by A. Aubry
As we stood in the large group of women, I knew I didn’t stand a chance. Shelby was determined to get the bouquet and so was everyone else standing in that large mass of people. I was just concerned that I’d make it out of there alive. Janette turned around and the group counted to three before the bouquet soared through the air. I watched it as it sailed right into my hands and I brought them down with the bouquet in my clutches. All the girls in the group stared at me with wide eyes and my cheeks burned. If they wanted the bouquet that bad, then they shouldn’t have asked me to participate.
I made my way back to Jackson who was smiling as wide as he was in the stable. We had our own little secret about how this would one day be our wedding, but that would stay exactly how it was right then…our secret. He took me into his arms and kissed me.
“I should have known you’d get that,” he mumbled against my lips.
“I wasn’t even trying,” I giggled and pulled back to look in his eyes.
He smirked, “Looks like we’re goin’ to have to get married someday.”
I playfully tapped my chin as though I was thinking, “How about in just over six months?”
“Sounds perfect to me,” he laughed as he brought me in for another kiss.
Someone cleared their throat and we turned around. The band was taking their place on stage for their last set of songs, but I was getting tired. After getting up early to make sure I was here for today, all I wanted to do was be with Jackson and lie in his arms. But Elliott, with his creepy gaze, stood there and offered out his hand.
“So, now that we are brothers, can I have one dance with Madeline?” Elliott smiled but I could see right past it.
I looked up at Jackson, pleading him with my eyes not to let me go. This guy had been giving me the creeps all night and I didn’t like it one bit. Jackson shrugged and let me go.
“Sure, why not?”
Fuck. Was he being serious? Could he not see the look on Elliott’s face? Oh man, I’d have to clue Jackson in on nonverbal communication. Reluctantly, I took Elliott’s hand and he led me onto the dance floor. As we started to dance to the upbeat music, I watched Jackson as he talked to his father. They were motioning to the bouquet that was lying on my spot at the table and laughing. Elliott turned my face to look at him and a smug smile was on his lips.
“He said I get a dance, that means you look at me.”
“Sorry…” I murmured as I tried to just let the music take me away.
Elliott inched closer to me and I didn’t like it one bit. The smell of his cologne made me nauseous, and the look in his eyes told me he was up to no good. His hands reached out and rested on my hips. I attempted to brush them off nonchalantly, but he was much stronger than I was. When brushing them off didn’t work, I tried to move out of them, but he kept pulling me closer. His hands skimmed around to grab my ass and I pushed him away.
“Elliott, you need to stop,” I demanded.
“Oh, come on baby. You’ve been teasin’ me all night,” he raised an eyebrow at me.
“No, I have not. I am clearly here with Jackson, I have not been feeding you any signals.”
“Really? Because I think you have been,” he drew me close and leaned in to kiss me as I tried to push him off of me.
In a flash, Elliott was on the floor clutching his cheek and Jackson was standing next to me breathing hard and shaking his hand. My mouth fell open as I watched Jackson try to get on top of Elliott to continue hitting him. I grabbed onto his shoulder, pulling him away.
“Jackson, stop! One hit was enough,” I begged.
He stood up and looked at me, taking my face in his hands, “Are you alright?”
I reached up and touched the hand he was shaking after the punch and Jackson winced, “I’m fine…but you’re not…”
The music had stopped, and everyone was staring. Taking Jackson’s good hand, I led him over to the bar and got some ice in a cloth napkin from the bartender. Bringing Jackson’s bad hand gently into mine, I held the makeshift ice pack onto his injury. Jackson watched me as I tended to him before he shook his head.
“That guy…he’s a fuckin’ asshole,” he mumbled as we took a seat at an empty table.
Everyone avoided our gaze and Janette was on the dance floor tending to her son.
“I know, he was trying to feel me up and was trying to kiss me…”
“What?! I only saw the kiss!” Jackson stood up before I forced him to sit back down.
