Save Me (Saved Series, Book One)

by Laura L. Cline

  I pick at a string that hangs from my coat button. "I honestly don’t know. I know he thinks he is."

  I know Claire didn't know about Jack's previous marriage; we'd talked about it the day after Jack and I had our almost disastrous first date. Mark knew, but for some reason, decided I didn't need that piece of information. Maybe he knew what he was doing; I probably wouldn't have agreed to go out with Jack had I known he'd had such a disastrous marriage.

  "What do you want?" Claire asks.

  "Him. Just him. All the rest is still fuzzy."

  "What's his mom like?"

  "A sweetheart," I say. "She's getting married. Jack had no idea. She sorta sprung it on him at dinner."

  "Wow," Claire says. "How'd he take it?"

  "Pretty good, a little surprised, I think."

  "You've had a busy month, dear sister," Claire says.

  "How are you?" I ask gingerly.

  "You know," Claire says, and I do. "I've come to the conclusion that at least the miscarriage shows that I can get pregnant."

  Thankfully, Claire’s always been a glass half full kinda gal.

  “Right,” I say. “You just have to follow the doctor’s orders and see what happens.” Jack’s headlights bounce underneath the canopy. “Hey, Jack’s coming. I’ll call you tomorrow, okay? Maybe we can go to dinner or something.”

  “Okay, Carly. Love you.”

  “Love you, too, Sis.”

  I end the call and wait for Jack to park the Escalade. He climbs out with a big brown bag.

  “Buy the whole store?” I ask.

  “Nah, just didn’t know if you wanted Corona or Bud Light, so I grabbed both.”

  I give him a disapproving look, “I’d have drank either.”

  “Relax,” he says, stopping to kiss me, “They were only eight bucks a six pack.”

  I follow him inside and he sits the beer on the counter. I put my phone down on the counter. “Pizza should be here in a few minutes.”

  “Good, I’m hungry,” Jack says, pulling a Corona from the bag and popping the top for me.

  He wraps his arm around my waist as I take a drink. “Ah,” I say. “That’s good.”

  Jack kisses my neck and then nibbles at my ear.

  “Don’t start that yet,” I say. “The pizza guy’s coming.”

  “He won’t be the only one,” Jack mutters in my ear. His teeth brush over my earlobe again and I shudder.

  “Seriously,” I say, giving a half-assed attempt to push him away. “We’ve got all night.”

  “Alright, alright,” Jack says, releasing his hold on me. “You win. For now.”

  He takes a Corona and then sticks the rest of the beer in the fridge. Not a moment too soon, it turns out, as the pizza guy pulls up behind Jack’s Escalade.

  Jack pulls his wallet from his back pocket, but I push it away. “I told you, I’ve got the pizza.”

  I open my purse and pull a twenty dollar bill from my wallet. The pizza guy rings the doorbell and I open it.

  “Hi there,” he says. “That’ll be $14.33.”

  He opens the flap on the black pizza bag and pulls out the box. I take it and hand him the cash. “Keep the change.”

  “Thanks,” he smiles and heads back to his car. I close the door behind him and the aroma of the pizza fills the kitchen.

  “Yum,” Jack says as I sit it on the counter. He pulls a slice free and plops it on a plate. “Here you go.” I take it and he grabs a slice for himself.

  We eat the entire pizza and watch the first few episodes of a zombie TV show that Jack insists I'll love. Turns out, gore and pizza go good together. Jack's phone rings from his coat pocket in the kitchen.

  He jogs over to get it and I start to clean up our plates.

  "Hey, Mom," he says.

  "Tell her I said 'hi'," I say, rinsing our plates in the sink.

  "Carly says 'hi'," Jack says. "She says 'hi' back," he rolls his eyes and smiles at the same time.

  "Yeah, we came back early. Got home around five."

  I watch as he paces the space between the living room and kitchen. I watch his long legs as he walks; the muscles in his arms flex as he runs his fingers through his hair, which has decided to go all sorts of sexy tonight.

  "Oh, I must've forgotten. Just bring it with you when you come over."

  I put the plates in the dishwasher and close it with my hip. I lean across the island and just watch him.

