I raise my brow in interest. “I mean, I’m not going to say no to a bagel.” Jesse winks before disappearing once again when horror strikes me. “WAIT!” I yell, hoping he hasn’t gotten too far. His head comes back and I beam up at him. “A coffee would be great too.”
Jesse rolls his eyes. “Anything else, your majesty?”
I grin back at him. Two can play this game. “Yeah, I wouldn’t mind some good sex. I haven’t had any of that in a while, only duds.”
Jesse narrows his eyes at me but the amusement is as clear as day on his face. “Trust me, babe, you don’t want to start a war with me. I always win.”
I cringe at the name ‘babe’ on his lips. While it sounds alright coming from his mouth, I’ve never been much of a ‘babe.’ Now, ‘Tiger,’ while it sounds super cheesy, I couldn’t help how it gave me tingles every time I heard it. In fact, I think I like it way more than I should.
“I think you’ve finally met your match,” I tell him with confidence. “Now, where’s my coffee, wench?”
His shoulders sag and he glares before finally ducking away from the window. I stand tall, never so damn proud of myself. I guess all the years of getting under Jackson’s skin has finally paid off.
Ten minutes later, I’m sitting in Jesse’s Range Rover, happily sipping on my coffee. The ride is quiet as Jesse seems to be stuck inside his head. I don’t really mind though as after putting anything sexual aside, I really don’t know what to talk to him about.
Why do I feel so giddy and nervous?
He pulls onto my street and I’m not surprised to find that he knows exactly where I live. “Wait,” I call in a panic. “You have to stop a few houses down.”
His brow furrow as he glances across at me. “Why?”
“Because Jackson will be staring out the front window waiting to see who I spent the night with and if he sees you dropping me off, there’s going to be a brawl on my front lawn.” Jesse grins and I see the idea forming behind his eyes. “Don’t even think about it,” I warn.
He pulls over on the side of the road, just as I had requested. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I roll my eyes as I unbuckle my seat belt and start getting out. “You’re such a liar,” I tell him before turning around and looking at him with an awkward cringe, unsure of what to say. “So…ummm.”
“Don’t,” he cuts me off. “I don’t want some awkward as fuck goodbye. Just go and I’ll see you around.”
“Sounds good to me.”
I step back from his Range Rover and wait patiently for his car to turn around and leave. After all, I wouldn’t want to turn my back just to see him shoot forward and boast about his night in front of my house just to piss off Jackson.
With Jesse out of the way, I can finally breathe. What the hell was that? I was planning on going out for a good night, though I had my doubts about it being good. All I really cared about was getting away from my brother. He’s such an ass at the moment. Well, actually I guess that’s not fair. He hasn’t been an ass, I just like calling him that.
He slept with my best friend and destroyed everything. The one restriction I’ve ever put on my brother was to stay away from Henley. She was all I had in the world. I didn’t care if he slept his way through all the girls at school, but Henley was off-limits. I should have known better than to turn my back because the second I did, the two of them were getting naked and betraying my trust.
I lost my brother and my best friend in one go and the very next day, mom tells me I’ve lost my school as well.
Having to live under the same roof as Jackson lately has been hard and any chance to get under his skin is a chance that I’ll take, hence why I snuck out and went to some ridiculous party in Broken Hill. Not knowing where I was or who I was with would have driven him insane, the fact that I never came home would have definitely killed him, and he deserved all of it.
I walk down to my home and sure enough, Jackson is staring out the front window when I step onto my front lawn, in a show of not giving a shit, he shuffles away as fast as humanly possible and by the time I push through the front door, he’s on the couch watching TV as though he’s been there the whole time. “Where the hell have you been?” he demands, narrowing his eyes at me as though the answers are written across my face in sharpie.