With one hand holding the ice pack to his hand, I used my other to put my hand on his cheek, “Jackson, that guy gave me the creeps the second that I saw him at our table. He told me that I had been teasing him all night, but I haven’t. My eyes have only been on you…”
Jackson’s face leaned into my touch, “I know, baby. I trust you.”
I leaned in and kissed his lips, “Thank you for protecting me. I hope you didn’t hurt your hand too badly.”
Jackson chuckled, “I’ll survive, he just has one hard cheekbone.”
Jackson’s dad appeared next to us, fuming, “What the hell do you think you are doin’, Jackson William Ryder? Elliott isn’t even your stepbrother for one day and you are already startin’ fights?”
“Dad, it wasn’t even like that. Elliott asked Madeline to dance and I let them. Apparently, while he was dancin’ with her he was tryin’ to cop a feel, and I stepped in when I saw him tryin’ to kiss her.”
Chase looked over at me, “Is that true, Madeline?”
I bit my lip and nodded slowly, “Yes, sir. Elliott said I was teasing him all night, but I told him that I wasn’t. Obviously, I am here with Jackson and I only have eyes for him.”
Chase shook his head as he sighed loudly, “I am so sorry that you had to go through that. Jackson sometimes has a temper, but I can see that this time it was because of a good reason. Why don’t you two head back up to the house? The party will be wrappin’ up shortly, but I want to keep Elliott as far away from you two as I can.”
Jackson and I stood up from our chairs. We each hugged his father who had whispered he was sorry again in my ear as we hugged. It wasn’t his fault that his stepson was a handsy creep. Jackson led me out of the tent and back towards his childhood home. I had put my things in a guest room when I came, but Jackson wasn’t taking me in the direction of that room. We walked in the opposite direction before walking into a large room with a full-size bed. The walls were painted a light blue and a few posters of baseball players were still hung up. A desk sat in the corner, and a television sat atop a dresser in front of the bed.
“Welcome to my childhood bedroom,” Jackson smiled as he closed the door behind us.
“Funny, I pictured the posters but the rest of this does not scream ‘Jackson’,” I quietly teased as I turned around to face him.
“I guess you are right, but it’s where I lived for eighteen years, so it does have a part of me in it.”
I moved over to his bed and sat down, “What did your father mean when he said you have a temper?”
The statement had been gnawing at me ever since his father said it. Guys with tempers were never good. It could lead to something very bad, I had experience with that. The thing was, I couldn’t ever see Jackson hurting me.
Jackson came over to sit next to me, “After my mother died, I tried to be strong for Shelby. She was gettin’ picked on at school because she would cry randomly. That was to be expected…a fourteen-year-old girl just lost her mother. I am very protective of my family and those that I care about, so I ended up pickin’ a lot of fights. I put all my emotions into bein’ angry that my mother was gone rather than grievin’ for her. I got in a shit ton of trouble, and I still do get really angry from time to time…but only when it is necessary.”
He looked at me and I could see something in his eyes that I had never seen from Jackson before, fear. What in the world was going through his mind? What was he afraid of?
“Jackson…what’s the matter?”
“I’m scared that yo
u’re just goin’ to look at me like a jealous boyfriend who picks fights now…”
I turned to him and ran my hand through his hair as he sighed, “Jack…I don’t look at you in that way at all. You saw a situation that required you to step in and you took care of it…you took care of me. Yes, punching him so hard that you injured yourself in the process may have been a little excessive. But I had been trying to push him away and that didn’t work so a punch was the next best thing to get him off of me.”
He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me onto his lap. His lips pressed against the side of my head as he held me. Jackson was obviously worried about more than just how I looked at him now, but I wasn’t going to pry. I wanted to show Jackson how much I loved him and how much I appreciated him stepping in to protect me.
“Can we…um…” I started.
Jackson looked at me as one of his hands moved to my back, “Of course we can.”
