Ryan was happy to try to help me out with my plan for my final uni placement, and said he would get some emails out as soon as he got home and let me know if anything comes up.
* * *
Before I know it, it’s the weekend, and although I’m still a bit tired, I know I need to get back up to Manchester. My tutor has told me I can change my placement as long as I have enough lesson observations completed from my current one and hand my assignment in. The sooner I can have all that done, the sooner I can move. Things are looking promising this end as well, thanks to my amazing big brother, but I’m keeping it under wraps at the moment, because I don’t want to have to disappoint Jax if it all falls through. I’m also yet to tell him I’m going back before my sick note ends. This could get interesting.
“Jax?”
He is in the kitchen sorting us out some lunch before we head over to Ryan and Molly’s for the afternoon. Molly and I are leaving the boys to it so I can get my limp locks sorted out. Since things ended with Jax, I haven’t really cared enough to keep up with looking my best, so my usually bright blonde hair is looking a little sad. Molly also wants to hit some of the baby shops in town now she has her cast off and can drive herself. She was hesitant to ask me, but as I have told her numerous times, I’m totally fine with it and am happy to be excited with her about my new niece or nephew. Our baby wasn’t meant to be, but it brought us back together. We have plenty of time in our future for babies.
“I’ve decided that I’m heading back to Manchester tomorrow, so I can get back to school. The quicker I get all my observations and teaching hours done, the sooner I can be finished.” Well, that is sort of true. Ish.
“I don’t think so, Abbi,” he growls as he places the plates on the coffee table in front of me. “The doctor said you should have two weeks off to rest.”
“I know, but I feel fine,” Also true. Ish. “Jax, I can’t sit round wasting days. I’ll have all of the Easter and summer holidays to do that. I need to get back to normal life.”
“I’m not going to win here, am I?” he asks, a little defeated.
“I’m sorry, Jax. It’s not that I don’t want to be here with you, because I do more than anything, but I need to get uni finished.” I also need to start looking for a job, but I don’t mention that because it will lead to the location of said job.
“I don’t like it one bit, but I do understand, Abs. Just promise me you’ll look after yourself and rest as much as you can. I know what you’re like.”
* * *
It’s like I blink; the weekend is gone and I’m trying to say bye to Jax but my sobs kind of interfere.
“Baby, if you’re not ready don’t go, stay with me,” he says as he holds me.
“No, I need to go.” I know that the sooner I go and get everything sorted, the sooner I can be back in his arms.
I square my shoulders and take a deep breath. “I’m okay. I love you, Jax. I promise to ring you as soon as I get there, and I’ll see you as soon as I can, yeah?” I take a step away from him and give him one last kiss before I get into my car. I have to bite down on my cheeks to try to keep from breaking down again in front of him.
“I love you, too, baby, more than you could ever know.”
I feel a sob rising so I just nod, unable to speak, and pull away, leaving him looking completely lost on the path outside his flat. The moment I turn the corner out of sight, the tears start. They eventually dry up for a few minutes, but as soon as I think of him they start again. He has been amazing this week. He’s looked after me better than I could have ever asked for. He’s been supportive, sweet and so gentle with me. We haven’t had sex again yet – actually, other than the day after getting back from the hospital, we haven’t done anything. We were both just content being with each other and enjoying being in each other’s arms again. I have no doubt though, that when we do reconnect, it is going to be electric. My body is physically aching for him.
The minute I enter my flat, my best friend and flat mate, Sarah, is on me, along with our friend Eve. I once again break down in tears in her arms. They both pull me over to the sofa and sit me down while waiting patiently for me to calm down.
“Has that fucker broken your heart again?” Sarah asks. I’d text her to say I was staying in Oxford longer than originally planned, but she has no clue about the rest of it, so I spend the next hour explaining to both of them about the miscarriage, getting back with Jax, and my plan for uni. They both listen intently and save any questions they have until I finish.
“So, you’re leaving?”
