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It took a few seconds for me to realize that the song was over. Knowing that I needed to do something to show I was okay with being Rick-rolled, I applauded for a few seconds. Jackson smiled with what looked like surprised relief as he pulled out the chair next to me and sat down.
“I thought you went to school for communications,” I joked.
His sensual lips quirked up at either end. “I’m a man of many talents. I majored in communication and minored in smooth moves.”
“Very minor,” I deadpanned.
He tilted his head to the side and studied me for several seconds. “You’re not trying to maim me and you don’t look like you’re about to explode, either. You seem… happy,” he said finally. “Content.”
The way he looked me over made me feel prickly and warm all over.
“I’m happy,” I confirmed, “although I’m a little worried about you. Do you often show up at restaurants to serenade diners?”
“Normally only on the first and third Thursdays of each month,” Alec interjected.
I’d been so tuned in on Jax that I’d forgotten that Alec and Caroline were next to us. When I glanced over at them I noticed that they both looked surprised that he and I were talking without tension. The fact was that Jackson and I knew how to talk without arguing. We’d had no choice but to figure it out since our families were so interconnected. Hell, we took a family vacation together every year through the end of high school. Granted I was a bitch to him whenever our families weren’t around, but I’d surely known how to behave when they were. That said, I’d gone out of my way not to speak to him unless one or all of our parents were watching, so the looks of disbelief on our friends’ faces were understandable.
“Don’t worry,” I directed at them, “there’s not going to be any bloodshed.”
“Well fuck me like you hate me and call me Debbie, I believe we’re witnessing something as important as the change from X-Rated DVD’s to streaming porn,” Alec laughed.
I barked out a laugh of disbelief. “How is this at all relatable to porn?”
Alec grinned and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. “I’m just saying that the transition to streaming was huge, and so is this.”
“Excuse him, he doesn’t get out a lot,” Jax interjected in a wry voice.
“And now we know that’s because he spends too much time locked in his bedroom streaming porn,” Caroline snickered.
We were still laughing about that as the waitress arrived at our table with the bill. When Jax reached out to take it, I smacked his hand. “Don’t even think about it, buddy.”
He held his hands up in surrender and sat back while Caro and I each chipped in for our portion of the bill as well as a generous tip. No sooner had we closed the leather folio and set it back on the table did Jax speak up.
“What’re you ladies doing for the rest of the night?”
Before I could answer, Caroline did. “Getting shitfaced and running nude up and down Main Street,” she said in a matter-of-fact voice.
Obviously she was joking. I actually had plans, but she probably hadn’t retained where I needed to go. Even as I rolled my eyes and laughed, I didn’t miss the way Alec’s hungry eyes swept over Caroline. I fought back the victorious grin that wanted to spread across my cheeks.
“As fun as that sounds, how about you come out with us for the night?” Jackson offered.
My stomach fluttered with excitement at the offer. I wasn’t even sure why, really. Jax had asked me to go places with him dozens, or probably hundreds, of times. The difference was that this time I was going to flip the script—if he could accommodate the one commitment I had for the night.
“I have somewhere I need to be at eight o’clock,” I began. As I spoke, Jackson’s expression fell.
“But,” I continued, “you guys can tag along or meet up with us after.”
“We’ll tag along,” Jackson answered without hesitation.
“Cool. Who’s driving?” I asked.
The looks of disbelief on Jax’s, Caroline’s, and Alec’s faces about how easily I’d given in were priceless.
3
Jackson
As I pulled into Chloe’s driveway and parked behind her white Jetta, I made a mental note to grab Alec a case of beer the next time I went to the store. He’d been the genius who suggested that I follow her home—ostensibly so that I could say hi to my uncle Leo—while he followed Caroline home and took her back to our apartment complex.
The plan was to meet up in the parking lot of the building Alec and I both rented apartments in, after which I’d drive us wherever we were going. Since that meant I’d have Chloe all to myself on the drive from her house to mine, I was all about it.
