Page 60 of As Long As You Kiss Me

Chapter 15

Sully put away the groceries and then put some pizza rolls in her air fryer. Soon the fragrance of the unhealthy dinner permeated the air. Just how she liked it. Nice and greasy.

It had been a week since she’d last spoken to Jackson. She still hadn’t had the courage to tell her parents about Jackson being there when Tyson had been killed. It would be hard for them to hear. Maybe harder than it had been for her.

She finished off her dinner, and then basked in the feeling of being full off of the semi-empty calories.

Aubrey was still out of town, so she had the place to herself.

A knock sounded on the front door. She went to get it and found Jackson standing on her doorstep.

She put her guard up right away. “What can I do for you, Jackson?”

“I was hoping we could talk.” He glanced past her toward the empty living room. “Is Aubrey home?”

“No. It’s just us.”

“Okay. Is it alright if I come inside?”

Sully opened the door wider. “Sure.”

“Word has been getting out that we’ve broken up,” Jackson said, crossing the threshold. “I had a couple of my student’s parents ask me about it at parent-teacher conferences this week.”

“I’ve only told a couple of people.”

“Did you tell Aubrey?” Jackson took a seat on the sofa.

“Yeah. She knows.”

“She probably told her mom.”

“Well, that would explain how so many random people know about it then.” Sully opened a container of grocery store bakery cookies she’d picked up the last time she’d gone shopping. She dug out a chocolate chip cookie. “Want one?” she offered him.

“Thank you.” He reached in and took one for himself. “I’m worried that word will get back to Mason that you’re single now.”

“It’ll only be a matter of time before he overhears some little old ladies talking about it in the coffee shop or anywhere else around town.” Sully bit into her cookie and savored the sweetness of it.

“What should we do?” Jackson asked her.

Sully shrugged. “I’ll just have to go to self-defense classes.”

“Have you talked to the police about it?”

“Not really. I mentioned it to Layla the other day when I saw her at church. But I don’t know if she passed the information on to her husband or not.”

“Who’s her husband?”

“Will Vance, the chief of police.”

“Oh, yeah. That’s right.” Jackson ran a hand through his hair. “Maybe we should call Will tonight and let him know what the problem is.”

“I was actually going to head to my parents’ house tonight.”

“Oh yeah? I haven’t talked to them in years.”

“I’m going to tell them about how Tyson died.”

A shadow crossed Jackson’s features. “I’d like to come with you.” His voice was deep and serious. “I should be the one to tell them.”

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