‘Bout fucking time.
Mia waved at Jeff as he pulled out of her driveway before turning her attention to Jackson. “What was that about?”
“What?”
“The whole macho thing.”
“Whatever do you mean?”
Mia rolled her eyes. She opened her front door and stepped inside her house.
“Goodnight.”
But before she could close it, Jackson stepped inside after her. He knew she didn’t want him there, and it was obvious she was irritated with him. The crease between her eyebrows madeit clear as day. Normally, he wouldn’t try to irritate her, and he wasn’t trying now, but he needed to know how it went.
“Please, come on in. Enjoy yourself on thiswork night,” she said sarcastically.
He chuckled. “How was the date?”
“Good.”
Jackson didn’t know what he wanted her to say, but that response damn near gutted him. He cleared his throat.
“So you’re going to go out with him again?”
“That’s the plan.”
She walked down the hallway toward her bedroom, and he followed her. He stopped in her open doorway just as she was about to close the door.
“Um… excuse me. I need to change.”
“Oh.” He took a step back, not realizing where he was. “Yeah, sorry.”
She closed the door, and he immediately wondered what her panties looked like beneath her dress. Did she dress up for him in case something went further? He had seen Mia in a bikini, but never in her underwear. While one could argue they covered the same thing, there was something more intimate about seeing undergarments that not everyone else had the privilege of seeing. And knowing that there was a possibility she would have invited Jeff into her place and something could have happened had him clenching his jaw.
He didn’t like that thought at all.
Mia opened her bedroom door wearing sweatpants and a baggy T-shirt. She was just as beautiful in her casual clothes as she was in her sundress. There was no need for her to try. She was a natural beauty.
As he watched her walk down the hallway toward her living room, he followed and wondered when everything had changed. Was Miles right that it may have been there all along, and hejust hadn’t realized it? That he had been so terrified over losing his best friend that he had convinced himself they could never be more?
She sat down on her couch and turned on the TV. Jackson watched her for a minute before rubbing a hand across his jaw.
“Okay, well, have a good night.”
She looked at him in confusion. “You’re leaving?”
He shrugged. “Yep. It’s a work night, after all.”
He forced himself to walk away and went to her front door, only looking back at her confused face before giving her a small wave and leaving. Jackson immediately hopped into his truck and turned it on. Then he pulled up a text thread with his three brothers.
Jackson: You all were right. I want Mia. I need help.
He scrubbed a hand over his face. Admitting it felt good. It feltright. And now that he knew it, he needed to call in reinforcements. She had been seeing other people, and he couldn’t stand it anymore.
Noah: Do my eyes deceive me? Or did he just say we’re right?
Ethan: Pretty sure I see it, too. What changed your mind?
