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“Jackson?”
He blinked. “Yeah, sorry.”
“Scotch on the rocks?”
Jackson nodded and poured out Oleander’s drink. He handed it to her and grabbed himself a fresh beer. “Wanna go somewhere a little less…this?”
“Yes.” She said it almost as soon as he finished his question and Jackson smiled, holding his hand out to Oleander.
She slid her hand into his and Jackson led the way out to the large balcony. This felt so easy, because they’d done it so many times before. There were a few people scattered around, but he kept moving until they got to the other end. Jackson watched as she smoothed her skirt and sat down, crossing one leg over the other before he sat opposite her.
They were silent for a moment, the sounds of music and conversations from around them filling the space. Jackson had so many questions and so many things to say, but he didn’t want to overwhelm her. He wanted to give her time to get comfortable talking to him again.
“What made you quit?” Jackson asked the question as Oleander said, “How have you been?”
They laughed, shaking their heads. Oleander gestured for him to go as she took a sip of her drink.
“Why did you quit?”
“I was exhausted all the time. Besides, dancing is more fun and I make more money too.”
Jackson nodded. “I’m happy to hear that. I’m sure everyone at the Barrel misses you.”
“I doubt it,” Oleander told him with a tight smile.
“So, Frankie and Milo.”
Oleander snorted and Jackson glanced at her. “I should’ve known they’d fall into bed together.”
“He’s constantly attached to his phone too, it’s impossible to have a conversation with him.”
“She indulges me in all the sex she’s having, so…” Oleander shuddered.
“I’m sorry.” The words came out in a rush and Jackson was confused how it had come out of his mouth without his knowledge. But obviously he didn’t want to talk about Frankie and Milo. Not when he finally had time with Oleander. This was aboutthem, not their friends.
“Neither of us can stop Frankie from talking about her sex life—“
“Not about that.” Jackson interrupted with a shake of his head. “Iamhappy for them. But, I’m sorry for the way I behavedthat night.”
Oleander went still and Jackson watched her hand tighten around her glass. He looked up and found her watching him, and all he wanted to do was hold her. Assure her that he wasn’t going to hurt her, but he knew he had so much more to say before he did anything. The way she was staring at him made him feel like she could see his soul and Jackson felt unsettled.
But this was good, he needed to be uncomfortable. It was the only way he would say everything and admit to Oleander he was wrong.
“You were right, about everything. About Beth’s behavior, about my lack of support, about…fuck,everything.” He sighed. “While I don’t support my sister’s words or her behavior, I brushed it off like it meant nothing. Even though she was hurting you.”
Oleander cleared her throat, but Jackson kept going.
“We had a family meeting and we confronted Beth,” Jackson explained, glancing at Oleander and saw her eyes widen. “Keleigh filmed the entire thing and shared it with my parents, who then gave Beth a piece of their mind. Brandon did too and I’ve never seen him so angry with Beth before.”
Jackson was still so amazed that Keleigh had caught it all. Because it was enough proof for the family and the push Jackson needed to make sure he never made that mistake again.
“And I did, as well,” he added softly. “I’d been reading about racism and learning about it before I saw my family. When Beth accused me of standing there and doing nothing, I realized she was right. I didn’t stand up for you, but I finally found my voice and it was a lot. I walked out of the house because I was so angry with her for brushing it all off like it meant nothing.”
A weird sound came out of Oleander. “Oh god, I broke your family.”
Jackson shook his head. “We did this to ourselves. It’s not like we’ve been oblivious to Beth’s leanings, we got comfortable ignoring it. Because it wasn’t affecting anyone we knew. Which is worse. We wereenablingher racism and I hate that we let it get this far.”
“Now what?”