“That’s what I’m hoping, but I need to wait and see if it’s possible first. Don’t worry, I’ll pay up my share of the rent. I’m hoping for some free lodgings in Oxford, whether it be with Ryan or Jax.”
“Don’t be stupid, Abs, I couldn’t care less about the money, and it’s not that I want you to go, but the timing is pretty good, actually.” She looks over at Eve, who I now notice looks a little glum. “Fuck face cheated on her, and she’s been sleeping on our sofa. If you go, she could have your room.” Wow, this all seems to be working out well; I just pray the rest of it continues that way. “I’m gonna miss you though, Abs.”
“I know, I’ll miss you, too,” I say, pulling Sarah in for a hug. We’ve pretty much been inseparable since the day we started uni together, but I guess all good things have to come to an end. The fact that I’ve got a sexy as fuck guy waiting for me at the other end softens the blow for me slightly.
I am exhausted when I get into bed that night. After my session with the girls, I spent hours on the phone to Jax, trying to convince him that I’m okay.
The minute my head hits my pillow, I’m out like a light.
Chapter Seven
Jax
My heart feels like it’s being pulled out of my chest as I watch her drive away from me. I hate that she has decided to leave early. I told her I understand her reasons, and I do, but it doesn’t mean it hurts any less. She could have spent two weeks here with me, but has gone after only one. I lift my hands up and go to run them through my hair, only to find that it’s gone and I have nothing to pull on, which was the reason for cutting it in the first place. That night at the hospital with Abbi, I spent practically all night pulling at it, to the point where I was annoying myself doing it, so the first thing I did when I left the next morning was find a barbers to get rid of it. Soon after, I headed to the tattoo studio to get my new ink. I’d been planning to have it before everything kicked off with Abbi, and like the pussy I am, had the design I wanted folded up carefully in my wallet. I knew I needed to get it done. Even if things didn’t sort themselves out between us, I needed a reminder on me of what we did have, because I’m pretty damn sure I’d never find something like that ever again. I think Abbi unknowingly ruined me for anyone else from that first evening of meeting her. Hell, I’m pretty sure I fell in love with her the moment my eyes locked with hers that day.
When I realise that I’m still stood on the path outside my flat, looking like a loser, I hang my head and trudge back to my flat. It’s going to be cold and empty without her in it.
My heart warms a little when I see a note pinned to my fridge. I instantly recognise her writing and pull it off to look at it.
My sexy man,
I’m sorry I had to leave but trust me, I have my reasons and I will explain all soon.
I love you with all my heart. Thank you for everything you have done for me this week.
I’ll see you soon, I promise.
All my love,
Abbi x
I pin it back up on the fridge so I can look at it. God, I’m seriously whipped! My phone rings somewhere in the flat, distracting me, and when I eventually find it it’s stopped ringing, but seeing that it was Ryan, I call him straight back.
“Hey dude, Abs just text to say she was headed home. You okay?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“We are having Sunday lunch at the Morrisons’, but we’ll be home by six at
the latest. Come round, we’ll have a few beers, yeah?”
“Yeah okay,” I agree. I’m not really feeling like it, but being out of my empty flat will probably do me some good.
I sit down on the arm of the sofa and think about what Ryan just said, before finding my car keys and heading out the door to go see my parents.
“Jackson, you should have told us you were coming. I’d have plated you up dinner,” Mum says, the moment I enter the dining room to find everyone there looking back at me.
“Dax,” my niece Chloe squeals from her high chair next to my sister. She puts her arms straight up in the air for me to go and get her, but she instantly gets chastised by Suzi.
“It’s fine, Mum, it was a last minute thing.”
“I’ve got enough for another portion in the kitchen. Sit down and I’ll go get you some.”
“Thanks,” I call after her.
After dinner, I join my mum and Suzi in the kitchen to help clean up, while my dad and brother-in-law head straight for the TV, with Chloe following close behind on very unsteady legs.