His hand dragged down the zipper on the back of my dress, his fingers skimming over my skin after it was exposed. I stood from his lap and let my dress pool at my feet. I nervously bit my lip as Jackson looked me up and down. With my dress, it was nearly impossible to wear a bra because you would have been able to see it from the way it was cut. Jackson obviously couldn’t tell I hadn’t been wearing a bra all night because he licked his lips when he saw that I was standing in front of him in nothing but my panties. He unbuttoned his shirt and quickly stripped down to his boxers. He brought me into his arms and kissed me deeply, our tongues dancing with a fervor they had never danced with before. It was slow and passionate but laced with hunger for one another.
My panties ended up on the floor, followed by Jackson’s boxers…our lips never parting. Jackson crawled up onto the middle of the bed and signaled for me to get on his lap. I straddled his hips, easily sinking down on his cock, a small moan escaping as I felt him fill me up. He sat up quickly and snaked his arms around my waist after he moved my legs to wrap around his waist. We kissed and started to move together. Just when I thought that our sex couldn’t get any more passionate than it already had been, it one upped itself. Jackson kissed down my neck before taking a nipple into his mouth, slowly teasing it with his tongue and teeth. My head leaned back as I gasped in pleasure, my fingers fisting in his hair.
We rolled over, Jackson pinning me gently down onto the bed. His lips traveled back up to mine as he slowly thrusted in and out of me. My orgasm reached an all-time high, something that it had never done so quickly when the sex was at such a slow pace. Moaning against his lips, I let my release take over as it crashed into me like a wave. My body felt overheated as my breath hitched in my throat and my toes curled. I cradled myself against Jackson as he pumped into me a few more times and let his release go, filling me even more than ever before. He stopped moving as he couldn’t hold himself up anymore, but still our kiss never ceased. It was as though the kiss was the last thing tying us to this moment and we didn’t want to let it go.
Finally, I needed to come up for air. As we parted, we panted for air as we gazed into each other’s eyes. When I thought I couldn’t fall any deeper for this man, I surprised myself. Jackson climbed off to lay beside me, pulling me close against him as I brought the blankets up to cover us. His hand ran rhythmically up and down my back as I listened to his heart beat.
“Jackson?” I said softly.
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
He kissed the top of my head, “I love you too, Madeline.”
Chapter Twelve
The following month and a half was a whirlwind. The two weeks after his father’s wedding were some of the best times of my life. Jackson and I went sightseeing in every state that he played in when he didn’t have a game, any other time was spent just being with him. When August 1st hit, everything got harder. We had to sneak around, we were only seen together with large groups of friends and even then, we forced ourselves to sit at opposite ends and sides of the tables so that people wouldn’t think that we were together.
Our friends all knew differently, but they understood that we had to tiptoe around the rules of his divorce settlement. If it was determined that Jackson was dating someone before the six-month rule was up, he would owe Josie a whole bunch more money than was already agreed upon. If Josie broke her own rule, and we already knew that she was, Jackson wouldn’t have to give her anything. That was why I was determined to prove that Josie was still dating the man she cheated on Jackson with, or any other guy for that matter.
The clause had been in effect for a month and a half already but that didn’t mean it was easier to adjust. News stories were out there that Jackson and I had a messy break up because of the clause that Josie added to the divorce. That couldn’t have been further from the truth. Every week that Jackson had a home game, I was living with him. And when he was traveling, we FaceTimed every night to see each other that way and to say goodnight. We were amazing and falling more in love with each other every day. It was crazy just how good we had gotten at sneaking around. Usually it was with the help of some of our friends, but Jackson’s family actually helped out too.
