Chapter 9
Francesca
Ipeek out my front curtain and notice Adam's truck is at Jackson's house. He must have stopped in right from work. I already saw Britt and Bobby walk over. She sent me a text earlier to make sure I was coming. She’s been checking on me more and more, making sure I’m okay with everything.
Living across from my long-time crush and now working on the festival with him, I’m sure she’s waiting for me to have a breakdown.
I knew I was going to agree to Jackson's plan the minute he proposed it. And really, when my dad brought it up at dinner the other night, I thought about it then. I thought about how I could help him because I want him to succeed. Football is his life, his love.
His only love.
There’s no room for anything else that serious.
I check myself in the mirror once more, happy with my jeans that make my ass look great and a blue tank that is casual enough to make it look nice without looking like I’m trying overly hard.
I adjust my ponytail; grab the bottle of wine I had chilling and head out my front door, down the porch and onto the street.
Taking a deep breath and crossing the proverbial ‘too late to turn back now’ line, I walk up the steps to Jackson’s house and knock on the door. Britt opens the door and pulls me into a hug. The house is loud, everyone is laughing and messing around.
“Hey girl, you look hot!” She eyes me up and down. “What’s the occasion?” She raises a brow.
I knock into her shoulder with mine. “Knock it off and stop reading into things.”
“Whatever you say,” she says as she grabs my hand and drags me into the kitchen.
Jackson's house is about the same layout as mine. But his kitchen is larger and has a long middle island with stools all around it. He’s got stainless steel appliances and the entire back wall of his home has windows with sliding glass doors that showcase his back yard which has a brick patio with a built in BBQ, a pool, gorgeous wicker furniture set and strings of white lights strung up all along the patio.
Elegant and tasteful, not overdone. For being a superstar in the NFL, he doesn’t flash it around.
I'm really beginning to think that those stories of him were highly fabricated.
“Chessy!” Adam comes and grabs me in a hug, lifting me off my feet.
I slap him on the back. “You just saw me three hours ago, you fool!”
The twins come and kiss me hello and Jackson walks over with a glass of wine for me. He gives me a wink, then turns back to check the oven.
“You cook?” I’m shocked. He could burn water growing up.
“Don’t look so surprised! When I moved into my own house with my first paycheck, I taught myself. There’s only so much pizza you can order.”
“He’s a pretty damn good grill master. It’s why we always BBQ over here,” Billy adds.
“Yeah, and you’re a cheapskate and don’t like to clean up, so you dine and dash at my place.”
Billy just shrugs his shoulders and grabs another beer.
Pretty soon, everyone heads outside to the patio and grabs a seat. Jackson sits at the head of the table, everyone filling in around him. I walk out and Britt scoots down so I can slide in next to her, with Jackson on my left. I give her the eye and she just smiles and begins passing plates.
"So, Billy, how was your date with Carla?" Jackson asks.
"Clara." He thinks for a second. “Carol? Yea, definitely Carol," he grins. "She was a good time, fun, adventurous.” He wiggles his brows, and we all groan.
"Is she finally going to be a repeat?"
Billy is the resident stud, love 'em and leave 'em, he's always respectful but he doesn’t do second dates. Ever. I'm surprised he’s able to meet new women. I’m unsure where his inability to settle down came from. Maybe he’s living up to the hype of our last name. A Casanova, through and through.
He looks at me like I've got three heads. I put my hands up in defense and laugh. “Just asking bro! I can't wait for the day some woman walks in here and knocks you on your ass."
"Don’t you threaten me. I’m never settling down." We all laugh at him.
"You’re going to run through every chick in the County if you keep it up."
We fall into a comfortable night of eating, talking, and laughing. It’s so good to be here with everyone. I’ve missed my family.
“So, there is a reason I invited you guys here tonight. I have something to tell you all. Well, we have something to tell you.” I look up and he’s looking at me. I glance at the rest of the table and they’re all staring at us. Britt is the only one smiling.
Jackson stands, getting a little closer to me, and puts his hand protectively around the back of my neck. It feels like ownership. And boy, do I want to be owned by him. A shiver runs through me.
“Noches and I are pregnant!” he yells.
Chaos erupts. Britt squeals.
“What the hell!” Tommy yells.
“No fucking way!” Adam rages, dragging his chair back from the table and stands.
