42. Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-One
Jackson
I tried calling Sire, but my calls are going to voicemail for some reason. Not letting that stop me, I go to his house and Vidia opens for us.
“Hey, Jackson.” She smiles up at me before I give her a hug.
“Hey, V.” I kiss her cheek as Belle rushes past me. “Excuse me?” I turn to her as she searches for the dog. “What do you say to Titi?”
She quickly turns on her heels to hug her aunt. “Hi, where’s Athena?”
Vidia laughs at her before kissing the top of her head. “She’s taking a nap, beba, but you can wake her up. I need to feed her soon.”
“Oh, I can give her a treat.”
“Okay.” Vidia laughs at her excitement. “You know where the treats are, but don’t give her too many. She needs to have dinner.”
She takes off to get the dog.
When Vidia turns to me, her smile falls. “You okay?”
I’m not, but I’m not about to tell her about my mother, so I nod in return. Stepping further in, she closes the door behind me. “Is Sire here? I was hoping you two could watch Belle for a few hours. I know it’s last minute, but I—”
“Jackson, it’s okay,” she says with a laugh. “You can drop her off at any time without notice, you know that.”
“Thank you.” My shoulders sag. “I’m going out and I can pick her up later tonight, but she begged me to let her sleepover. I already have her bag since she was originally going to sleep at my mom’s, but if you’d rather me get her, I can.”
“Jackson, please stop.” She laughs at me as she walks over to her couch. “Why do you act like she’s never slept here every time you drop her off? Of course she can spend the night.”
I smile at her as I sink onto her couch. “I just feel bad and I worry about her too much when I’m not around.”
Understanding covers her face. “That makes sense, but I promise she’s okay here.”
I nod, knowing she’s right.
“Are you going out with a girl or is this for work?” She smiles again as she glances over at my suit and I feel a blush meet my face.
“It’s work.”
She nods to herself as she picks up the remote and turns to her TV. “So I’m crazy and there’s not anything going on between you and Lis.”
My blush deepens and she turns to me with the brightest smile.
“I knew it.” She nearly squeals.
“Does Sire know?” I glance over her shoulder but she shakes her head.
“He doesn’t and he’s not here,” she reassures me. “I’m sure he has his suspicions, though. It was very obvious after you beat up that guy at her place.” She watches me carefully but I rise from my seat before she can interrogate me.
“Thank you for watching Belle.”
“Mhm.” She rises to her feet. I call out to Belle and she comes out with Athena by her side, the huge dog nearly her height.
“Titi said you can spend the night, but behave yourself.” I kneel to kiss her.
“I will.” She kisses my cheek and tries to walk away, but I pull her in for a hug.
When I hug her for too long, she pushes me away. “Dad, just go, I’m fine.”
“Don’t be mean. I’m going to miss you.” I smother her some more.
“It’s one night.” She tries to shove me away when I keep her close.
“Are you sure you want to sleep over? I can pick you up later and—”
“ Go .” She guides me to the door, pushing my legs. “I already know you’re going to change your mind and take me back like always .” She rolls her eyes dramatically and I have to bite back a laugh.
“You’re not going to miss your dad?” I tease, but she ignores me. “You’re hurting my feelings, Belle. Aren’t you going to miss me so, so much?”
“Oh my fucking goodness ,” she mumbles.
I stop in my tracks before turning to her and her entire face drops at my glare.
“Watch it,” I warn. “Who even says that?” I ask, knowing I’ve never said that phrase around her.
“Uncle Sigh,” she trails off, her guilty eyes on me.
“Stop repeating people. You’re not a parrot.” I’m going to kick my best friend’s damn ass. “Behave for Titi V. Your uncle will be back soon and do not ask him for sweets for dinner.”
“Okay.” She watches me carefully, but I decide not to ruin her night by sending her to bed early.
Beside us, Vidia stifles a laugh as she walks me to the door.
“I’m going to kill your boyfriend,” I say, quiet enough for Belle not to hear.
“Not if he kills you first.” She gives me a knowing look. “You’re a good man, so I know Lis is being taken care of, but if this goes left, he won’t even try to hear your side of things. His relationship with Lis is completely different from that of his other siblings. Don’t hurt her.”
I only nod as she opens the door for me, knowing I wouldn’t dream of hurting her.
Grabbing the bag from the passenger seat, I head upstairs, my excitement building. I know I saw Lissy yesterday when she left my house, but I haven’t spoken to her since then, and while I’m fully aware that my attachment issues are latching onto her, I again, don’t care. I like being around her, I like having her in my space with her laughs and messy room.
I knock on her door eagerly, and when Sire opens it, my smile drops.
His brows furrow as he looks back at me before he takes in the suit I’m in for the charity event.
“Hey.” I force a smile.
“Hi?” He rightfully still looks confused.
“I’m taking your sister on a date.” I rip the bandaid off. I’m not doing the whole hide from her brother thing anymore. The anxiety and guilt might kill me.
He looks even more confused before I see him putting the pieces together in his head. He lets out a scoff as he completes the puzzle he just made up.
