Chapter 40 Jackson
Jackson
Well, that was excruciating. Jackson’s whole body glistens with sweat as he slides into the passenger seat of Charleigh’s car, heart thudding in his throat.
Jackson here can vouch for how good I am.
Could Ethan have outed him any more? Maybe it wasn’t obvious to Charleigh at all—his and Ethan’s palpable attraction—but whew, he was squirming. Big time. And then for Ethan to bring that up at the end…
“What did you mean when you told him you’d think about what he said?” Charleigh crinkles her nose at him as she drives through the pasture.
Ugh.
“Nothing, really. He just asked me if I could help him find some business. Like contacts and stuff, ya know. They’re obviously living hand to mouth—”
“Okay, okay, whatever. As you well know, I don’t want him making me any furniture. They are the enemies, ’member?”
Jackson twists in his seat, aims the air vent at his face.
“Even if he is cute.”
“He’s totally cute. C’mon.”
“Okay, but what’d you think about Luke?”
Jackson scratches the back of his neck. He wasn’t thinking about Luke; he was thinking—the entire few minutes they were in the woodshed—about Ethan.
Ethan’s perfect mouth on his cock. His hands on Ethan’s groin.
What he wants to do to Ethan next. While Charleigh was nosing about with the kid, the edges of Jackson’s vision went fuzzy as he stood, once again, in front of Ethan.
Ethan’s sly smile was the physical embodiment of a dare if there ever was one.
Daring Jackson to kiss him, right then and there, while no one was looking.
He took a step forward, causing Jackson to flinch back, giggling under his breath at Jackson’s reaction.
But no way he could ever let Charleigh find out what happened between them, what’s still happening between them, even if he wanted to take Ethan right then and there.
Ethan tipped his head toward Jackson, whispered, “Call me later tonight. I have to see you again. Soon as possible.” His voice scratchy in Jackson’s ear.
Jackson’s heartbeat jangled in his throat so violently that he could only nod dumbly.
And now he’s being ferreted away to the Boat House when all he wants to do is sink down on his sofa in the privacy of his own home, daydreaming about Ethan until it’s time to call him. Reliving every single second of it.
“Jackson!” Charleigh snaps, thwacks him on the thigh.
“Oh, sorry. Um, yeah, Luke? He seems…nice but edgy?”
“Exactly.” Charleigh punches the gas after she turns onto the highway, as if she can’t get to her next cocktail fast enough. “So he’d be perfect for Nellie. But I totally fumbled back there. Did you hear us?”
“No, I was playing nice with Ethan, keeping him out of your way. What happened?”
A ragged sigh oozes out of her. “He’s got a girlfriend. He said Nellie was cool, though, so there’s potential.”
“Except that he’s already dating someone—”
“Yeah, Nellie thinks it’s fucking Blair, even though she’s with the town football star. But she’s a little whore like her mother. I know for a fact Monica wants to mount Ethan. That’s the real reason she was out there today—”
“A fact, huh?”
“Okay, not a fact, just a suspicion.”
She best keep her grimy hands off him, Jackson thinks.
She swerves into the parking lot of the Boat House, tires shrieking underneath them.
“You ever thought about getting new friends?” he teases Charleigh.
“Naw, that’s what I got you for, honey.”
“Lucky me!” Jackson hoots.
“Hey!” she replies, mock hurt.
“So, if Luke is seeing Blair, then—” Jackson asks.
“Nellie seems unfazed by it. So—”
“So why did we go out there?”
Charleigh scoffs. “To investigate. Gather intel.”
“Poke around where you’re not wanted.”
“But yeah, and if he is with Blair, I will find a way to fuck that up. Free him up for Nellie.”
“You’re just as twisted as she is.”
“You’re damn right. But don’t think for a sec that Monica wants her precious baby dating that punk. So…”
Jackson pops open the door, sticks a leg out. “Enough! Being a parent is a mind fuck. Being a friend to a parent, an even bigger one.”
“That’s why the drinks are on me.”