48 #2
Jade widened her eyes. “Who, me?”
Jackson muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like mouthy little gremlin. Jade grinned around her donut, and the sound of all of us in one room didn’t feel borrowed.
Cage left a little later with my invitation to come by whenever he wanted, Jade’s studied indifference fooling absolutely nobody, and one final look from Jackson that managed to contain both approval and a reminder that the bedroom door would continue to have rules.
Once the door shut, the apartment quieted again. Jade disappeared into her room with her phone and another donut, which probably meant Cage had made it across the hall before she started texting him.
Jackson locked the door and came back to me. He stood in front of the couch with his hands in his pockets for all of three seconds before dropping into a crouch.
That posture immediately made me suspicious. “What are you doing?”
His mouth tipped, but seriousness sat beneath it. “Before I say anything else, we need to talk about the insane stunt you pulled.”
I blinked. “Excuse me?”
He took my good hand in both of his, his thumb brushing over my knuckles while his jaw tightened around the memory.
“Sneaking out of this apartment alone. Climbing down a fire escape. Going to some house by yourself without telling anybody where exactly you were going.” His gaze came back to mine.
“Lila, if you ever put your life in danger like that again, or even think about doing it, I will put you over my knee and turn your ass red.”
I stared at him for a beat. Fear still lived underneath the threat. I could see it in the way he held my hand, like part of him remained convinced I might disappear again if he loosened his grip.
Unfortunately for his lecture, my body reacted to a very different part of what he had said. I lifted a brow. “You really have an obsession with spanking my ass.”
Heat replaced some of the fear in his eyes. Slowly. Deliberately. “Oh, Princess,” he said, voice dropping. “As soon as you’re healed, I’ll show you exactly how obsessed I am with spanking your sexy ass.”
My breath caught, traitorous and obvious.
Jackson noticed. Of course he did. Satisfaction tugged at his mouth before his expression gentled again. “Now,” he said, “I’m gonna make what I swear is a reasonable suggestion.”
His face promised the opposite. I settled deeper into the cushions and waited.
He looked down at our joined hands before meeting my eyes. “Move in with me.”
For a second I only stared.
Jackson rushed into the silence before I could decide whether it was shock or fear or something dangerously close to happiness.
“You. Jade. Me. All together.” His thumb moved once over my knuckles.
“We’re a family, Lila. We’ve been one, whether we were living like it or not. I want my family with me.”
My chest tightened. “Jackson...”
“My house is safer.” His certainty softened around the edges without disappearing. “It’s on the compound. Right next to Priest and Blue. You and Blue would be close. Jade would have people all around. I’d know you were both safe.”
Of course he knew exactly where to aim. Safety after the last two days. Blue close enough to walk to. Jade surrounded by people who would notice if she so much as missed breakfast. And the three of us under one roof, which scared me for reasons that had nothing to do with danger.
“I’d miss being so close to Evan.” The objection sounded weak even to me.
Jackson’s mouth twitched. “Ink’s got a house on the compound too.”
I turned my head slowly. “What exactly is that supposed to mean?”
His expression went pure smartass. “You know exactly what that means.”
I gave him a flat look. “Ink is being an asshole and refusing to admit his feelings, so that is obviously not going to happen.” I shifted carefully against the pillows. “Also Evan is dating Garrett.”
Jackson smirked. “Which is probably the best way to get Ink to get his shit together.”
“Jackson.”
“What? I’m right.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You are messy.”
“Says the woman who’s best friends with Evan.”
Fair.
The teasing eased out of his face when he leaned closer. “Move in with me,” he said again, quieter now. “Let me take care of you. Let me take care of both of you. I know I don’t deserve how easy I’m asking this to sound, but I’m asking anyway.”
I looked at him and let myself see all of him at once.
The boy who had left and the man who had come back.
The father trying to learn seventeen years of Jade in a few weeks.
The man who had carried me out of Jude’s house with blood on his hands and terror buried so deep in his face I hadn’t understood until afterward how close he had come to breaking.
He leaned closer. “I can be more persuasive.”
Before I could answer, he kissed me. Slow. Warm. Careful around my split lip. His hand settled lightly at my waist while the other slid into my hair, and the kiss deepened by degrees until my body remembered exactly how dangerous his version of persuasion could be.
