Page 55 of Jackson's Redemption
She nodded. “I’m sorry. I’m happy to pay for my half of the food.”
“Nope. In order for it to be an official date, I have to treat. But if at some point over the next two weeks you want to grab lunch or something, then we can split the bill. Like friends.”
She smiled then and when she did, she was adorable. “You would be my friend.”
“If you want one,” I offered.
She nodded. Then she reached her hand across the table. “I’m not really afraid of germs, I’m just uncomfortable touching people I don’t know. But you’re my friend now.”
I took her tiny hand in mine and shook it. Her grip was surprisingly strong.
“Okay, friends it is. I’ll get our meal and you can tell me what you want to do while you’re here for your visit.”
“I’m not here for a visit. I’m here to stay.”
Uh-oh. “Jenny…Hope’s Point…it’s not a place for someone like you.”
“Like me? Because I’m different.”
“No, everybody isdifferentin Hope’s Point. There’s no such thing as normal up here. I’m just saying it’s not an easy life. Winters are brutal. We’re basically disconnected from the rest of the world. Only the strongest can handle these kinds of conditions.”
She nodded. “I’m small, but I’m very strong. My father taught me how to live outdoors for weeks at a time. And I prefer isolation to people. This will be the perfect place for me. I’m certain of it.”
I wasn’t going to argue with her. Not when she seemed so insistent. She would learn the hard way what life was like. And she would either make it up here, or she wouldn’t.
That’s how it was in Hope’s Point.
“Well, you’re going to need help finding some place permanent to stay. You’ve got a cabin just outside of town for the next two weeks. But then we’ve got another contest winner coming in after that who will need it, too.”
“Will you help me find something?”
I shrugged. Why not? “That’s what friends are for, I guess. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
She smiled then and I was glad to have made her happy.See, I thought. There is, in fact, a woman in the world who doesn’t think I’m an asshole.
I really wanted to tell Olivia that.
13
Nome
Six weeks later
Jackson
I wasn’t drunk. I was shitfaced. I was staring at the line-up of bottles behind the bar wondering what I wanted next.
Oblivion. That’s what I wanted. Which bottle would deliver that the quickest?
I had come to Nome for an escape during my downtime. A change of scenery. A way to stop thinking about Kate. Stop remembering what it had felt like to sleep with her next to me. Stop remembering her stupid jokes.
Did you hear the one about the dyslexic Satanist?
I had fucked her, but I swear to God, it felt like she was inside me. Shoved up into my gut leaving no room for anything else.
I had jacked off thinking about her. Then I had stopped jacking off because I didn’t want to remember how good it had been. Maybe that’s what I needed. To get laid. To find some faceless, nameless woman and pour myself into her and make myself realize that’s all fucking would be going forward.
I looked around the crowd, trying to find someone who might be a candidate. I attracted female attention. If there was someone out there looking to get laid, most likely she would find me.
