AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 1
Abigail
September
Holy.Shit. I can’t believe Jackson just got punched in the fucking face. Of course, I’ve wanted to do it plenty of times, but I’m stunned it finally happened. And by Aiden, no less. As mad as I am at the big oaf for blaming this whole terrible night on Jackson and me, I can kind of see where he was coming from. I get it. He completely flipped his shit, finding his girlfriend balled up on the bathroom floor of a bar that Jackson and I took her to, but I won’t be blamed for Aiden’s actions. Lindsey wanted to go to a bar after not feeling safe enough to step foot outside her apartment after her kidnapping. She’s slowly been taking walks and trying to leave more, but she’s always had her knight in shining armor with her. I support my girl in all her ideas. This one just didn’t work out the way any of us expected. Even though I have violent urges toward Jackson from time to time, this has gone too far. Time for the adults (me) to take charge.
I stand from the couch that Jackson toppled into after Aiden decked his ass and square my shoulders. I’m not about to be talked down to like a piece of dirt on the bottom of Aiden’s shoe.
“Fuck you for making me stand up for him, but Jackson didn’t deserve that. And neither do I, for that matter. You aren’t the only person who cares about her, Aiden. If you think I won’t be beating myself up for this for the foreseeable future, then you are sadly mistaken. Come on, Jackson.”
I hoist Jackson up like a damn sack of potatoes, not to be confused with the bag of dicks I often tell him to eat and carry a huge portion of his weight to the door as Aiden glares menacingly at us. My patience is wearing pretty thin with Captain America right about now.
Walking out into the muggy night air is just making me more irritated with this whole night. I hate being uncomfortable in this weather. It reminds me of all the nights growing up in the South, having to lug around whatever jock boyfriend I had at the time when they were too drunk after a big win or a big loss. But a good girlfriend would never leave her man to deal with his own drunken stupidity.Heaven forbid, right?
I unwrap Jackson’s arm from around my shoulder when we get to my car. “Get in, I’ll take you home.”
Jackson is rubbing his jaw, staring at the apartment window that faces the street. “It’s fine, She-Devil. I can call a driver.”
Though the barb is on par with our usual jabs, it’s obvious his pride is hurt by almost having been knocked out. Don’t ask me why I care at the moment. Maybe seeing my sister from another mister have a meltdown and being powerless to stop it has something to do with my not entirely hateful feelings toward Jackson. Or maybe I’m falling into old habits. Either way, it seems like I should at least give the man a damn ride.
“Shut up, Little Hayes, and get in the damn car.”
Jackson glares at me for a moment before ripping the door open and sitting down in a huff. Oh, his pout game is strong right now.
“Listen, I know you’re probably feeling all kinds of emasculated right now, but you have got to learn how to read a room. What were you thinking, goading Aiden like that?”
Jackson has quite the mouth on him, but I thought for sure he and Aiden had worked out some of their differences. Plus, he should know not to poke that particular bear.
“I really don’t feel like a lecture from you right now, Chucky. I have enough on my mind.” Jackson is looking out the window, speaking without the usual heat behind his insults. This is a side of Jackson I haven’t seen before.
I don’t know how to handle this quiet, introspective person sitting next to me.
Deciding to zip my lips as we drive to his apartment, I feel the weight of regret of the events of tonight.
I glance at Jackson. “You know this wasn’t our fault, right? Aiden was totally out of line blaming us.”Right?
He looks back at me with regret swimming in his turbulent blue eyes. “No. I don’t know that. She wasn’t ready, and he’s right, we should have never agreed to go to a bar with her.” He squeezes his eyes shut and lets out a pained sigh. “I just keep seeing her on the floor in that bathroom, having a full-blown panic attack. We had a part in that. No matter how out of line Aiden may have been tonight, he hit the nail on the head with that one.”
I’ve never known Jackson to take responsibility like this with anything. The playboy that we have all come to know, and in my case hate, actually feels guilty about something.
“Then what was all that back there then about Aiden being the fun police?” I ask him, completely taken off guard.
Jackson shakes his head, and a self-deprecating chuckle escapes his full lips. “Just doing what I do, I guess. Deflection at its finest.” He shrugs as we pull up to his apartment.
“I know you hate me and all, but how about a drink? I could certainly use one and since you took just as much of Aiden’s wrath tonight, aside from being punched, I figure you could as well.”
He’s looking at me as if he actually cares about my emotional state. Maybe he’s trying to help, or maybe he doesn’t want to be alone right now. But I know one thing, Jackson Hayes has very good and very expensive taste in wine.
I park my car and turn the engine off. “Sure, why not.”Into the lion’s den I go.
I’ve never been inside Jackson’s apartment before. I take a look around when he leads me through the front door into his living room. What strikes me most is how sterile everything looks. Like his designer looked in a magazine and picked out what anyone would consider “hot rich-guy chic.” There are no family pictures or personal anything in here. Just black-and-whiteblah. Except for the massive wine fridge in his kitchen. Yeah, that’s something someone definitely spent time thinking about.
Jackson walks into his kitchen, which is open to the rest of the space, and grabs a couple glasses before making his way to the vast selection of wine. I follow him and open his freezer, searching for ice or a bag of frozen peas, something to put on his face. Of course, all I find are those fancy giant balls of ice to put in a cocktail. Figures.
“What are you doing?” he asks curiously as I take out some ice and go through his drawers, looking for something to wrap it in. Aha. I find a drawer full of tea towels. Wasn’t expecting that.
“You need to ice your face so it doesn’t swell to the size of your already huge head,” I say, walking over to him with my makeshift ice pack and handing it to him.
