike decided not to go into the Navy or go to college, instead working construction, to help support Cole. Pike and Lindsey broke up when Cole was 2 because Lindsey is awful. Pike starts his own construction business and is pretty successful in business…but not with relationships. He never has a steady girlfriend and Lindsey does a good job at getting Cole to dislike him.
Cole - On the night the book opens, Cole throws a birthday party for Jordan. Except she’s at work. And the cops end up getting called. He trashes the apartment, gets them evicted, and gets arrested. He calls his dad to get bailed out. Pike offers him and Jordan a place to live if they help out around the house. Cole works but he calls in a lot or shows up late because he’s hungover. All he does is party - without Jordan.
Jordan & Cole - They were best friends, with another guy whose name I can’t remember. One night, Cole was supposed to be the DD for him and this guy, but Cole got drunk, and his friend rode him with some other people. They wrecked the truck, and their friend died. Cole not only lost a friend, but feels responsible for it happening. They end up dating out of convenience in a way, they are always with each other, and feel like they only have each other after the dude dies. They are good friends, but terrible at dating each other. They stay together because they have that underlying love of friendship for each other.
At times, the living arrangement is awkward. Cole doesn’t want to help do anything, Jordan overcompensates and does everything. After the movie theater night, Jordan and Pike were already attracted to each other, so Pike gets overprotective. Which he tries to play off as fatherly.
One night, Jordan gets home from work early, and finds Cole in the pool fucking another girl. Pike is furious. Cole says he’ll go stay with that girl, since Jordan has nowhere to go. Jordan is insistent she can go stay at her dad’s trailer but Pike takes her there, and sees the state of it, and begs her to come back to his house.
Jordan and Pike have been getting close this whole time. They are both crushing on each other but they don’t want to admit it because you know, the whole Cole situation.
But eventually, tension breaks. They start hooking up. But they’re keeping it secret. Because you know, the age difference, and Cole.
One night, Cole calls. He has been staying with Lindsey, and they are working on Lindsey’s apartment, and he asks if he and his mom can crash at Pike’s just for a few nights. Well, this is awkward. Because Jordan has basically moved into Pike's bedroom.
Jordan asks Pike to please just talk to Cole. She wants this relationship to work and it can’t if he refuses to tell Cole, which means it's a secret from everyone.
Cole ends up finding out, in a not great way.
Jordan leaves - she literally runs away to another state.
Cole joins the Navy and leaves for 2 months.
At the end of the summer, Cole comes back. Tells Pike that he isn’t mad at him anymore, and they have a good father/son talk. Cole asks where Jordan is? Pike says he doesn’t know, but he knows that she is better off. He doesn’t believe he can give Jordan what she needs/wants out of life since he is 18 years older than her. Cole tells him that there is no way she is better off without him.
Pike finally goes to find Jordan. Her sister tells him that she is staying with some friend in Virginia helping her run a motel. But she won’t tell him what motel or where in Virginia. It takes a bit but Pike eventually finds her.
He apologizes, tells her that he loves her, but he was so afraid that maybe she felt like this was just a fling, and he didn’t want to risk ruining his relationship with Cole over something that wouldn’t last. But instead, he ended up fucking up his relationship with Cole and Jordan.
Jordan admits she loves him too and she has missed the shit out of him this summer.
Fast forward to a year later - Pike asks Jordan to marry him.
Fast forward nine years later - Jordan is four months pregnant and has her own business. They have a six year old son. Cole is married to a girl he met while in the Navy and they have a son around six. Pike says his grandson and his son are more like brothers than his actual sons. Pike says sometimes he wonders why/how he is 48 years old, with a six year old, and another one on the way, but he wouldn’t change any of it.