Page 51 of Shield
“Well, you’ve seen me,” I replied, a half-smile forming on my lips, as I guided him into the hall and shut the door. He leaned against the wall.
“When you’re not with me, it hurts,” he blurted, and crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m obsessed.”
I blinked at him, not sure how to handle that statement—unless of course I told him the truth that I was obsessed right back. “You want coffee or something?”
Jackson’s lips twitched in response, a shadow of his usual smirk, and his gaze locked onto mine. I felt that electric charge, that pull between us, that hadn’t diminished one bit in the time he’d been absent. He reached out a hand to me, and I took it, closing the distance between us, reading the quiet plea written across his face for a kiss. The world outside faded into nothingness as I reached up to cup the back of his neck, drawing him closer. Our lips met, and it was as if we’d never been apart. His touch was at my waist, pulling me in until there was no space left between us, until everything was about the here and now.
“Missed you so much,” he murmured, then slumped a little.
I held him up. “Missed you too.”
“I think I’m falling in love with you,” he whispered.
“Me too.”
I tugged him to the stairs, and we climbed, and he leaned on me for support. I didn’t think he was hurt, just plain old exhausted, and I guided him past the girls’ rooms, where we met Jamie as he emerged from the family bathroom.
“Jackson,” he acknowledged.
“Mmmm,” Jackson said and yawned. I’m not sure he was entirely with us by then.
“Your boyfriend needs to sleep,” Jamie observed. He had a point.
“Shower first,” Jackson nearly whimpered, and Jamie winked as I tugged Jackson into my room, shut the door, stripped him and me, then took him into the shower. There was nothing sexual about this—he needed to be clean, he needed sleep, and I wanted to look after him. I dried him off with fluffy towels, rummaged for a clean pair of pajamas so he didn’t end up walking naked around my house, then tucked him into bed. He pulled me down next to him, and after some wriggling, he turned to me and buried his face in my neck again.
“Are you okay?” I whispered and pressed a kiss to his damp hair.
“Hmmm.”
“Do I need to set the alarm for you?”
“Nah… day off…” He yawned and buried deeper.
“Sleep then,” I ordered.
“Love you,” he said, and my heart leaped.
“Love you, back,” I whispered.
He mumbled something, and sighed. “Yeah, pork…”
“What?”
But all I got was soft breathing and the occasional snuffle.
And it was perfect.
* * *
The chillof the New York Nighthawks ice was a welcome shock to my system as I waited in the tunnel, ready to step out and face my old team. I’d left Jackson at home playing Uno with Jamie and the girls. He’d actually slept through to eleven, and given I had to leave about then, we’d done little more than kiss, but he looked better, rested. His goodbye kiss was still warm on my lips, even now. Jamie had promised to monitor him, and the girls loved having him there. Jackson kind of fit, and it was good.
He hadn’t repeated his declaration of love, but then, neither had I.
Until I was at the arena, and he was hip deep in games with the girls.
Jackson: I love you
Oli: I love you back
