Page 111 of The One With the Mountain Man

He was so hopeful, and far too young for Charley. She'd eat him alive. Eve smacked him again. "Like she'd look at you twice."

"Like you have a chance. She just got divorced. From a man."

Eve crossed her arms over her chest and slumped. "Whatever."

They asked tons of questions. Who was a diva? Did that man really terrorize Annalise? Did I go to her wedding to Seth Butler?Yes.What was I working on now?An unnamed project.I let them think it was another television show.

Lunch was a success and no one left crying except sweet little Luke who needed a nap.

"The next batch are the babies, except Colin." Eve explained as we walked to our vehicles. "Logan, Thomas, and Minna."

"And we're saving Nora and her family for one giant shit pie with Mom and Dad?" Jackson asked as we came to a stop at the hood of his truck.

"If you can somehow avoid meeting those three for the rest of time, I would advise it, but otherwise, take all your medicine at once. No need to spread that shit out." Eve gagged.

I hugged her. "Thanks for today. I loved meeting everyone."

"They loved you too." She shot a quick look at Jackson. "How was it for you?"

His hand rubbed circles on my lower back. "Tolerable."

She nodded quickly. "Tolerable is good. If we can somehow manage to maintain some tolerable conditions...could we maybe do this a lot more often?" There was so much hope in her eyes. It made her look years younger.

"Fuck. Yes, Eve." He hugged her tight and kissed the top of her head. "One way or another, I won't let it be years between seeing you."

"Good. You've done so much for us...it's time we did things for you." She let him go and wiped her cheeks free of tears. "Starting with eating under quieter conditions. I can't guarantee quiet at other times, but we'll start there. Find some civilization."

I didn't know if he could see it, but every single one of his siblings had watched him all afternoon with so much hope in their eyes. They were all equally scared of doing something that would push Jackson away.

"You're their hero," I whispered as his hands landed on my hips, pushing me against the passenger door of his truck.

"I'm just their big brother and they miss me. If anything, they think I'm a selfish asshole."

I looped my arms around his neck. "They do not. Not even a little bit."

He grunted, squeezing my hips, studying my shoulder.

There were so many sides of Jackson. The confident cowboy I first met, the quiet, tortured loner I saw shadows of when pieces of the past spilled out, my bodyguard, and the brother who didn't belong. His heart was so heavy around them. Maybe too heavy for him to carry alone.

"You're their hero, Jackson. And one day you'll see it too." I cupped his face in my hands. "One day you'll remove these blinders and realize I'm right."

Aviana interceptedme the moment I stepped into Still Standing for book club, wrapping her hands around my arm and guiding me to a table away from the rest of the group. "I had so much fun at girls' night! Did you like it? Were we too much?" She grabbed a glass and poured water over the ice, then squeezed a lemon.

Barnaby watched us from his spot under the table.

Girls’ night had been overwhelming. It was a small group of women, but they all knew each other so well. And I was so good at playing the lone wolf who didn't need friends that I mostly observed while slowly sipping a glass of wine.

"I had fun," I said cautiously. The last thing I wanted to do was close that door before I got it fully open.

"Good! Next week Scottie is setting us up with a whiskey tasting! It's going to be so much fun! Eve will definitely dance on the table at some point and Mack will tell the dirtiest jokes you've ever heard. Promise it will be a good time."

I envied their ability to be completely free around each other. I wanted that in my life. I couldn't lean solely on Charley and Jackson. I knew how easy it was to lose everything when your world was small. If I was going to put myself out there again, then I was going big this time.

"That sounds amazing. Just one question. How are we getting home?"

She laughed and it was the bright, light kind that infected everyone. "Digger has volunteered to shuttle everyone home. But sleepovers are cool too. I usually have at least two or three stay the night and we stumble over to The Green Door for hangover breakfast."

Digger was the one I'd gotten to know the least. Scottie and I were cool. I might even call him my friend. Travis doted on me, almost like a brother, but we hadn't had many conversations that went deeper than niceties. I only said hello and goodbye to Digger. "Is he dating anyone?"

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