When he pulled back, my breathing had gone less cooperative. “That,” I said, trying for dignity, “was manipulative.”
His grin flashed. “Did it work?”
I held his gaze long enough to make him wait, though we both knew where this was headed. “Yes.”
His whole face opened. Hope looked younger on him than anything else did.
“Yes?” he repeated, like he needed to make sure pain medication hadn’t made me generous.
“Yes, Jackson.” A laugh slipped out at the way he lit up. “We’ll move in.”
He kissed me again, quicker this time, and I let him have the celebration before adding the practical truth. “Mostly because I love you, it probably is safer for Jade, and I like the idea of being closer to Blue.”
His hand came up to cup my face. “I love you too.”
I let the moment sit just long enough to make him comfortable. “But I hate that I won’t be as close to Evan.”
His eyes narrowed exactly the way I wanted. “You really know how to ruin a man’s moment.”
“I’m talented.”
He kissed my forehead with a low sound of resignation. “Evan will survive. Probably while wearing something dramatic and carrying muffins. I’m sure he’ll find a way to come over as often as possible.”
“Accurate.”
Jackson was clearly not done meddling. “And if Ink ever stops acting like a moody bastard with unresolved feelings, maybe Evan will be living in the house on the other side of us before you know it.”
I snorted. “There it is. Your matchmaking agenda.”
“It’s not an agenda.” He rose and held out his hand. “It’s pattern recognition.”
I took it. “That just sounds like military speak for exactly what I just said.”
Jackson threw his head back and laughed, then helped me to my feet with infuriating patience, adjusting his grip every time my face tightened. We had barely started toward the hallway when Jade’s bedroom door opened.
She took one look at us and narrowed her eyes. “What did you two just do?”
Jackson drew himself up in offended innocence. “Why do you assume we did anything?”
“Because your face looks like you won the lottery and Mom’s face looks like she knows exactly why.”
I covered my mouth with my good hand before the laugh could punish my ribs again.
Jade’s eyes widened with immediate understanding. “Oh my God. We’re moving in with him, aren’t we?”
Jackson blinked. “How did you get there that fast?”
“Please. I know your face now.”
Something softened in Jackson before he could hide it. “That is either heartwarming or terrifying.”
“Both,” I said.
Jade studied us another second, then grinned. Actually grinned. “Well,” she said, stretching the word out, “this should be fun.”
Jackson slid an arm carefully around my waist. “That did not sound reassuring.”
She pointed at him. “You wanted the two of us under one roof. This is on you.”
He looked at me for support he absolutely was not getting. “Did she always threaten people this cheerfully?”
“Pretty much.”
Jade headed for the kitchen. “I just think you should both know that if I catch any gross flirting before noon, I’m filing for emancipation.”
Jackson scoffed. “You’re dramatic.”
She stopped and looked back at him. “Says the man who’s been in my life five minutes and is already encouraging it.”
The line caught him for exactly one second. Then he looked at me, and I saw the same thing in his face I had felt when she called him Dad earlier. Five minutes. Seventeen years. Both true, neither big enough for what was happening between them now.
We started laughing at the same time.
Jade pointed between us from the kitchen doorway. “See? You’re already impossible together.”
Jackson shook his head. “You are gonna love living with me.”
“That confidence is embarrassing.” She disappeared into the kitchen, leaving him grinning after her.
I leaned into his side as carefully as my shoulder allowed. He kissed my temple. “Still want in on this life, Princess?”
I looked toward the kitchen, where Jade was rummaging for another donut less than two days after I had thought I might never see her again.
Then I looked at Jackson. This apartment had held years of the life Jade and I built together, and leaving it didn’t erase any of that.
It only meant we were choosing what came next.
“Yeah,” I said softly. “I do.”
Jade’s voice carried from the kitchen before Jackson could answer. “Can somebody answer their phones? Cage wants to know if he can help us move and says Dad probably should not be in charge of packing delicate things.”
Jackson shouted back without missing a beat. “Tell him I’m offended and he’s right.”
I laughed into his shoulder, and this time the sound didn’t feel borrowed from a better day. It belonged to this one, bruises and all.