Page 94 of My Fiancé's Brother
I couldn’t look at him.
“Well then,” I said staring at my feet, “I think I'm going to go to bed. Thanks for coming tonight and I apologize for how awkward this must have been for you.”
I started to walk past him. He grabbed my hand and pulled me to stop in front of him. I couldn’t look at his face, so I just stared straight ahead at his enormous chest.
He reached down and very gently lifted my chin so that I stared up at his face. He looked concerned. “What’s going on with you and Matt?”
The greatest irony in this entire night was that I was more embarrassed and concerned about Jackson finding out about my feelingsthan I was about the fact that my fiancé admitted to cheating on me with my bitch friend before walking out on me.
“Nothing good,” I said truthfully, my eyes dropping back down to his chest. I couldn’t bear to see pity or compassion in his eyes.
“Is it over between you two?”
“I think so.”
“Are you okay?”
“I don’t know.”
He didn’t say anything. I only wanted to go upstairs and crawl into bed.
“I'm sorry for embarrassing you. Tonight was bad.”
I looked up at his face. Green eyes held my gaze.
“I'm going to bed.” I moved past him.
I walked upstairsand had the longest shower of my life, wishing that the water could wash away tonight. I pulled on a pair of panties and a tank top. I was just about to climb into bed when I heard a soft knock on the door. I grabbed a throw blanket off my bed and wrapped it around my body.
I opened the door. Jackson stood in the dark hallway. He was wearing a pair of grey drawstring shorts and no shirt. His features were hard to see in the dim light, but he seemed impossibly big. We stood looking at each other for a long moment. My stupid heart was beating a thousand miles a minute.
“You can’t go to bed without opening my birthday present.”
Tears stung my eyes. “What?”
He pulled a flat perfectly wrapped gift from behind his back. “Happy Birthday.”
With trembling fingers, I took it from his hand. “What is it?”
“You have to open it to find out.”
I unwrapped a book entitled “Wet dog: A comedy for you, a horror story for your dog. Don’t let them read in the dark.”
It was a photo book of hundreds of dogs taking baths.
I started to laugh and fought to not burst into tears. “Thank you. This is so perfect.”
“I thought you might appreciate the humor.”
“I love it so much.” I clasped the book tightly to my chest. I couldn’t drag my eyes off the floor. “Jackson…I'm sorry. Tonight was…”
My voice trailed off. He stood in front of me, patiently waiting.
I took a deep breath. “I'm sorry about tonight. I hope what you heard doesn’t wreck our friendship.”
“He said you were all mine.”
“What?” My head jerked up so I could see his face. His pupils were so big, and his green eyes looked dark.
