Chapter 12 #2
She wasn’t usually here this early on a Friday. An hour ago, she’d been thrilled at having the extra time with Jack. Hell, ten minutes ago too. But now… Was Carolyn right? Would Jack be upset?
“Shit or get off the pot, little sis,” Carolyn snapped without malice. “You’re not the only one with a hot date tonight.”
Jenna went for the door handle, only to pause and turn back towards her sister. “Wait, did you just call my boyfriend ‘hot’?”
Carolyn snorted. “Get out of my car, Jenna! Your boyfriend is a fine piece of sixteen-year-old ass that will get me thrown in jail if I do more than look. Now, shoo.”
Jenna shook her head, knowing her sister didn’t mean anything by it. Jack was hot, but that wasn’t what attracted Jenna to him the most. No, that was his big heart and kind soul. But damn if those muscles of his weren’t just the icing on an already delicious cake.
Mrs. Zarin opened the door in time to wave to Carolyn as she backed out of the driveway.
Jenna embraced the older woman. As close as she’d gotten to Mrs. Zarin since Jack and Lilly had moved in, there were still boundaries.
Jenna and Jack were not allowed in the house alone together.
If they were in his room, the door had to be open.
Nothing more than a quick kiss in front of Lilly.
And absolutely no sex, be it under their roof or out of it.
When Mr. and Mrs. Zarin had sat Jenna and Jack down to discuss sex about six months ago, both Jack and Jenna had been mortified.
They weren’t either of their parents, but that did not help to make the conversation go any smoother.
Though Mr. Zarin had handed Jack a box of condoms, the older couple stressed as much as they could that Jack and Jenna wait for marriage.
Religion had not played a part in that request. They feared the tentative peace that had been formed between Jack and the Scanlons would be obliterated if Jenna’s parents learned they were having sex, even protected sex.
Since, legally, Jack and Lilly were still John Duncan’s kids, and the Zarins had no standing as their guardians, no one wanted to risk her parents doing something out of spite that could get Lilly and Jack put into foster care.
After the awkward sex talk with the Zarins, Jack and Jenna had one of their own.
While they had no immediate plans to take that step in their relationship, they also had agreed they would not allow the Zarins or her parents to dictate what was right for them.
If they felt the time was right for them, then they would take that step.
It was no one’s decision or business but their own.
Additionally, it wasn’t like they were planning on telling anyone if they did start sleeping together.
Jenna personally wasn’t sure she wanted to wait until marriage. When she and Jack had moments alone, their hands on each other’s bodies… It was getting harder and harder to stop. Jenna knew she wanted to do more between them, but hadn’t worked up the nerve to talk to Jack about it.
Plus, they were rarely alone.
Jenna loved Lilly, but there definitely was a difference between a date with Jack when it was just them and a date with Jack and Lilly tagging along.
Mrs. Zarin took a step back from their embrace. She looked Jenna up and down. “Jack’s not going to be happy.”
Jenna bit her lip in worry. “Carolyn said the same thing. You really think so?”
The older woman laughed, shaking her head. “It takes my Arnie a good week to notice with me. Maybe he won’t notice.”
Jenna wasn’t sure if she wanted him to know, based on Carolyn and Mrs. Zarin’s predictions. But, then again, she’d always been a rip-the-Band-Aid-off kind of girl. “Where is he?”
“Over here!”
Jenna looked to where Lilly had spoken. She was in the kitchen, staring out into the backyard.
She was kneeling on a kitchen table chair.
Her blonde hair was braided into two long pigtails with purple ribbons around the ends.
Jenna knew that Lilly absolutely loved having ‘a mom’ to help her with her hair now and Mrs. Zarin had been experimenting with different styles, too.
“Hi, Lilly,” Jenna greeted as she walked over.
Lilly glanced her way before quickly looking back out the window. She waved Jenna over to her with a rapid hand. “Come on! You don’t want to miss this!”
Intrigued, Jenna hurried over to the window. She leaned over, placing her shoulder against Lilly’s so they could both see out the pane.
Jenna’s. Jaw. Dropped.
With Halloween right around the corner, the Olympic Peninsula was cold. Snow had fallen a few times, though nothing was sticking just yet. Even walking from Carolyn’s car to the front door, Jenna had been bundled up against the chill that came with the setting sun.