“You’re a fucking dirtbag.” He turns away, and I was expecting him to slam the door in my face, so this is a huge win.
I follow him into the apartment and notice they’re packing her art, but I don’t question that as I focus on Sire.
“Before you get mad—”
“I’m not going to get mad, Jackson.” He sinks into the couch, and I don’t miss how tired he already sounds of this conversation. “I’ve spent enough energy being mad about Sage and Liam and it was for nothing because now I’m incredibly happy for them. You wanna take Lis out on a date? Marry her while you’re at it. She’s always wanted to marry a rich man. I’m sure her spiritual ass will say I manifested this.”
I let out a scoff. “Okay, we both know you’re not this supportive. August? Absolutely. You? Never.”
He simply shrugs.
“You actually don’t care?”
“Oh, I care. I’m just not going to waste my energy telling you how much I care since you don’t and clearly don’t have enough respect for this friendship to tell me, and don’t say some bullshit like, I just told you. You only told me because I happen to be here.”
He’s not wrong about that last part.
“I do respect you as a friend. I felt like shit not telling you.”
“Okay.” He doesn’t say anything else and calm Sire is scarier than angry Sire.
I open my mouth to say something, but he beats me to it.
“I trusted you to keep an eye on her because she was mentally vulnerable and you were moving in on her the whole time?” He lets out a scoff. “You’re a fucking asshole.”
I try to get a word in, but he doesn’t let me.
“I really don’t want to hit you right now, Jackson, so please stop talking to me.”
I disregard his warning. “That’s not what happened. You know I’m not that kind of man.”
“Clearly,” he mumbles, turning back to the painting he’s packing.
“Sire—”
“Just drop it.” He rises from the couch. “I didn’t sleep last night for this girl. I’m not her dad, and this isn’t worth me and Lis fighting over.” He rolls his eyes like he genuinely does not give a single shit about me, and I think him not caring hurts more than if he was mad. It’s as if I’m not worth his energy.
He walks into the kitchen as Lisette walks out of her room with a smile that can replace the sun and light up the Earth.
“I found him!” She holds up her turtle, and when I see the tear tracks on her face, it’s clear she freaked out about losing him.
A smile reaches my face at how damn cute she is in her messy bun and oversized hoodie that I think belongs to her brother.
When she notices me, her face morphs into confusion. “Hi?”
“Hello.” I close the distance between us, but I don’t kiss her because I refuse to kick my best friend while he’s already down. Instead, I hand her the bag in my hand. “Get dressed. You have half an hour to get ready.”
If she was anyone else, I would’ve given her more time, but traffic was worse than I accounted for and I know she doesn’t need much time to get ready.
Her brows furrow as she looks down at my outfit and the bag in my hand. “I’m busy.”
“Yeah.” I look around the room. “What’s going on? Are you sending your art somewhere?”
“Yup.” She lights up again and I think my new favorite thing is this woman’s happiness. “You’ve missed a lot .”
“You can tell me all about it after getting dressed.” I push the bag to her, but she doesn’t take it.
“What do I need to get dressed for?”
“We’re going on a date.”
Her face is dripping in disgust and I try very hard not to be offended. She glances over at Sire, and when I turn to him, he shrugs.
“He told me. You can marry rich like I suggest and never work again.” He sounds so monotone, that I’m actually concerned.
“Is he okay?” I mumble.
Lisette rolls her eyes. “We were up all night. He doesn’t do well on zero hours of sleep.” She waves him off before turning back to me. “We’re not going on a date,” she states so casually before walking to her room and I follow close behind.
“Why not?”
She turns her head to the side as if I should know the answer to that. “JJ.”
I wait for her to add more, but that’s all she says.
“Lissy,” I say like she did, turning my head to the side.
She stifles a laugh as she walks over to her turtle tank and sets Piglet in.
“We’re dating,” she states. “I’m doing the trying thing. Belle thankfully hasn’t brought up marriage since Thanksgiving and it’s definitely too soon for that, but she’s cute, so I’m letting it slide. However , we don’t need to go on dates and do the whole romantic thing.”
I roll my eyes at her fear of affection. “Get dressed. You have twenty-seven minutes.” I sit on her bed.
“Where are we even going?” She holds up the white silk dress I got her.
“Charity event.”
She lowers the dress to look at me. “The one you have with Rome ?”
I nod. “This is a work event. Not a date .”
“So you’ll come.”
“No.” Her face scrunches in disgust again. “There’s going to be a bunch of rich people there.”
“I’m a rich person.”
“My point exactly. I don’t want to be around a bunch of yous.”
I stare at her blankly as she bites back a laugh. “You have twenty-four minutes.”
“It has not been three minutes.”
“I’ll buy a new watch since I’m so rich,” I deadpan. “Don’t make me tell you to get dressed again.”
“ Don’t make me tell you to get dressed again ,” she mocks.
“You’re such a dad ,” we both say it at the same time, me mocking her, and she breaks into a laugh.
“Go,” we both say again, her mocking me this time and I bite back my smile. “ Seriously, Lisette ,” our voices sync, hers deepening.
I rise from the bed, and she takes off running into her closet with a laugh.