Found By You (The Found Series)

by Jessika Harper

  Jackson

  Two weeks without seeing Avery’s beautiful face has made me grumpy. I’ve been to the house quite a few times, but she has never been there. I shouldn’t miss her, but I do. Jared texts me telling me to stop by to get some work done with him. Derrick has to work and Colin is busy with his latest conquest. That dude will probably never settle down.

  As I pull into the driveway, I see Savanna getting out of her car. She waves and comes over just as I turn the car off. Getting out, I give her a hug and kiss her on the cheek. “Hey Savanna.” I say to her pulling back. “Oh boy, you know to call me Ma. Now, let me see that handsome man.”

  She opens the door and proceeds to get Rhys’ car seat out before I even have the chance to. Savanna told me that since I was becoming a regular fixture in the house, to call her Ma like everyone else. She is a sweet woman and very motherly. I wouldn’t know anything about that, my grandmother was the closest thing to a mother I ever had.

  Savanna’s voice breaks me out of my trance when she says, “You going to stand there all day or are you coming in?” I nod my head yes and follow her in. Just as we enter the house, Rhys starts to whine. My boy loves to eat. Grabbing his things to make a bottle, I had to the kitchen.

  Walking in, I see Avery, her back towards me. Clearing my throat to get her attention, she turns around. Seeing her with a chocolate milk mustache makes me want to lick that milk right off her pretty little mouth. I quickly shake my dirty thoughts and open my mouth to speak. When she licks her lips so seductively, my dick starts to come to life, I swear it has a mind of its own. When my hand touches her arms, I have to refrain from pulling her hot little body into mine. We are having a conversation and the next thing you know, she is storming out of the kitchen, not letting me finish what I was going to say. Great, I pissed her off, again. I seem to do that a lot. I just never knew anyone who tried to help others without wanting something in return like she has. I sigh and look up at the ceiling. This is why I can’t do this, I never do anything right.

  Chapter 11

  I cannot believe the nerve of him! Who the hell does he think he is? I love my job more than most people. Some who are in the same field as me, aren’t as passionate. They are disgusted by vomit and screaming. To me, it’s like music to my ears. Vomit happens and I go about my business afterwards. This is exactly why I chose to do what I do. I love every single detail about my job.

  After leaving the kitchen, I walk straight to the sitting room and turn on the TV. I plop face down on the sofa not even caring what’s on the TV. He frustrates me and pisses me off. Maybe I took it to a whole different level, but he sure hit a nerve. After lying face down on the sofa for what feels like an hour, but I’m sure is only a few minutes, I am now calm. Brewing over the conversation with Jackson in my head, I think I overdid it and now I feel bad. I’m sure he thinks I’m a head case. Surely he’s not attracted to me now.

  Finally glancing at the TV to see what’s on, I laugh out loud hysterically. Well, if he’s still in the kitchen and can hear me laughing like this, if he didn’t think I was a head case before, I’m sure he does now.

  Blue’s Clues is on the TV, which is why I am laughing. Thank God no one came in here. They would probably look at me funny! Not that I don’t enjoy this show, because believe it or not, I love this cartoon, but I don’t need others knowing that. Yes, I realize that it’s not normal for a 23 year old to love Blue’s Clues, but when you’re around kids a lot, you tend to watch more kiddie shows then adult shows.

  Hearing a sneeze, I look towards the doorway. Seeing Chubbs, I jump up and make my way over to him and Jackson. “Hey big guy.” I coo to him.

  “Hey.” Jackson says with a smile. Okay, so he doesn’t think I’m a head case from the conversation between us.

  Looking up from Rhys I say, “I was talking to this one over here, but hey. I’m sorry about earlier I just-” He holds his hand out cutting me off from what I was going to say.

  “I get what you were saying and what you meant. I didn’t mean for it to come out like that so, I’m sorry. The way you were talking in there, I know you love your job and take it very serious. Let’s just call a truce. Got it?” He says sticking out his hand.

  Grabbing his hand in mine and trying to not let the spark go to my head, I say, “Truce.” Rhys squeals making me realize that neither I nor Jackson have let our hands go. He is caressing my hand with his thumb. It feels so intimate, yet so good. Closing my eyes and shaking my head, I let go of his hand. Nodding towards Rhys, I ask Jackson if I can hold him. He turns his head slightly and looks at me. After a few seconds, he finally agrees. With a huge smile on my face, I take Rhys from his arms before he even has a chance to hand him over. He gives me a weird look and then smiles when Chubbs makes a cooing sound.

  “Hey Chubbs. How you been little dude? I haven’t seen your handsome face in two weeks. Yup, two long weeks. You and I are gonna have to have a talk about that. I missed you.” I say looking at his adorable face and then hugging him somewhat tightly. I didn’t realize a tear was going down the side of my face until Jackson’s thumb was wiping it away.