Which made her feel like a total wimp now that she was watching the show being put on in the backyard.
Jack and Mr. Zarin were both wearing track suit bottoms—and nothing else.
Their feet, chests, and arms were bare. Jenna had seen Mr. Zarin without a shirt when they’d gone to the beach over the summer.
There was no denying he was a very fit man for his age.
But damn. Looking at him in the summer sun versus in the chilled fall dusk… Wow. Just wow. The man’s abs had abs.
Then there was Jack. He’d gone through two growth spurts since they started dating.
Last spring he’d grown four inches and then he shoot up even more in the last month.
She’d grown a little, too, but only an inch, while Jack was now over six feet tall!
After Mrs. Zarin had overheard Lilly say that she’d never had a doorframe marked with her height, the bathroom Lilly and Jack shared now had a ruler painted to the frame and pen marks to show Jack and Lilly’s heights.
Between the running, weightlifting, and eating properly, Jack’s young body was…
pure yumminess. Jenna might be biased, but then she had a right to be.
While his abs might be not as defined as Mr. Zarin’s, she had a sense of ownership of them.
Maybe it was because she’d watched them form over time or that she knew she would be the only woman who would ever touch them as her fingers longed to do now. Jack’s body was…hers.
Moisture pooled between her legs as she watched Jack and Mr. Zarin attack each other. Even though the ground was near frozen, they were not wearing shoes. Was it wrong of her to admire their bodies while questioning their sanity?
Both of them had a bamboo stick in each hand.
Jenna had seen them practicing with them before and knew they were a practice tool used in Filipino Martial Arts.
If she remembered correctly, Jack had called them ‘escrima sticks’.
However, when she’d seen them with the sticks before, they’d been moving slowly, going through the drills sometimes facing each other and sometimes side-by-side.
She knew that Mr. Zarin had learned to use them from his time in the Marines.
Now, though, they were not moving slowly.
They were attacking each other, moving all around the yard in quick, awe-inspiring motions.
Even with Jack’s growth spurts and added muscle, Mr. Zarin was still bigger and taller.
Jack was quicker, though, and younger. He was obviously the less trained of the two and Jenna had to wonder if Mr. Zarin was holding back.
As they sparred, Jenna saw Mr. Zarin’s mouth moving, like he was still instructing Jack.
Every once in a while, Jack would nod. He was entirely focused on Mr. Zarin and the sticks that were coming at him nail-bitingly fast from Jenna’s perspective.
The yard itself wasn’t huge, with a fence that separated the Zarins’ property from their neighbors.
A shed Jenna knew was Mr. Zarin’s work area was to one side and a swing set had been added after the Zarins’ church had gotten a new playset donated.
The small back porch had a grill and a lounge set, which were already missing the cushions in preparation for the winter.
Walking stones cut through the grass that lead from the back steps to the shed.
When Jack tripped and started to fall backwards, Mr. Zarin sprang forward and caught him by the forearm. They laughed and then Jack righted himself. Mr. Zarin patted Jack on the shoulder before pointing behind him to the window where their audience was watching in rapt fascination.
The smile on Jack’s face when he saw that Jenna was one of them had her heart stuttering in her chest like it was their first time meeting. She hoped she never lost that feeling.
“Well, that’s the end of that,” Lilly huffed as she got up off of the chair. “He’s going to be too distracted by you now to keep going.” She righted herself. “It was fun while it lasted though.” Then her eyes narrowed. “What did you do to your hair?”
Jack barely registered Mr. Zarin’s chuckle. “Go get your girl, son. I’ll clean up here.”
Jack ran. Bolting across the yard, over the stones, up the stairs, and through the back door into the kitchen. Fuck, he loved Fridays. Loved Saturdays even more. Sundays, well, they had good and bad mixed in, but he would still take them because they had Jenna.
She was wearing a cute little Eskimo-like outfit with a white, wide shoulder sweater, a fur covered vest, jeans, and fur-lined boots. Christ, she was a vision.
He pulled her immediately to him, needing her in his arms. To feel her and know that she was back where she belonged…
and to hide the erection he was now sporting.
His exercise clothes did absolutely nothing to hide his growing problem.
It was something he’d had to fight to control over the past year.
At least jeans somewhat hid the issue, but sweats and nylon pants had no hope whatsoever.