Page 13

Chapter 13

W ith a final glance at the mirror, I grabbed my clutch and headed downstairs.

It was the first time I’d worn this dress, social outings requiring effort a rare commodity in Willow Bay, especially for a homebody like me, but even I knew I was selling it tonight. The tight black tube dress covered just enough while leaving much more on display than I usually dared and my heels were high.

The long days in the sun gave my skin the perfectly kissed bronzing I longed for during the colder months and the downtime away from the stresses of work had given the bags which usually lived rent free under my eyes, a chance to take a hike.

It was the perfect evening to head into town and one of the last Jack and I would share before he headed back to the city in a few days.

Watching him go was nothing new, the sorrow at his retreating car an all too familiar feeling. But the Bay had never felt as full as it had with him here this summer. Each time he departed, he took a little more of me. But this time, I was going to be giving more than I ever had before, and I wasn’t sure if I would survive the aftermath. If there would be enough of me left to carry on without him.

Spotting him by the pool I paused, thankful for the closed doors preventing him from hearing my approaching heels on the wooden floors.

The beige chinos he had chosen were cuffed at the ankle, a slither of skin on display before his white shoes.

Why was that so attractive?

His black shirt was plain other than the printed grey star which sat atop his right chest. The sentiment of him packing the shirt I’d sent him for his birthday, sending a comforting squeeze around my heart. He was my star man after all.

Finally his matching black cap, the final piece of his outfit, cemented him as my kryptonite from head to toe.

We’d spent the previous night entwined in the sheets, losing ourselves in each other too many times to count, but those damn rules I created meant today was platonic. Something I found frustrating more often than not.

Sensing my presence he turned and shot me a quick grin, walking up the stairs and into the house. I was still standing in the same place and I did a little spin showing off my dress.

His eyes trailed from top to toe before slowly making their way back up to meet my own.

“Christ,” he muttered and my brows pinched in confusion.

“Too much?”

“Never too much,” he grumbled, reaching around me to swipe the keys off the kitchen bench. As we headed out to the car, I was certain I could hear him mumbling something about my heels and I grinned to myself. They were the right choice it seemed.

Anchor Tavern was the only place in Willow Bay which housed both decent food and a cocktail menu worth leaving the house for.

Following the waitress to our table, Jack was stopped by no less than four locals asking after his wellbeing or offering their tips for how the Hearts would travel next year. He was polite yet succinct, a practised smoothness to his responses which meant I never waited longer than necessary. Whether this polished efficiency was entirely for my benefit or his own, I couldn’t be sure but knowing Jack it was likely the former. Anyone else would have exploited my suggestion of a friends with benefits arrangement but it wasn’t in his constitution to take advantage of others. He was a decent man and had been for as long as I could remember.

He pulled out my chair, giving me the seat that was positioned facing the ocean, but also meant my back was to the majority of the diners. The strategic gesture seemingly innocuous to the untrained eye but never when it came to him. He knew it would otherwise suffocate and overwhelm me. The vibration of too many people in my space was one of the main reasons I preferred to stay home, but with only three more nights in his company, I did my best to make sure he chose our evening plans.

“You’ll have the backstrap, right?” Lamb from the Tavern was his favourite and it wasn’t a trip home if he didn’t enjoy it at least once.

“Obviously,” he said and my eyes met his over my menu at the meaning the term now held. There was a seductive hint to the smirk which laced his face, illuminated by the flicker of candlelight coming from the table. It was dark outside, which meant we could easily slip into our role play but I was leaving the ball in his court. After I intruded on his me time last night, I needed him to know he wasn’t pressured to do anything he wasn’t comfortable with. Even though the thought of doing that again made me ache.

Grinning, I shook my head.

This was familiar, a territory I could easily navigate.

Dinner and conversation, banter and fun.

“I finished my book,” I said, my menu snapping closed.

“Congratulations. Did they end up fucking on his desk? Or was there any strum dicking ?” He asked, cheekily referencing my most embarrassing memory.

Slapping my hands to my face in horror I squeaked, “Jack! You know the rules!”

“Sorry, sorry,” he said with a laugh. “But did they fuck?”

“Shhhh,” I said, glancing over my shoulder to the thankfully empty tables surrounding us. “Yes. Twice.” I answered, feeling my cheeks flush.

“Knew it,” he said with a grin. “Bet he swiped the papers right off that desk before he fucked her with his tongue.”

Hearing him speak such filthy words sent a swarm of heat to my now burning core and I fidgeted. He watched every move knowingly, his eyes flicking down to my mouth when I rolled my teeth across my lip.

The waitress appeared and I took the opportunity to have a much needed sip of water before ordering and handing her the menus.

“It is going to be insufferable when you leave.” I said, tactically changing the subject before I combusted in my seat. “Who will look after me?” His small acts of service had been glaringly obvious. Only this morning I discovered three new shells placed on my writing table, each lined with a different texture as if he knew the others had lost all gradient. His noticings had never been so apparent and I was starting to discover, he watched me a lot more than I realised.

“If you came with me, I could look after you all the time.”

“ will never leave Willow Bay, will you?” The somewhat familiar voice over my shoulder startled me and I turned to find Aiden a little too close, a tumbler in his hand. By the glazed look of his eyes, it wasn’t his first and I ignored the way he looked at my chest rather than my face.

“Aiden,” Jack greeted, his voice taking on an edge it didn’t have before.