“What’s up, baby boy? You look sad,” Mum comments.
“It’s Abbi.”
“Still?” my sister questions.
“We’re back together.”
“And you look sad about this why?” Mum asks, looking confused.
I explain the whole thing to them and about how she has gone back up to Manchester, making me feel lost without her.
“Firstly, fuck her mother,” my sister says, earning the evil eye from our mum for her use of the F-word. “Secondly, it sounds like she loves you as much as you do her. Bite the bullet, baby brother, and make her yours.”
“I would have put it slightly differently, but I agree,” my mum chips in. “She’s amazing, and absolutely perfect for you. Do you want to risk losing her again?”
“Don’t you think it’s a bit soon for all this?”
“She was going to have your baby, Jax,” Suzi says, squeezing my forearm.
* * *
I think about everything my mum and sister said on the drive over to Ryan and Molly’s. I can’t help but think they are totally crazy. I mean, we may have known each other since last summer, but we spent most of that apart. Yes, she was going to have my baby, but it was conceived as a drunken spur of the moment thing in my friends’ bathroom; not exactly what romance novels are made of. I love her more than I thought possible. I know she’s the one I’ve been waiting for, and that I want to spend the rest of my life with her, but I’m sure me doing it now will just totally freak her out. She’s so busy trying to finish uni, then she’s going to need to get a job. It’s totally crazy, right?
As I continue driving, my mind wanders back to New Year’s Eve.
* * *
It took a lot of convincing on both Molly and Ryan’s part to actually get me to turn up to this damn party. I was quite happy at home with my bottle of Jack, and maybe even a glass, depending on how I felt at the time, but here I am, ringing their fucking doorbell.
I know she is already here, because I’ve just seen her car. I also know he is here, too, because Molly has warned me. Fucking great.
After greeting Molly and Ryan, thankfully he fills my hand with a drink, so I can start my mission of getting off my head to try to numb the pain that this night is surly going to cause.
It’s only a few minutes later when a guy I’ve never met comes walking straight over to me like he knows me.
“You must be Jax, I’m Caleb,” he says, sticking his hand out. “You look just as Abbi described. It’s good to meet you at last,” he says, startling me for a few seconds.
She talks to her new bloke about me? That’s got to be a good thing, right?
“You too. She…uh…talks about me?”
“Yeah, all the time. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you. Right, I’m going to go and see if they’re ready yet; they’ve been down there hours,” he says, before turning and leaving the room. I watch him go with what must be a look of pure shock on my face.
I turn to Molly, who is still stood next to me, and say, “So that’s Caleb, huh? I’m sorry to ask, but how does she go from me to him?” I point in the direction he just left. “I mean, we are like day and night opposites.” I’m a tattooed bad boy, apparently, and he’s a pretty boy.
Molly goes on to tell me how Abbi doesn’t look at him like she does me, and explains to me how she thinks Caleb might be gay. I can’t help but cross every part of my body with hope for that to be true. The thought of him touching her makes me feel murderous, but if that’s true then he hasn’t, so I can relax a little.
It’s not long before Liv and Beth appear, looking amazing, but as soon as I see them enter the room, my eyes are fixed to the door because I know she’ll be next. And I’m not disappointed, because seconds later she appears with her arm through Caleb’s, and fuck me sideways if she does not look out of this fucking world hot. She is wearing a tight-fitting, floor length red dress, that hugs every insanely sexy curve she has and drops a little low at the front to give a hint of her cleavage. My dick instantly starts hardening at the sight of her. Her red lips are practically calling me to walk over and plant mine on them. Fuck. My. Life. I knew coming was a bad idea, and she has just proved me right.
“Sweet mother of Jesus. Is she trying to torture me?” I mutter to myself, but Molly hears and agrees with me before I tell her I need a stronger drink.
Molly has just walked off when Abbi raises her eyes to mine. Our eye contact holds for a few seconds too long, making something crackle between us, before she drops her eyes and gives me a once over like she did when she first saw me.
