Page 25 of Jackson

I was probably blowing it out of proportion, but would it be wrong of me to assume Jackson sent Roxy up here with me to keep me company?

I was the only one out of the group not walking next to someone, after all.

I brushed my hand against her head as we walked, petting her every so often as I whispered how much of a good girl she was. She seemed happy to accompany me, her tail swaying behind her while she navigated the slightly rocky terrain with ease.

Eventually, we reached a large set of stones that looked to be carved down intentionally, giving most of us a spot to rest while we took a water break. I claimed one of the smaller rocks toward the far right side and set my bag between my legs. The zipper parted easily as I peeled it open, trail rations and my thermos of water were right on top. I tossed some of my jerky to Roxy after ripping open the bag, belatedly realizing that I probably should’ve asked Jackson first before doing that. I winced.

With my luck, his dog was on some super fancy diet that only contained fresh cooked ingredients from a local butcher shop.

“How we doing over here?”

I looked up mid-chew to Jackson coming over to us. Roxy let out a few barks and circled around her owner’s legs, before coming back over to me.

“Good. Hey, listen... your dog isn’t on a special diet or anything right?”

He laughed. “Uh oh. Did she manage to weasel something out of you?”

I looked down guiltily at my pack of jerky. “Uh...”

“I swear it’s the eyes,” he said, flashing me a smile and bending down to grab his dog and ruffle her fur. “She’ll get you to give her anything with the right look.”

I smiled a little and shoved another slice into my mouth. He wasn’t mad, that was a good sign. I hadn’t realized how much my heart rate had spiked when he’d come over until I was starting to feel my body relax again.

Jesus, who knew PTSD was such a bitch?

“You got enough water?” He nodded to my bag.

“Yeah. I’m all good. Didyoudrink anything yet?”

“Hey now, I’m the one that’s supposed to be taking care of you. Not the other way around.”

You,he said.

Notyou guys, as in the whole group of us.

Why did that small, subtle word feel like it had something else behind it—like it was charged with more than just him looking out for me because I was technically under the program’s care?

Jackson had a way of saying things rather flippantly, even with the underlying message sounding so much more than what was being said on the surface level. I was the king of over-thinking everything, too, that much I was conscious of.

But then, why was I getting the feeling that he was purposefully not looking at me now?

Instead, he was focused on rubbing Roxy’s belly as she rolled around on the ground, getting her golden fur dirty with bits of dead leaves and dirt.

“Well, you’ve done a good job so far,” I said, shoving another piece of jerky into my mouth.

His head snapped up to look at me, freezing me in my place.

Something passed through his eyes, causing my stomach to clench with excitement. I doubted he was trying to give me what I could only describe as bedroom eyes, yet the intense focus was making me squirm.

Shit, I really did over-think all of this, didn’t I?

Jackson rose to his feet and stepped around his dog, coming closer to me.

My gaze tracked his every movement, my heart picking up its thrumming beat again as he slowly squatted down in front of me and, without warning, gently cupped one of my legs.

His fingers worked quickly at the laces of my boot, gently pulling it off of my foot and setting it down next to the rock I was sitting on. He rested my heel against his thigh and pushed the cuff of my pant leg up just enough to expose my ankle to him.

I swallowed, his fingers brushing over the skin right above where my sock was and trailing down to my ankle bone. He eased pressure into the tendon, running his fingers up and around a few times while tingles spread throughout my entire leg.

---