  “Hey Av, you ok?” He asks in a sweet yet hushed voice. I can’t look up at him. I don’t want him to look into my eyes and see that I really have indeed missed Rhys, so much. I nod my head and then walk over to the sofa. Still cuddling my Chubbs, I grab a blanket off the armrest and start to cover myself and the baby. Patting his back and humming while he coos, I turn and look at Jackson. He’s looking at me with wide eyes. “You okay?” He asks but his voice is somewhat shaky.

  “Yeah,” I say drawing out the word, “I’m fine. Sorry about that, I don’t know what happened.” He just shakes his head, but I feel as if he wants to say more.

  Rhys starts to fuss and Jackson looks at me and shakes his bottle. “He didn’t eat yet. Here, give him to me so I can feed him and then you can have him back.” I don’t want to let Chubbs go. I finally get to hold him after a long two weeks.

  Looking back at Jackson and then Rhys, I ask, “Would you mind if I feed him? Please?” It’s almost as if I’m begging him, but I really don’t want to hand him over yet.

  He looks at Rhys, sighs and then says, “Sure.” He hands over the bottle and I take it greedily.

  Looking at Chubbs, I say, “Hey Chubbs, you wanna eat?” I bring the bottle towards his mouth and he all but tries to eat my hand. I laugh at him. He must really be hungry.

  I look at Jackson to see if he saw it, and he shook his head and said, “See, I told ya he was hungry. Crazy little man isn’t he? He likes you, you know.” He says the last part out of nowhere. I look up at him slowly and his eyes have darkened and are sparkling. I still can’t read him.

  “That’s a good thing, because I really like him. He’s adorable and great to play with.” I say looking back at Rhys and avoiding Jackson’s eyes. Chubbs smiles, but continues drinking his bottle. “He really is a precious one.” I say quietly.

  I don’t think Jackson hears me until he replies with, “You have no idea. I didn’t know anything about a baby. Heck, I still don’t know everything and sometimes it’s hard, but I love that little man with everything I have in me. He’s a part of me and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  And cue the tears. When he talks like that, I can’t help but cry. I once again feel Jackson’s thumb on my cheek. He’s now caressing it and looking into my eyes. “You’re a good dad, you know that Jackson? I don’t know how many guys would’ve done what you did. I don’t know the entire story, but from what you told me, you are just amazing. You saved this little one from the unknown world.”

  He removes his hand and starts to lean in. Just as he’s merely inches from my lips, Chubbs starts to cry. I slightly jump just as Jackson does the same. Looking at the baby, I realize that the bottle isn’t in his mouth. I guess he needs to be burped.

  Jackson

  When I walk into the sitting room to apologize to Avery, it takes everything in me not to laugh at what she is
watching. When she notices me standing there, she bolts right up to greet Rhys. She tries to apologize, but I know it was my fault and not hers, so I declare a truce. Feeling her hand in mine makes everything else float away. It’s as if we were the only two people there. Once she removes her hand, a part of me feels empty. Seeing tears running down her face is not something I ever want to experience again. A beautiful person like her should never cry. Watching her feed my son is an amazing sight; it’s as if she was made to do it. When she tells me she’s proud of everything I do, I get choked up. No one, aside from my brother, has ever said anything like that to me. I do the best I can to keep my emotions in check. Once again, Avery makes me feel these things that I’ve never felt before. The fact that we almost kissed doesn’t help either. She is amazing, but I can’t let her in, not yet.

  Chapter 12

  After mine and Jackson’s almost kissing moment, I finish feeding Chubbs and put him upstairs in the guest bedroom. Of course Jackson follows, not that I would think differently. After I cover him up, Jackson leans down to kiss his forehead. I’ve seen him do that a few times.

  We are now in the kitchen, but not by ourselves. Ma is cooking baked chicken and veggies, while Jared and Colin are arguing about something. Jackson is next to the guys, but not getting into their conversation. I have no clue what it is that they are arguing about. Whatever it is, it’s getting on my nerves. Rhys is trying to sleep and I’m still thinking about that almost kiss. It has me so riled up and they are being loud, and it’s really pissing me off.

  “Hey, boneheads! You wanna keep it down some? There’s a baby upstairs trying to sleep and y’all are fighting like a bunch of 5 year olds. Shut up.” I say glaring at Colin and then my brother. Jared tilts his head and looks at me weird. Ma has stopped chopping the veggies and Jackson looks as if he is trying to hide his smile.

  “What?” I ask no one in particular as I look back around towards everyone. They are still silent so I ask again, “What?”

  This time Ma shakes her head, Jackson still looks like he is trying not to smile, Colin just laughs, and Jared shakes his head and says, “Nothing sis.” Grr, it’s not nothing‘’. Why the heck were they being so loud then? So I ask them that. Colin just laughs and Jared says, “We were having a loud convo because I suggested we,” he says pointing at himself, Jackson and then Colin, “go out to the club and Colin said that Jackson won’t leave Rhys, but I said he would if you babysat him.”

  Jackson obviously isn’t paying attention to what they are talking about because he looks at Jared and simply says, “Count me out.” I know that Jackson does everything by himself, but maybe it would be good for him to go and let loose. Not that I really want him to because he’s hot and I’m totally crushing on him, but because he works hard and I can tell he never has time to himself. I know he would never complain about it, but I think he should.

