“Tell me about it.”
Jackson turns to me, a tiny grin playing on his lips. “Scaring guys off is one of her favorite pastimes.”
“Have there been many guys to scare off?”
“Not really. No one who ever hung around.”
“And you’re laying the blame for that on your sister and not your sparkling personality?”
A handful of popcorn comes flying my way. It bounces off my shirt and scatters into my lap. “Did you just throw food at me? Even Sammy is better behaved than that.”
“You insulted me.”
“And you retaliate by using food as a weapon?”
He gives a firm nod. “Precisely.”
“Speaking of your anger issues?—”
He rolls his eyes. “We’re not, but go on.”
I lean over and take the cheese knife off the plate and move it out of his reach…just in case. “You and Ridge Duporth. What’s the deal there?”
Maybe it’s because I opened up to him last night, or maybe enough time has passed that whatever the issue between himand Ridge doesn’t infuriate him so much anymore, but whatever it is, to my pleasant surprise, Jackson actually answers my question.
“Word got back to me that he was talking shit about me.”
“How do you guys know each other?”
“We don’t. People at his wealth level aren’t allowed to mingle with people of mine,” he says with a mixture of resignation and lingering anger. “It’s in the Rich Assholes Guide to Winning at Life. Chapter eight, I believe.”
I wince,hatingthat that’s the first place he went to. “That’s not what I meant. I just…Ridge Duporth hangs out with idiots who have their heads so far up his ass he DMs his proctologist. You don’t strike me as someone like that.”
“Thank you?”
And then, because I can’t help it, “Your head is probably too big to fit up there anyway.”
“Fuck off. I have a perfectly sized head.”
No prizes for guessing the mental image that just flashed in my mind.
I’m quickly learning that being in such close proximity to Jackson and not having blown my load in more than two days is not a good combination. Might see if I can sneak away and take matters into my own hands when we return to the house.
Jackson lets out another sigh, his expression tightening. “Ridge found out something about me that he had no right to, and he started mouthing off about it.”
“That’s incredibly vague.”
He glances at me with a flicker of sadness in his eyes. “I know. I don’t want to get into it, that’s all.”
“Fair enough. Did it work?”
“Did what work?”
“Punching him in the face.”
Jackson grins. “Fucker has kept his mouth shut ever since.”
“Good. Not that I’m condoning violence. But I’ll make an exception when it comes to him.”