  "Alright, Mom, we'll see you tomorrow. Love you, too." He ends the call and then puts his phone on the counter next to mine. Our phones even look the same in their plain black cases.

  "We're seeing your mom tomorrow?" I ask.

  "She wants to come over," Jack says. "So you two can look at flowers and dresses and all that shit."

  "She wants me to look at things for her wedding?" I ask, surprised. I just met her.

  "I guess," Jack says. "You don't have to if you'd rather not." He leans toward me on the counter and I smile at him.

  "Of course I will. I'm just surprised she'd want me to."

  "How can you be surprised?" he asks, taking my hand. "She likes you."

  "And I like her," I say honestly. "So, I'll be happy to debate lavender versus eggplant."

  "Are those flowers or colors or vegetables?" Jack asks with a grin.

  "Of course I'll help the woman. She can't expect you to know anything about it." I roll my eyes at him.

  "Right you are," Jack says, kissing my hand. Jack's phone dings and lights up on the counter.

  He picks it up and then looks at me. "I believe it's your phone," he says.

  I take it from him, already aware of who it is by the look on his face and the icy cold in his eyes.

  Please, just talk to me. That's all I ask.

  "I haven't been talking to him," I protest. Jack drops my hand and leans off the island.

  "Talk to him. Call him."

  Is this a trick? Is this some macho ploy to get me to get Nick on the phone so Jack can take it from me and threaten Nick?

  "I don't wanna talk to him," I say.

  "I want you to. I think you should," Jack says, but his eyes are hard and distant. "He obviously wants to talk to you."

  I stare at my phone and then at Jack. What am I gonna do?

  "I'm only doing this because you want me to," I say. "I don't wanna talk to him."

  "But you need to," Jack says.

  Why won't Nick leave me alone? He never gave a single inkling that he cared for me while we were doing what we were doing, so why now? Is it because I've moved on? Because I'm happy?

  I scroll through the contacts and then touch his name.

  Jack watches as I listen to the trilling of the line.

  "Carly?" Nick asks, the surprise that I'm actually calling raising the tenor of his voice higher than I remember.

  "What do you want, Nick?" I say. I keep my eyes on Jack as I speak.

  "I'm just glad you finally called me," Nick says. "Why've you been ignoring me?"

  "Listen, Nick. I only called you because I'm tired of you harassing me. We're over. Done. Finished. You and I, whatever we had, is never gonna happen again."

  Nick is silent for a minute and I want to hang up. Then he speaks.

  "I'm sorry. I just want you to know that. I know I wasn't always the nicest guy and I know I made you feel like shit, but I'd take it back, if I could."

  Jack continues to look at me in silence.

  "Nick, I appreciate that, but there's nothing to apologize for. We had whatever kind of fucked up relationship we had and now it's done. I've moved on to someone who treats me like I deserve to be treated and never makes me feel like I'm his whore."

  Anger rises up in me, anger that I tried to convince myself I didn't feel toward him. I don't love Nick, I never did, but he treated me like shit and he deserves to hear it. Jack gives me the strength to make him hear it.

  "Allie told me you were dating that guy. The one who took that fucking cheap shot and decked me. She also told me his
name. Robert Webster, Jack to most people."

  Now all the kindness is gone from his voice and this is the Nick I know.

  "And?" I ask.

  "And I talked to my dad about it. Now that I know his name, I can press charges for assault."

  "You wouldn't," I say, but I know he might.

  "Yeah, I would," Nick says. I can hear the malice in his voice.

  "Why?"

  "Why do you think?" Nick asks. "He can't have you."

  Jack walks toward me, alarmed at the look I know must be on my face. "What's he saying?" Jack mouths.

  I hold one finger up.

  "What do you want?" I ask. I look at Jack and he motions for me to put it on speaker, so I do.

  "I want you to stop seeing him. I want things to go back to how they used to be and I want you to apologize to me."

  "That's not going to happen," I tell him.

  Nick laughs and it's a cruel laugh. "I thought you might say that. Turns out, Dad did a little digging. Jack has a drunk driving offense from a few years ago. He's still on probation."

  "So what?" I ask.