A dinner roll is thrown and hits Jackson square in the chest.
I stand up. “Jesus, Jackson. Seriously?” I pick up the roll and throw it back at Billy. “Don’t throw food, you child!” I point at Adam “You. Don’t say another word. Sit down.”
“Adam? Am I not good enough for your sister?” he smirks, and I realize then he must have a death wish.
“Jackson. I warned you.”
Later, when I can think clearly, I’ll question that statement.
“Everyone, stop. I am not pregnant.” I look at Jackson and say to him, “Are you serious right now?”
He laughs. “What? I figured break them in with that and then, when we tell them the truth, they won’t be mad.”
I roll my eyes and sit down, pulling him back into his seat, too.
“If everyone would calm down, I’ll explain what’s really going on.”
Everyone sits, but Adam is still boiling, and I’m still left wondering what was with the warning comment?
“I’ve decided to try my hand at PR one last time and help Jackson out with his image.
His agent suggested he try a different approach to clearing the bad boy persona, we spoke about it, and I agreed to help. ”
I look towards Adam, who is still red in the face, fists clenched. “Adam, you and dad actually said this was a good idea.”
“I didn’t think you’d actually do it!”
“It’s not a big deal,” I reply. “We’ve all been friends for years; we can pull this off. It’s just pretend, fake dating for a few weeks until he gets noticed enough for doing the right things and can get a new image attached to his name.”
Adam is leering at both of us. “Pull what off exactly?”
“And where do we come into all this?” Tommy asks.
Jackson speaks up. “We’re going to announce ourselves as girlfriend and boyfriend.
We wanted you guys to know so you could confirm our relationship.
We’re not asking you to go out of your way to say we’re together, but if you’re questioned, confirm it.
Also, we’re going to take some pics, post on social media, all of us, like we always have done, but now add in some pics of the two of us together. ”
Britt jumps up, grabbing her phone, obviously excited over this recent development. “Let’s do one right now! And come up with a great hashtag to kick it off right!”
Adam groans and is still giving Jackson the death look. I’m nervous about their little interaction. I try not to look eager, but to be honest, I am kind of looking forward to playing the part. Even though it will most likely kill me in the end, I would do whatever Jackson needs me to do for him.
We all gather around the table and Billy grabs Britt's phone to take a selfie of us all.
“Say ORGY!” Everyone laughs, and he snaps a few pictures as we all eventually look the same way. Britt takes the phone back and in a swift second already has a picture uploaded and tagged of us all on Instagram with the hashtag #oldfriendsnewflame.
I smile when I view it and glance up to see Jackson already watching me.
Our group slowly quiets down, and Jackson leans over and quietly says, “I want to be better. Better than what they think I am,” he states, still staring at me, answering the question I asked him earlier, of whether he thinks he’s better or wants to be better.
I hold his stare and reply, “Then we’re going to do just that.”
After a while, the boys are all hanging around the fire and I’ve taken it upon myself to clean up Jackson’s kitchen.
He told me not to, but I can’t just sit around with all this nervous energy.
We’re really doing this. Our family knows and though it’s pretend, I can’t help but feel the butterflies and wonder how I’m going to fake this, when it’s been real for me all along.
Britt comes in and stands next to me, tucking the lone piece of hair hanging behind my ear.
“You sure you’re okay with this?” I avoid her eyes but can feel them burning into the side of my head.
I give a quick ‘yup’ in reply and keep washing.
She softly grabs my arm. “Really?” I turn off the tap, wipe my hands on the towel next to me, turn to face her, and lean against the counter.
“I’ve felt a certain way for years. Might as well get to showcase it for a few weeks. ”
‘I’m glad you’re finally acknowledging it out loud.” She gives me a sad smile.
“I know you think this is a bad idea…”
“No! I don’t, actually. I think this is going to be a good thing. He’s going to see what I’ve known for years.”
“And what’s that?”
“He likes you.”
I scoff at her, but she cuts me off. “No, really. I think he’s got it in his head that because you’re Adam's little sister, you’re off limits. And maybe when we were young, I would run with that idea, but we’re all grown adults now. Why hold back on something that makes us happy?”
That’s just it. He makes me happy, but can I make him happy? Happy enough to stay? And if I make him happy, can my brothers be happy for us?