“Hot Shot. Heard you were back in town. Surprised I haven’t seen your face around here sooner. Plenty of bathrooms with the goods you like.” He spat and I tensed. What the hell was his problem?

“Although, I can see where you’ve been hiding. Can’t say I blame you.” He overtly looked me up and down again, his intentions disgustingly obvious.

Aiden was a notorious womaniser, although he had never tried anything with me, preferring to ridicule and humiliate me instead. His constant snickering and bully tactics were one of the reasons I found school so difficult, the degree of harassment much more prominent on the days Jack left early for training.

I’d never necessarily known him to be aggressive though.

“Did you need something?” Jack gritted, ignoring the blatant attempt to make us both uncomfortable.

“Only to ask Win when she is going to have a drink with me?” Aiden had never once asked me out or shown any interest in me. If only his mother could see him now she would have more of an understanding as to why anyone she attempted to match him with, ran for the hills.

Shooting Jack an, I have this face, I stood, turning to face Aiden.

My thumb spun my ring frantically but I pressed my shoulders back and raised my chin.

“I don’t drink –” I said, pausing as our waitress delivered our beverages, including the Anchor cocktail special which she placed in front of my seat, “With people I don’t trust.” I finished, watching as realisation dawned and he narrowed his eyes leaning into me.

“Relax Cyborg, I didn’t want to fuck you. Otherwise I already would have.” I stilled, the insult both expected but stinging all the same. I hadn’t been hit with the words since school, but the shame washed over me. Suddenly, I was thrust back to ninth grade, Aiden and his heinous friends surrounding me, their words like razors slicing my skin. I’d tried to ignore them, begged teachers to change classes, but nothing worked. They always found me. And before that day I never thought it would end. Until Jack unexpectedly arrived. They were always so strategic with their timing, knowing his training schedules perfectly to get me when I was alone. Only this day – he came back for me. And it ended in a suspension for Jack and a black eye for Aiden.

“Speak to her again and I will destroy you.” Jack’s voice from over my shoulder brought me back to the present. It was laced with fury and his hand snaked around to press firmly against my stomach, showing me I wasn’t alone, just like he did ten years ago.

Aiden followed the movement, laughing acidically. The stale scent of liquor oozed from his pores nearly making me gag. “She finally let you have the pussy you’ve pined after all these years, Grant. I’m sure she is as boring in the sack as you are on the field.” Returning his gaze to me he drawled, “Call me when he leaves you sad and alone again, I’ll give you a reboot.”

I felt Jack flinch and gripped his hand firmly, trying to keep him from losing his temper like he did the last time Aiden spoke to me like that in his presence.

Aiden scoffed before retreating and my shoulders relaxed a little. Jack was stiff behind me, unable to take his eyes from the man walking away from us and I tapped his hand softly.

I was okay, but when he didn’t release me, I knew he wasn’t.

“Give me a minute,” he spat but I reached for him again.

“Jack, it’s fine. Leave it.” I pleaded but I knew he wouldn’t. Knew he couldn’t, the same as if the roles were reversed, I would do everything I could to protect him. He stalked towards the entrance, fists clenched and I fumbled grabbing our belongings and throwing a few notes next to our untouched drinks. I walked through the restaurant as quickly as I could in these damn heels, careful not to show any emotion as I heard the waitstaff talking about Aiden’s card declining again. Guess he was still terrible with money as well as his manners. When I got out to the carpark, Jack stood with his back to me, his shoulders visibly rising and falling as Aiden’s tyres screeched in protest before he sped out of the parking lot.

“Jack,” I placed my hand on his shoulder and he swung around, his eyes immediately softening when he noticed me so close. “He has lost everything, let that be his consequence for tonight.” I said, knowing his mother would definitely hear about this now he’d caused a scene so publicly.

“We’re leaving,” his words brokered no argument, not that I would have objected given the multiple sets of eyes I could feel boring into my back. Linking my fingers with his outstretched hand, I followed him toward our car.

Neither of us spoke on the drive back to my parents place. I was still rattled by the childish insults I’d fought desperately to escape as well as knowing Jack felt compelled to fight for me again.

As he parked the car in the driveway, I tentatively reached over and turned his face towards my own. I leant over the console, tracing the top of his tattoo peaking from the collar of his shirt before moving up to smooth the crease between his brows.

“It’s okay, Jack and the Beanstalk,” I said softly. “I’m okay.”

He studied me with a forlornness and my heart ached.

“Please don’t let him take our time away from us,” I pleaded and he seemed to make a decision at that very moment, unbuckling his belt before coming around to again take me by the hand.

When I clipped the lock on the front door, Jack stalked towards me. Each step deliberate, a fluidity to his movements as though the house should be grateful to have him here.

I licked my lips, suddenly aware of every single cell inside me awakening just before his hands were in my hair, his lips on mine. The turmoil raging inside him was present in every flick of his tongue as he kissed me with aching need.

He stroked my face, caging my cheeks with his warm hands and tilted my head back a little to deepen our kiss.

It was all I could do not to drop to my knees and beg him to stay with me forever. Because there was nothing fictitious about these moments, this kiss, or us. This was from a place of simplicity. A familiarity that can only be found when your heart is so tightly entwined with another you can sense their needs as strongly as your own.

And it was with a solo tear falling down my cheek that I used my body to tell him everything I would never dare to say.

With the press of my tongue against his own I whispered the unspoken words – I need you .

With the pressure of my hands against his back pulling him into me – I want you .

And when our bodies came together on the floor, on the stairs and eventually in my bed when we finally made it up there – I love you .