Page 58 of My Fiancé's Brother
It was like a switch went off inside of her. Now that she had her way, everything was sunny in her life again. It reminded me of Matt. He would have his little temper tantrums about stuff, but as soon as I agreed to give in, I was back in his good books. At the time, I always felt such relief that things were back to normal, I had never stopped to realize how manipulative it was.
Irene chatted gaily about her choir that she attended every Thursday night and asked Jackson advice about shingles. I sipped my coffee while their conversation drifted around me. I stopped listening, so I could think.
Something nasty was going on with Matt. When had he stopped talking to me? I couldn’t even remember the last time he had returned one of my texts. We used to text daily. Now it seemed like we hadn’t talked in weeks. It had happened so slowly, I had barely noticed, but now it didn’t even feel like he was living here, much less in a relationship with me.
Was it supposed to be like this? When we first started dating, he had been fun and sweet. We had cooked together and gone on date nights. Matt never did have a lot of time, but he had always made time for me. When had he stopped doing that? And why did he call his mom in a drunken stupor last night? It didn’t make sense.
My head pounded and I felt light-headed. I glanced up. Jackson listened to Irene, but his eyes watched me. He moved to the fridge and took a ginger ale out of the refrigerator. He cracked that open and set it in front of me. Then he peeled a banana and placed it on a plate and shoved that in front of me. I picked up the banana and washed it down with the ginger ale. My stomach heaved dangerously at first, but in a few minutes it settled, and I became less lightheaded.
A few weeks ago, everything in my life had been fine. Not fabulous but pretty okay. Matt had been busy, but at least we were texting on a regular basis. Jackson showed up. Matt accused Jackson of infringing on his life which didn’t even make sense, consideringJackson hadn’t even existed in our lives up until Matt allegedly begged Jackson to come and stay here. Matt pleaded for my help in keeping Jackson here so he could spend more time with Jackson, but instead, every time there was a situation that he could hang out with Jackson, he invented some excuse to do otherwise.
Jackson and I found a space where I didn’t ogle him too severely, and he refrained from flirting with my heart. We laughed together and had a comfortable friendship. Perhaps his scent was more intoxicating than any other person I had ever smelled in my life, but that was beside the point. We kept all of that under control.
Then he kissed me. I blew hot as I remembered his kiss. The way his mouth had moved over mine. The taste of him. The feeling of his big hand on the back of my neck. I had never been kissed before in such a manner. I would probably be remembering that kiss in my dotage.
But it had been a colossal mistake of epic proportions. My face burned as I recalled my over-the-top response in my attempt to keep him here. It didn’t get any more mortifying. Nor did it make sense. What could make sense about my frantic desperation to keep him here? I had left the guy utterly speechless. He had no words while he watched me completely lose my shit. Basically, I had begged him to stay.
Irene decided that she’d had enough. “I think I’d like to go back to my hotel now. Jackson, would you mind driving me?”
“Sure.”
I stood up. “Would you like to come by for dinner tonight? I'm pretty sure Matt won’t be working.”
She gave me two air kisses. “That would be lovely, dear.”
CHAPTER 19
I wandered around the loft,at a bit of a loss as to what to do. Jackson had cleaned everything to a state of perfection, so I didn't even have to clean. I didn’t feel like painting or watching TV. My book didn’t hold my interest. I couldn’t bring myself to even think about last night.
My phone rang, and I lunged for it. It was Julie. I sighed.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Emily.”
“Hey.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Hungover. You?”
“Like I want to hang my head over the toilet for the next three days.”
I gave a short laugh. “Been there, done that.”
A brief pause.
“That was quite the party you had last night.”
“I aim to please.”
“So what are you and your two boys up to today?”
I looked around the empty loft. “They’re both out.”
“Is everything okay?”
I stilled as a coldness ran through my body. “Yes. Why?”