Two weeks ago, Jackson’s team was in Texas for a string of games. Three of those games were in Houston. I had taken time off of work, faking sick may have been a more correct term, and flew to Houston. Shelby picked me up from the airport discreetly and drove me to their father’s house which was empty because his father and stepmother had taken a delayed honeymoon. Chase and Janette even insisted that we stay at the house and take care of the animals for them the few days that Jackson would be in town. Every minute that Jackson was not with his team or playing the game was spent with me at his father’s house. We went horseback riding around the large fields that his father grew his crops in, we sat out on a blanket in the middle of the vast backyard and watched the stars, and of course, there was sex to be had.
We flew home from Houston separately. I flew back the day before Jackson and his team were scheduled to fly out then we had spent a week living at his place together. Currently, Jackson was on an extended bout of traveling and his one day off this week was supposed to be used for traveling from one side of the country to the other. So tonight, I may or may not have stalked Josie’s Twitter feed and went to the club that her and her friends had been going to nearly every weekend. Even though she was several months pregnant at this point, she still wore skin tight dresses and looked like a wannabe prostitute. I got my friends to agree to go out with me to the same bar to see if we could catch Josie in the act of anything incriminating. The second I could catch her breaking her own rule, Jackson wouldn’t have to abide by it and we could be together as much as we wanted once again.
I wore a black strapless dress that fell to my knees and flared out around the waist. It was comfortable and kept me cool in the hot Indian Summer that was taking place this late in September. It also had pockets which was a major plus. When we got inside, Josie wasn’t anywhere to be seen but the place was packed. My friends and I decided to just take advantage of the ladies’ night specials and dance to blow off steam. Trust me, sneaking around with your boyfriend caused a lot of stress but Jackson was definitely worth it. As we danced, Alexandria tapped my shoulder and pointed behind me. Lucas was standing at the bar, staring at me as he whispered to his friends.
Since news had spread that Jackson and I ‘weren’t together’ anymore, Lucas had been on me like an annoying mosquito. My phone was blowing up with text messages from him asking to get together and each time I politely declined. Usually because when he would ask, Jackson and I were together at his house having our own date night. His most recent text messages were getting more arrogant by the day, saying that I just needed to get under someone else to get over Jackson. I wasn’t exactly looking for that, especially not with him. Every time Jackson was home, I was under him and that was where I needed to be. I watched as Lucas pushed himself away from the bar and came over to where my friends and I were dancing.
“Hello
, Madeline,” he smirked as I stopped dancing.
“Go away you creep,” Alexandria called over to him.
He held up his hands, “Why are you so defensive, Alex? All I did was say hello.”
“Yeah, well you’ve been bothering Maddie for weeks. That gives me a right to be defensive.”
“I’m bothering you all because I want to go out with Madeline again?” He raised an eyebrow at me.
“I’m not interested, Lucas,” I sighed.
“I heard your baseball player boyfriend broke up with you,” he sneered at me like it was some big secret that I was keeping.
“We ended things mutually because he isn’t allowed to date for six months,” I crossed my arms protectively over my chest. Man how I wished that Jackson was in town to be here for me.
“Is that why he’s been out with several different girls almost every day this week?”
“What are you talking about?”
Lucas held up his phone to show a trashy gossip website blog post on the screen. The latest headline was how Jackson was seen leaving a bar with some of his teammates and a few different girls over the last few nights. He wouldn’t do that to me. Every damn night he was calling me, FaceTiming me until we couldn’t keep our eyes open anymore. Lucas began to laugh at me as I got angry, hot tears prickling my eyes at how much he was pissing me off. So, I did the only thing that a girl could do to deal with an annoying son of a bitch like him. I punched him in the nose before thrusting my knee into his groin. He went down like a stack of bricks.
Running out of the club, I grabbed my phone out of the pocket of my dress. I quickly dialed the only number that I had on my mind.
“Hey Madeline, are you girls already done at the club?” Jackson’s smooth voice flowed through my phone.
“You’re not cheating on me…right?” I blurted out.
Damn, I should have put in some context before that accusation.
“What? No, baby, I would never cheat on you. What is bringin’ that up?”