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Jackson frowned at her words and reached for her hand. “That sounds like theendof a story.”
Oleander sighed and shook her head, leaning back against him. Jackson wrapped his arm around her and pressed his lips to the top of her head.
“We’ve all got a Disney villain in our lives, and it’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it.”
“I definitely don’t like talking about it, but I think it’s important that I do.”
“Who was it?”
Jackson felt more than saw Oleander shudder as she whispered his name. “Pierce.”
And in that instant he knew whatever this guy had done to her, he hated him.
It was obviously reallyhard for her to talk about it, because once she said his name, Oleander was on her feet, twisting her fingers. Jackson stayed put and waited for her to tell him what happened. Heknewit was going to be horrible, because she looked so small.
Jackson had seen Oleander nervous and uncomfortable, but he’d never seen this side of her.
She suddenly came to a halt, her wet eyes lifting to his. “He put me in the hospital.”
“What?” The word came out in a breath and Jackson moved to stand up, but Oleander shook her head, so he stayed seated. He wanted to hold her, comfort her, but it was clear Oleander didn’t want that. “We don’t have to…”
“You deserve to know. Someone other than Frankie, Lachlan and my therapist should know,” Oleander said softly. “And I want us to not have any more of these secrets.”
“Okay, take your time. I’m right here.” Jackson assured her, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his thighs as he clenched and unclenched his fists, trying to stay calm.
“Pierce was my firstseriousboyfriend. I thought he was the one,” Oleander started, laughing sadly. “We’d been together for three years, but there were times when he would make me feel bad about myself. My job wasn’t good enough, I was eating too much, I needed new friends, I had to be more ambitious. He called mepatheticandsillyandfoolish. I always thought he was in amood.”
Jackson shook his head, not understanding what that meant. Oleander met his eyes and sighed before speaking again.
“I loved him, so I looked past all the bad things. I had someone who wanted to be with me,reallybe with me and after Nina broke my confidence, I needed the ego boost.”
He hated that she’d been made to feel like she wasn’t worthy. While he didn’t understand why Nina or this Pierce had hurt her, Jackson understood it wasn’t his place to speak.
“We’d never talked about our past relationships and were foolish to think they didn’t matter. But Nina wrote me a letter to apologize for college and everything that followed. I was at work, so Pierce found it and opened it.” Oleander started pacing again and her eyes were moving everywhere, except on him and Jackson gritted his teeth as she continued.
“When I got home, he was sitting on the couch, fuming. I was in a good mood, so I didn’t think much of it. But when I got to him, Pierce was on his feet, holding out the letter and spitting words at me. It took me a while to really understand what he was saying and when I reached for the letter, he shoved me.” Oleander paused, her breath hitching.
After a long moment of silence, she turned to face him. “I fell on the floor. He towered over me and spat at me. Then he spoke, in a tone of voice I’d never heard before. Honestly, I was so shocked at the person in front of me, I didn’t know what to do. He said,‘You little whore. You shared a bed with a woman for four years and you chose not to tell me? What will my family think when they find out the woman I’m dating has fucked a woman?”
Jackson quickly stood up and wrapped the blanket around her. Oleander turned to him when he took a step back, tears streaming down her face and Jackson felt his own eyes fill up. Blowing out a breath, Oleander tightened the blanket around her and turned away.
“He grabbed me by the hair and lifted me off the floor, stuffed the letter in my mouth and choked me. He pinned me to the couch and punched me, hitting me in the ribs. And he started to rip my clothes off. He was so angry, he was turning red in the face and spewing all kinds of ugly things.” Oleander finally looked at him as she spoke the next part. “Every time I’m under someone, my brain flashes back to that night and I have panic attacks. I’vefinallygotten over the ugly words he’s said about my body, but there’s still so much that lingers.”
“Did he….” Jackson swallowed, unable to get the word out. Oleander shook her head and he let out a sigh of relief.
“Almost,” Oleander whispered. “Someone rang the doorbell, so he let me go to answer the door. While he spoke to whoever had showed up, I found the strength to grab my things and run into the bedroom.” She paused and wiped away her tears. “I locked myself away from him, called Frankie and waited for her to arrive. Pierce had calmed down by then, but when Frankie showed up with Lachlan, he lost his mind again. I think Lachlan knocked him down as Frankie helped me pack my things and leave.”
Jackson realized he was crying when Oleander moved towards him and cupped his face, smiling sadly. “I was supposed to audition for a part in a dance movie the next day—that’s why I was in a good mood—but with my black eye, bruised ribs and neck, there was no way I could go. At the hospital, they called the cops and after much coaxing, I told them about Pierce. Frankie gave them his address and that was it. They took pictures, took down my statement and I never saw or heard from him again.”
Leaning into her hand, Jackson kissed her palm. “I hate him for what he did to you, for what he made you feel.”
“I hate him too. But,” Oleander smiled sadly, “I feel like that helped me get stronger and fight for what I wanted. It made me careful with every relationship. My mind was clouded with New Year’s lust when it came to the woman I dated after him, but after that…it took me six years to let someone in.”
“I’m so sorry, Oleander,” Jackson whispered, cupping her face and lifting her eyes to his. “I’m glad you were able to get out of that, because you deserve the world, you deserve so much better.”
“I have the world, Jackson. I have you.”
“I hope I’m worthy of—” Jackson’s eyes widened as Oleander put her fingers over his mouth and smiled, shaking her head at him.
“You are worthy, you areso fucking worthy.” She traced his mouth with her thumb and stared up into his eyes. “I love you, Jackson.”
Jackson stared at her in shock, his heart racing as his mouth dropped open. Oleander arched an eyebrow at him and Jackson blinked. “Fuck…Oleander, I was supposed to say it first. I had a plan.”
“So did I.”
Jackson laughed, leaning in to kiss her softly, his thumbs brushing away her tears as he pulled back to look into her eyes. “I love you too, Oleander. I think I fell in love with you when you wrapped my hand up in the locker room, when you called me a kid and made fun of my scruff.”
“I know. You wear your feelings on your sleeve, remember?”
“Yeah, baby, I remember,” Jackson smiled, pulling her in for another kiss.