Shane and Chris try to distract me from a long night of pining after Abbi. They are great guys and very funny together, but I only half listen to the conversation they are trying to have with me. Most of my attention is on Abbi, who is stood facing me while talking to her sister, Beth and Caleb. I’ve caught her looking at me about the same amount of times she has caught me. She, unlike me, looks away, as if she’s been burned. I, on the other hand, could not care less that she knows I want her. The last few weeks without her have been pure hell. I feel a bit like I’ve lost my left arm.
This back and forth between us continues for the next few hours, until I get so fucked off with the whole thing I walk straight up to her once I’ve made sure everyone is distracted in their own conversations.
“We need to talk,” I say in her ear, not missing the fact that goose bumps erupt across her skin. I grab her hand, and gently but firmly pull her from the room and down the stairs. I want to be as far away from everyone upstairs, so I’m not content to just be in the bedroom where she is sleeping. I continue to pull her into the bathroom, so there are more doors between us and everyone else.
I pull her to stand in front of me. Her chest is rising and falling rapidly and her red lips are parted as she breathes through them. We both just stand and stare at each other for what feels like ages, but in reality is probably just seconds, before she practically throws herself at me. My back hits the wall with the force of her coming at me. My gasp of shock works to her advantage, because she shoves her tongue straight in my mouth and strokes mine, bringing me out of my trance. My hands instantly go to her arse and I grind my rigid cock into her stomach while we fuck each other’s mouths with no finesse at all. We’re all tongues, teeth and lips in our wet and dirty kiss.
“Fucking hell, I’ve missed you,” I groan as I begin to kiss down her neck and nibble on her collarbone.
I allow enough space between us for her to begin undoing the buttons on my shirt. When she has it open, she immediately runs her hands up my stomach to my shoulders so she can remove it. It falls on the floor somewhere as I start moving her backwards until she bumps into the vanity unit behind her. I drop to my knees in front of her and lift her skirt up around her waist. She grabs on to the fabric and holds it there. I lean back on my heels for a few seconds to appreciate the sight in front of me. She is wearing a
tiny little black and red lace thong that barely covers her, and black fuck-me heels. It’s almost like she knew this was going to happen and dressed up for me. I don’t waste any time in ridding her of her underwear. I don’t care how pretty they are, I need what is underneath. I wrap my fingers around the thin lace and pull until it rips and I can pull them from her body. I throw them over my shoulder as she groans out about how hot that was, and begs me to touch her. With pleasure, baby.
I lean forward and run my nose through her folds. Ah, I’m home, I think as I smell her sweet scent. I shove her legs a little further apart with my shoulders before I begin teasing her clit with my tongue.
“Ah fucking shit…ah Jax…fuck,” she starts muttering incoherently above me.
I reach my hand up and slide two fingers into her. I reach up until I hit that spot inside that I know makes her scream my name. Fuck if I don’t need to hear that right now, and I couldn’t give a rat’s arse if anyone hears. Fuck, Ryan could walk in right this second and I wouldn’t bat an eyelid about continuing. I need this woman fiercely.
I reach up a little higher and I feel her twitch, telling me I’ve hit the spot, so I up the pressure on her clit as I feel her whole body start to tremble. That’s it, baby, let go.
“JACKSON! FUUUUUUCK!” she shouts and I feel like a fucking god.
I stand up as I wipe my mouth before grabbing the back of Abbi’s head and slamming her lips to mine. Her hands go to my trousers and we continue to kiss. Within seconds, they are falling around my ankles and her hand and is wrapped around my dick. My eyes roll back in my head at the sensation. I grab on to the backs of her thighs and lift her on to the unit without breaking our kiss. Once I have her balancing on the edge, I waste no time in lining myself up at her entrance. It registers in my head for all of about two seconds that I don’t have a condom, but I rationalise that I’m clean, I trust her with my life, and that she’s on the pill.
Falling For Jax (Falling Book 3) Page 8