Page 65 of Michael's Awakening
With a dramatic roll of his eyes, he focused on me. “Well, Zack still hasn’t made a move, so I thought I could do some motivating.”
Before I could reply, Jackson returned with our drinks. “Here you go. Are you ready to order?” He set our drinks on the table and waited for us to decide.
“Thanks.” Gabriel smiled and took a sip of his wine. “I don’t know if you know this or not, but I’m Gabriel, Zack’s brother.”
Did he really just bat his eyes?
Realization lit Jackson’s brown eyes. “Dang, I should’ve known that. I kinda suspected you were, but I didn’t want to assume. He talks about you quite a bit, you know.”
“Oh, does he?” Gabriel grinned at me smugly and looked back to Jackson. “He’s mentioned you as well. He says you’re a great guy and he enjoys training you.” Twirling his acrylic nail on the table-top, Gabriel gave an innocent expression and asked, “So, what do you think of him?”
I almost spit out my wine, causing them both to look at me. Jackson looked concerned and Gabriel looked amused.
“Excuse me. Swallowed wrong,” I lied, causing Gabriel to give me a wide grin before he turned his attention back to the waiter.
“Well, Zack’s a great guy, too,” Jackson answered with a small smile. Was that a faint blush I saw creep into his cheeks? “He’s really helped me these past few months and has become a good friend.”
“Aww, that’s sweet,” Gabriel said. “I’m sure he’d love to hear that.”
Jackson tapped his pen on the small, black notepad he held in his hands, obviously feeling a sense of awkwardness.
Breaking the silence, I said. “I think I know what I’m going to eat. What about you, Angel?” I looked across to Gabriel and he nodded. We ordered our food and Jackson walked away.
“Well that wasn’t awkward at all,” I said, sarcasm rich in my voice.
“Oh, shut it, you,” Gabriel responded with a roll of his eyes and grabbed my hand.
I grinned at him and brought his hand up to place a light kiss on it.
He didn’t talk to Jackson anymore that night about Zack, saying he wasn’t going to interfere with their relationship and that he was going to let them work it out on their own. Deep down, I knew it was eating at him to play matchmaker, but he held enough respect for his brother to let Zack figure it out himself.
The way Jackson’s face lit up when Zack was mentioned made it clear he obviously had a crush on the guy, but where the pieces of the puzzle would fall was still a mystery. Only time would tell.