  "So, when he assaulted me, he violated his probation. He'll go to jail."

  Jack's face hardens and his eyes narrow.

  "So all this shit you've been saying about how you've changed and you regret the way you treated me…you were just saving this bit of information in case I wasn't stupid enough to fall for it. You fucking piece of shit."

  "I may be a piece of shit, but at least I know where I belong. You're just a trailer trash whore who fucked her way into a rich guy's bed."

  Jack grabs the phone and puts it to his mouth.

  "Listen to me, you little fuck. You go right ahead and press charges against me. You're never gonna touch Carly again, never. You think you can hide behind your daddy? Well, let me tell you, you little cunt, I'll fucking go to jail if I have to, but you'll never get to lay another finger on her."

  Jack ends the call and almost throws my phone before slamming it down on the counter.

  "Fuck him!" Jack yells. "That little prick."

  I stand there, unable to move. I watch Jack as he puts his hands on the counter and then drops his head down between them.

  "Why didn't you tell me you're on probation?" I ask.

  "Because it was for the motorcycle accident and it's over in May," Jack says.

  "This is all my fault," I say.

  Jack looks at me and for a second I can't believe the rage on his face.

  "This is not your fault. Not at all. This is him," he stabs a finger at my phone. "Whatever happened to the days when a man lost a woman and fucking let that be that? Why all this shit about pressing charges? He got his ass kicked and obviously couldn't take it like a man." Jack runs his fingers through his hair and then grabs his phone.

  "Who are you calling?" I ask nervously.

  "My lawyer. If that little cocksucker is gonna do this, I want my lawyer ready."

  I feel like I want to cry and throw up all the beer and pizza to boot. Why would Nick do this? I know he's a spoiled brat, but to do something like this over me? Over a trailer trash whore? His words sting in spite of how much I hate him.

  I'm surprised Jack's lawyer answers this late on a Saturday night. I tune out completely as he starts explaining the situation. Tears attempt fill my eyes as I watch the man I love furiously flex his hands at his sides. He's raging, imagining beating the living shit out of Nick.

  I grab my phone and call Allie. She answers on the second ring.

  "Carly!" she says happily.

  "When did you tell Nick Jack's name?" I ask, careful not to raise my voice at her. This isn't her fault.

  "Oh god, what's he done?"

  "He's threatening to press charges against Jack for hitting him at the club."

  "Shit," Allie breathes into the phone. "He showed up at the bar yesterday and was asking all sorts of questions. He asked if you guys were serious. I thought he was just a little jealous. He asked what Jack's name was. I couldn't help it. I bragged that he owned the sawmill. I wanted to bust his balls, make him regret how he'd treated you. I didn't even think about what he'd do with the information."

  I know I can't be mad at her, and I'm not really, but she definitely complicated shit for us.

  "It's okay, Allie. Really. Jack's on the phone with his lawyer right now to try and head this off at the pass."

  "What did he say to you?" Allie asks.

  "Pretty much what you'd expect him to. Called me a trailer trash whore. Said I'd fucked my way into a rich guy's bed."

  "That motherfucker," Allie says. "God, I hate to think I helped him with this. Please tell Jack I had no idea what he'd do."

  "I'll tell him,' I say. “I can’t believe we came home early from the Smokies to this shit.” I rub my temples attempting to stall the stress headache that's building there.

  "Is it bad timing to ask how meeting his mom went?"

  "Yeah," I laugh a little. "But she's really nice. Really sweet."

  "Damn, Carly I am just so sorry," Allie says again.

  "It's okay, really. Just don't talk to him about anything if he comes around. Don't even talk to him at all if you can help it."

  "You got it, Carls. Shit, I really messed up your day, huh?"

  "Don't worry about it, Allie. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

  "Please don't be mad at me," she squeezes in.

  "I'm not," I promise. "See you tomorrow."

  "Okay, bye."

