Page 59 of Side Out

“Then that’s all that matters. Now, we’re going to let you two have some alone time. But I do expect to see pictures of my baby and my new son-in-law with Elvis!” The smirk on Catherine’s face matches the one Jackson wears when he is truly and wholly happy.

Like the one he’s got right now.

We hear a throat clear, and fuck, I forgot Bridget was still here…

Jax hurriedly tries to get his family off the phone as I head to the door where Bridget is standing. Behind me, Jax murmurs, “Okay, love you all. I’ll call you later!”

Bridget has a couple of bags and suitcases but is looking at me with a sincere expression. “I’m sorry, Theo.”

Despite everything, I want to comfort her. So, I wrap her in my arms and whisper, “I’m sorry, too.”

Without another word, she opens the door, walks through it, and closes it behind her. Just like that, it’s done. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought it would have been Bridget apologizing to me after all the horrible shit I’ve done this past year. But you don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, or whatever that saying is. Her leaving without a fight will finally give Jax and I the alone time I’ve been begging for.

Denying myself of Jackson Baker has been the hardest thing I’ve done to this day, but when I turn around and he presses his body into mine, pushing my body into the front door with a thud, I send my thanks up to whoever the hell is listening.

All Mine - Brent Faiyaz

CHAPTER37

TOMORROW?

JACKSON

The door clicks shut, and I’m on him, pressing his body against the door by plastering my front to his. I press a heated kiss to his lips but pull away to see how he’s feeling from all the chaos that just took place. “Well that was…”

“Yeah,” he sighs, scrubbing his hand over his face.

?*“Want a drink?” I ask him. He looks at me deadpan, and I laugh. “Coffee then?”

“That literally sounds like heaven.” Smiling, I turn on my heal and head toward the kitchen. Filling the kettle, I set it on the stove to boil some water and ready the dripper with a filter and some grounds. I reach into the cabinet and grab two mugs, but when I turn around to ask Theo if he wants any cream he has his arms crossed over his chest, and his faced is pinched in confusion. “What?”

Slowly, he lowers his arms and moves toward me, stopping once he’s about two feet away. “Ummm… how did you know where all of that was?”

Fuck.

I wasn’t even thinking about what I was doing. I just… did it. “Would you believe me if I told you it was just a really good guess?” Theo raises his brow. “Fine. Ummm, so you know when Clay and Rocky won the tournament last year?”

“Yeah…”

“Okay, well I got really drunk down at Jack’s that night. I don’t remember hardly anything from the time I left the bar to when I woke up on my floor the next morning.” The kettle starts to whistle behind us so I turn the burner off and pour some water over the grounds.

“What does that have to do with you knowing where all of my shit is?” Theo asks.

“Well, you see… Ugh, jesus christ I can’t believe this is happening… Well, when I woke up the next morning my laptop was open as the program I use to sometimes, maybe, possibly, tamper with security systems was running… and… well…”

“Holy fuck, just spit it out, Jackson.”

“I broke into your house in the middle of the night when I was drunk and put cameras everywhere and I’ve been watching you on them for months and I also have been spying on you on the security cameras in the athletic center and I also put one in your office and I know it’s a really big invasion of privacy and while part of me is sorry the other isn’t because even when I was royally pissed at you and wanted nothing to do with you I couldn't shake the desire of wanting to justseeyou all the time so you can be mad at me if you want to and I probably deserve it but between this and the black eye I think that makes us pretty much even now don’t you? Okay, good. Glad that’s settled.”

Theo just looks at me slack jawed for a moment before asking, “Where?” I look up at the vents in the ceiling. His eyes follow mine, and he looks back at me and sighs. “Jackson…”

“I know, I know. I fucked up. But I did it when I was drunk, and they were already there. There’s not one in your bedroom or your bathroom, so it’s not like I watched you and Bridget have sex or anything, which I’m sort of gathering that never happened. Thank god. And I never stared at you naked… well, besides that one morning you spilled a bowl of oatmeal on your lap while you were eating breakfast in your underwear and took them off in the kitchen before you went back upstairs.”

“Jackson…”

“And I never showed it to anyone else, I swear. I’m the only one that ever looked. It wasn’t really that often really. Only like once, maybe twice a day. And when there were other students in your office Ineverwatched because that’s a huge invasion of privacy. Which I realize is ironic…”

“Jax…”

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