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Chapter Twenty-Two
To most people, this wouldn’t be considered as a surprise, but she knew Jackson would appreciate it. It was a 30 minute drive to Wilmington, which was why Ollie had asked him to meet her during lunch. They’d get there with time to get food and see Niles.
Since she left Jackson’s apartment on Sunday, Ollie had been texting Niles to ask where he’d be since the food truck festival was over. He told her they would be in Wilmington for a few days before the weekend took him somewhere else. So after Jackson agreed to spend the day with her, Ollie texted Niles to let him know they were coming.
“You could have said we’re going to Wilmington.”
“You would have asked me what’s in Wilmington.”
“And you could have deflected,” Jackson chuckled and stretched a hand out to rest it on her thigh, his fingers brushing against her skin.
It really felt natural. Like spending all of Sunday with him despite how nervous she was at first. And now in his car, Ollie was half turned towards him, staring at Jackson as he drove. His shirt sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and Ollie found the dusting of hair on his arms and the muscles so distracting. He’d chosen to play some classic rock station, but she wasn’t listening to the music. She was focused on the beating of her heart and the warmth of Jackson’s hand on her thigh.
Putting her hand over his, Ollie reminded herself that this could be good. Eventually, she’d have to tell Jackson the truth about Pierce. So he’d understand what it was about sex with men that made her so nervous. Jackson had been so good, listening and asking questions, doing things to make her comfortable as opposed to whathewanted.
Part of the reason why she took so long to get in touch with him was because she was coming to terms with what all of this meant. He’d wooed the fuck out of her and it had ended with them in bed all weekend. She hadn’t done that in a really long time. After Pierce, there was a brief fling with a woman named Holliday which was the last time Ollie had spent a weekend with someone she had feelings for.
Until Jackson.
Being with him still scared her, because she was worried that once he saw the ugly parts, he would retreat. He didn’t think her curves were too much or her rolls were ugly; Jackson seemed to like all the parts that Ollie took years to come to terms with. He’d spent hours on Sunday tracing her body, following her curves and licking along parts she didn’t think about. And even now, he looked at her like she hung the damn moon.
Jackson turned his hand over, linking their fingers and squeezed. Ollie smiled, resting her head against the seat as the corner of Jackson’s mouth tipped up in a smile.
“What are you thinking about so hard?”
“You,” Ollie told him honestly, still smiling as he glanced at her. “Me. Us. All of it.”
“Do you wanna tell me more?”
“I’ve never gotten this attached to someone before or this fast. It scares me.”
“Why?” Jackson looked genuinely puzzled and Ollie nibbled on her bottom lip as she thought about the right way to answer his question.
“We talked about my lack of trust in relationships, right? I don’t ever feel like the person I’m with is actuallywithme. I always feel like I’m putting more into it,” she sighed and looked down at his paler hand against her brown skin, the contrast so evident. “I don’t feel that with you. And because it’s this new feeling, I don’t know how to handle it.”
“To anyone else I’d saydon’t overthink it,” Jackson admitted with a smile, “But, I know what you mean. It feels easy with us, it feels normal…like we’ve been in this for a while.”
“Exactly.” She let out a shaky breath. “And it scares me, because that means I’ve given you more than I’ve given anyone else and you could just….”
“I won’t, Oleander.” Jackson’s voice dropped to a whisper and he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “I won’t make promises, but I will do everything not to hurt you.”
“What ifIhurt you, Jackson?”
“I’m a big boy, babe. I’ll pick myself up again and do whatever it takes to get back to life before you.” Ollie sighed, unsure if she should be upset he didn’t say he’d fight for her, but she got what he meant.
“What if I hurtbothof us?”
“Then we lean on our friends to help us get through the worst.” Jackson said it so firmly, his fingers squeezing hers. “But put your trust in me, Oleander. Let’s figure this out together.”
“Idotrust you, Jackson.”
“And it scares you, I get it. I’m going to do whatever I can to earn that trust properly.”
“Okay, baby,” Ollie whispered, lifting Jackson’s hand to her mouth, brushing her lips over his knuckles.
Niles had senther directions to a free parking zone close to where he was set up, so Ollie made sure that’s where Jackson went, still not giving him a single clue about what was happening. Once he’d parked the car, she grabbed her bag and slid on her sunglasses, grinning at Jackson. Ollie took his hand, linking their fingers and with the directions memorized, she led him to where Niles was parked, along with a few other food trucks. When Shake For A Surprise came into view, Ollie glanced up at Jackson and saw the wide smile split his face and knew she’d done the right thing.
“Hello again lovebirds!”