  I hang up just and watch Jack as he paces the floor, still talking to his lawyer. I chew at my lip and wait for him to finish. I let the conversation with Nick replay in my head, still not able to believe he’s doing this. Nick was never a very nice guy, not only to me, but to women in general. His friend Kyle once told Allie that he used to try and catch the girls changing in the women’s field house after soccer practice. He even drilled a hole in the concrete of the building to try and peek in at them. I once asked him about it, but he’d acted like it wasn’t true. Those ‘dike bitches’ hadn’t interested him. Those were the words he’d used to describe them. The story made me want to slap the shit out of him, but his attitude when I asked him about it made me sick.

  Jack ends the call and puts his phone in his pocket.

  "What did he say?" I ask nervously.

  "He says he's not worried. I've been a good boy since the accident and I've paid all my fines. No one was injured, except me, so it was a DWI. I'd never been in any trouble and given that Dad employed someone in every family in this town at one point or another, I got three years’ probation; no jail time, so there’s not too much they can do to me." Jack's face is tight and his eyes are strained. It's hard to believe we were just eating pizza and watching zombies chase a guy through the streets of Georgia.

  I walk to Jack hesitantly, afraid that he'll turn me away out of anger. Instead, he grabs my arms and pulls them around him. He rests his head on my shoulder.

  "What a little shit," Jack says. "Thank god your taste in men has improved."

  "I'm so sorry, Jack," I say, sighing heavily into his chest. "I'm sorry for the trouble he's causing you."

  "He's gonna be sorry," Jack says.

  "What're you gonna do?" I ask.

  "He wants to try and do this, we'll just have to see what we can have done about the harassing phone calls and texts. Save every one of those, don't delete your calls and if he texts you again, get him to repeat what he said on the phone, if he will."

  "I'm sure I can, if you think it'd help your case."

  "It will, if there even is a case. My lawyer is gonna call his father tomorrow and let him know what his son's been threatening. Maybe it'll scare him into dropping this."

  "God, I hope so," I say, nuzzling against him.

  "We're not letting this shit ruin the last night of our weekend," Jack says, but I can tell it definitely ruined it for him.

  "I just wanna say something," I start, "I never loved him, Jack. And now you see why I couldn't. This Nick,
this mean guy, he was always there, always part of him. He only wants me because I don't want him. That's it. He always thought what he said about me, he just wouldn't say it out loud while we were sleeping together."

  "You don't believe what he said, do you?" Jack asks, pulling my hand up and placing it over his heart. "You know that's not what happened, right?"

  "I didn't fuck my way anywhere," I say. "We're in a relationship, not just a bed."

  "Damn straight," Jack says, planting a forceful kiss on my mouth. "My little pistol."

  His hands find their way to my ass like usual and he squeezes.

  "If I asked you to fuck me right now, would it be bad timing?" I ask.

  "Hell no," Jack says. "I think right now is the perfect time." He lifts me up by my ass and wraps my legs around his waist. I panic and grab onto him, sure that he'll drop me.

  "Hold on, baby," Jack says, carrying me to his room with ease. "I'm gonna fuck my woman hard tonight."

  What might happen tomorrow or the day after is unimportant as Jack pushes his bedroom door open and carries me through. It disappears altogether as his teeth bite at the skin between my thighs. I completely forget why I was ever tense when his dick slips inside me and blows my mind.

  Chapter 13

  Joann Webster pulls up outside the house and parks behind Jack's silver Chevy. She attempts to balance two armfuls of books from her car so I run out to help her.

  "Hello, dear!" she says, dumping a few books into my outstretched arms. Jack's disappeared somewhere on his property, leaving his mom and me to sort through all this stuff.

  "Hi," I smile. "You've got a lot of magazines here." I juggle them and open the door for her. She steps through and drops her stack of books on the counter, then turns and takes mine to do the same. I close the door behind me as she puts a few pieces of mail in the basket on the counter.

  "Yes, I know, but I only need to find one dress. At my age, I won't be wearing white and I don't need some mermaid froufrou dress. How hard can it be?" She smiles at me and then grabs me for a hug. She smells sweet, like honeysuckle.

  "I remember helping my sister plan her wedding; it can be difficult to find the right dress. Do you have any idea what you want?"

  "Oh, hell no," she says, opening the first magazine. "All these girls are babies. Stick thin babies," she scoffs. She closes that magazine and moves to the next one.