Page 26 of Jacked and Jaded

“Here you go.” Jackson’s dad held an ice pack wrapped in a dish towel out to Calliope. “You need to put this on your face. If you can get the swelling down on your cheek, you’ll be able to see out of both eyes again.”

“Thank you, Maverick. I appreciate it.” Gently placing the ice pack on her cheek, she couldn’t hide the flinch caused by the contact.

Jackson did not want Clint going to jail. He wanted him out, so he could grab him and mete out his own justice. For now, he’d have to wait. “You need anything? Something to eat? Drink?”

“Do you have any soda?” she asked hopefully. “And maybe some crackers to settle my stomach?”

“Yeah. I have Pepsi or rootbeer.” His mouth kicked up at the corners, finding her request for crackers funny.

Calliope laughed and pushed her hair back form her face. “You drink rootbeer?”

He’d noticed a long time ago that her beautiful black curls with their blue sheen were constantly trying to fall in her face. That was probably the reason she was always putting it up on top of her head. As she got older, she would sometimes straighten it and he swore it gave the length another two inches.

“Sometimes.” Jackson bought the rootbeer for Ryker because the kid was a wild thing when he got too much caffeine. He couldn’t tell her that right now though, considering she was unaware that he even had a son, let alone a three year old son. Looking back now, he wondered if maybe he should’ve allowed her mom to tell her about him. He’d always been afraid that if she found out about Ryker and especially who Ryker’s mother was, he’d never see Calliope again. She’d disappear from his life for good. It had been hard when she took off three years ago, but he’d told himself it was for the best. Most of the time he could make himself believe that. It was when he was drinking a lot or he was visiting his parent’s house and could see her mom’s house across the street, that it was the worst. He’d denied his feelings for her for so long now, telling himself their age difference was the reason. It took her getting beaten bad enough to put her in the hospital for him to see he’d been a fucking idiot. If he’d claimed her after that night they spent together instead of freaking out, this would have never happened to Calliope.

“Pepsi.” She looked so damn pitiful, he wanted to cry.

“You got it. Dad?”

“Pepsi’ll be fine.” Maverick took a seat in the chair near the couch. He stretched his legs out, crossing them at the ankles. He grabbed the remote from the end table and turned on the television. He was flipping through channels as Jackson went to the kitchen.

He filled three glasses with ice, then filled each one with Pepsi. At some point, sooner rather than later, he and Calliope needed to have a talk. He needed her to know she was his now. He was claiming her and she was never leaving again. Would she fight him on this? Hell yeah. She wouldn’t be Calliope if she didn’t. On the ride home, the thought of bringing her to his house had felt right. Something in him had settled and he felt a peace fall over him he didn’t realize had been missing.

He held one drink against his stomach with his arm and picked up the other two, heading for the living room. He handed one to his dad, the next to Calliope and then he took the seat on the couch next to her. He took a long drink from his glass then set it on a coaster on his end table. His dad’s phone dinged, alerting him to a message.

Maverick dug out his phone and checked the message. He typed a response and put it away. “That was your mom,” he told Calliope. “She said she’s going to bring things over to cook dinner. She asked how the ride went for you and I told her you slept the whole way. She’ll be here in about thirty minutes.”

“Oh. Okay. Thanks.” Calliope took a drink and set her glass to the side.

Jackson watched her squirm around in her seat for a couple of minutes wondering what was wrong. “You okay?”

“Yes. No.” Her face turned red where it wasn’t bruised. “Uh. I need to use the bathroom.”

“You need help getting up off the couch?”

“Maybe.”

“Come on. Let’s try.” He stood and came around to offer his help. He held his hand out for her to use as leverage to pull herself forward as she rested her other arm, the one in the cast, on the arm of the couch. She got to the edge and released a long breath. “Well, that was tiring.”

Jackson helped her to her feet and escorted her to his bedroom to use the bathroom in there. The vanity was close enough to the toilet, she could use it to help herself up and down. “Here you go. You need any help?”

“No. I think I’ve got it. I’ll yell if I need help.” She looked everywhere but at him, her face flushing a bright red.

“Okay. I’ll be out there if you need me.” Jackson started for the door and was going to wait in the bedroom to give her a little privacy. Her next words stopped him in his tracks.

“Can you maybe, not stay in the bedroom listening to me pee?”

He couldn’t help it. He laughed. “Sure.” He left, closing the door behind him. He waited for a minute to see if she yelled for him, then strolled out to the living room. He sighed heavily as he ran a hand over his face.

“Talked to Race, he said whatever you needed, it’s yours. After I told him how badly Calliope was beaten, I thought Race was going to ride on up to Boulder and take care of Clint Maxwell himself.” He raised his hand, holding off Jackson’s response to that news. “I told him we were going to give it a little time, then we’d make our move and bring him to Redemption so you can have your justice.”

“Thanks. I appreciate it.” Jackson took a seat on the edge of the couch, waiting to see if he’d need to check on Calliope. It would be just like that stubborn woman to sit on the toilet all day than to ask for his help in getting up.

“Not a problem.” Maverick sat forward, clapped a hand on Jacksons knee and gave it a squeeze. “Seeing Calliope like that damn near broke my heart. I can only imagine what it did to you.”

“How long have you known that I have feelings for Calliope? Hell, I didn’t even realize I had feelings for her until I saw how close to losing her for forever she’d been.” Jackson frowned, angry that he hadn’t recognized his feelings for her before now.

One side of his dad’s mouth ticked up. “I’ve known the two of you were heading toward this since the minute she turned eighteen and decided to push you into seeing her as more than a little girl.” He shook his head at what had to be shock on Jackson’s face. “I love that girl like she’s my own. So, if you’re not 100% completely sure this is what you want, then walk away. Let her mom take her to her house and we’ll keep an eye on them.”

---