Jackson
I sat through the meeting with the head of stunts for a major studio feeling the weight of Oliver’s eyes on me. Both of us act professional. Both of us get the job done. Balancing work, teams, friendship, and Heaven ran through our systems like blood in a vein. Because of that closeness, that symmetry, I knew what was coming the instant our clients left and the door shut behind them.
I waited for him to speak first. To ask.
“What happened?”
I wouldn’t lie to him. Not with so much on the line. “Heaven and I had sex last night.”
“I’m sorry, what?” Oliver leaned against the conference table, jaw gaping. “You had sex. With Heaven.”
“Yes.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Nope.” I shook my head, trying not to take his astonishment and possible anger personally.
“How the hell did that happen?”
I ran my hand over my face. “It was spontaneous. Fueled a little bit by drinking—but she wasn’t drunk. Neither was I. It was…it was incredible,” I admitted. “But this morning she said something I didn’t expect. Not really.”
“What did she say?”
“That she was looking for closure on that side of our relationship.”
“Ouch.”
“Right?”
He leaned back. “Holy shit, Jackson. This is a fucking mess.”
“Yes. Apparently, what I thought was maybe a chance to, I don’t know, get things going again, wasn’t at all. That was it. The end.” My stomach ached thinking about it.
“So, what? You think she’ll hit us up one at a time for a farewell fuck and that’ll be that?” His voice sounded angry—no, hurt.
“I don’t know, Oliver. I really don’t. All these years I’ve been able to read Heaven, but this? I didn’t see it coming.” Especially not in the middle of it. God, it was so good. Having her under me again. Being inside her. It felt like home for the first time in too long. I glanced up at Oliver and the sympathetic expression on his face. I looked away and walked toward the door.
“Where are you going?” he asked. “How are you going to deal with this? Because it’s huge, Jax, and it has implications for all of us.”
I sighed and gripped the door knob. “Right now, I’m going to change and beat the shit out of a punching bag. How am I going to deal with this? Fuck if I know. Let me know if you have any brilliant ideas. Obviously, my judgment is a little cloudy.”
I left him there, knowing there was no good outcome for this one. Once Heaven made up her mind, there was little hope changing it. Also, who was I to push something she didn’t want? She was healthy and happy. If all she needed was a little closure, then who was I to mess that up?
24
Heaven
“Is there any way we can possibly not go back to Oliver’s yet?”
Hayden sat in my car, passenger seat pushed as far back as possible. His legs were still cramped.
“Where do you want to go?”
“Anywhere.” He focused out the window. “I’ve been cooped up for weeks and I just need some air.”
I took a left at the stop light, going the opposite direction from Oliver’s house. We passed the high school and area of town that housed the coffee shop and diner, where we spent countless hours in school hanging out. Hayden eyed them all silently. I understood the look. It was weird living in the town I grew up in, seeing these places, all of them filled with a mixture of good and bad memories. I’d had time to adjust. He hadn’t. I didn’t pause when we passed the street I grew up on and veered off the main road toward Allendale Park.
“Your mom sent me a card,” he said suddenly. “When I was in the hospital.”