  Looking at Ma, I see her eyes are sparkling and I know that she is thinking the same thing I am, I like him. She knows more about him than I do, but from what I’ve seen, he deserves a break. I don’t know if I’m going to overstep my boundary, but I’m willing to take a shot at it.

  Turning towards the guys, I look at my brother, who nods his head as if to say he knows what I’m about to do, then I look at Jackson. He looks as if he is angry or having an internal battle with himself. Placing my hand softly on his shoulder, I look into his eyes and say, “Jackson, I know you bust your ass at school and are an amazing dad. If you want to go out with Jared and Colin, I have no problem watching Rhys. I would be more than happy to watch him.” He still looks to be torn so I nudge his shoulder and say, “Come on, let me have a party with Rhys. He already likes me. He and I could do some seriously damage you know. Between feeding him the bottle and changing him and playing with him, we will get into so much trouble.” I say sarcastically to be a smart ass and to show him that Rhys would be perfectly fine here while he goes and has some fun. Fun that he more than deserves. I nudge his shoulder again to get his attention.

  He slowly lifts his head and says, “Can I, um, talk to you for a minute Jared?” Jared shakes his head yes and they both leave the room.

  I look to Colin and he just shrugs his shoulders and goes over to the island and starts picking at the veggies. Ma swats his hand away and laughs as he gives her a kiss on the cheek. I wait for Ma to look at me to silently ask what just happened between Jackson and Jared, but she lightly shakes her head as if to say not right now. I love that she and I can have a conversation without words being needed. She truly is one of my best friends. I tell her everything and she does the same, well if she feels it’s her business too.

  Jared and Jackson finally come back into the kitchen after a couple of minutes. They are both smiling. Jared looks at me and shakes his head yes, but before I could say anything else, Jackson’s voice interrupts and says, “Avery, can I talk to you for a minute.” He looks like a scared kid asking and it’s too cute. Rather than wait any longer, I say okay and bring him into the living room.

  Rubbing the back of his neck and looking at the ground he says, “Look, I uh, I wanna be honest here.” I have no clue what he’s about to say, but I just nod as if to tell him to go on, and he does. “I really don’t want to go out tonight. I’ve never left him alone since the day he was born. Well, besides my brother, your Ma, and the few times you fed him, no one has watched him before. I still don’t really know you, but I do know your brother, and we have been friends for a while. I know that he wouldn’t let anything happen to Rhys and I do know that he wouldn’t just offer you to watch him if he didn’t trust you. I have a hard time trusting anyone, period. It took me sometime to trust your brother too. I’m not saying any of this to put you down, I’m just stating the truth. I am starting to trust you very quickly though, which is odd. Again, not in a bad way. I get a strong vibe from you. So, I’m going out on a limb right now,” He finally looks at me and continues with, “Would you be willing to watch Chubbs, and yes I know you call him that,” he says with a devilish grin, “while I go out with the guys for a bit? If, you say no, I understand. I know you like being around him and I know for a fact that he likes you.”

  Before he can even continue with what he was going to say, I squeal like a little kid and jump towards him, giving him a huge hug. I really just can’t help myself. Not only do I get to spend time with Chubbs, and obviously he found out I call his son that, but he asks me to watch him. I couldn’t be happier than I am right now. Feeling huge arms come around my back, I squeeze him tighter and smile. His voice vibrates thru his chest when he says, “I’m guessing that would be a yes?” and then laughs when I nod my head, still hugging him. He has made my night saying all that he did. Now, I need to get him out of here fast so I can have my play date with one handsome little man.

  Jackson

  When Jared and Colin are arguing, I admit, I’m not even paying attention. I am too busy watching Avery. Then, when I find out the reason for the argument, I quickly turn down the offer to go out. I rarely ever leave Rhys, even for a few hours. Again, my brother is the only other person I have ever let watch my son without me there.

  When I ask Jared if I can talk to him, he walks into the foyer away from everyone.

  “Jared, man, I get you and Colin want me to come out with y’all, but I don’t know if I could leave Rhys. I mean, she watched him when I was doing homework, but I was still in the house. You don’t have kids so you don’t know what it’s like to just leave them, especially when they are all you have. I don’t mean to be a dick about it.” I say to him as soon as we are away from everyone.

  “Jackson, I get everything you’re saying man, really, I do. You have been busting your ass harder than most and raising a kid too. I do want you to come out with us. Let loose, man. I wouldn’t offer to have my sister watch your son if I didn’t trust that she knows what she is doing. We are close and I can tell you right now that she not only likes your son, but you too.” I open my mouth to say something and he shakes his he
ad and says, “Just listen for a second. I know you like her too. I can see the way you look at her when she walks into a room, I’m not blind man. If I didn’t trust you, I wouldn’t let you around her. What you do is your business, just… don’t hurt my baby sister, that’s all I ask.” I look at him completely stunned.

  “Jared, I’m not gonna lie, Avery is beautiful and from what I’ve seen so far, she is pretty amazing, but I’m not looking for anything right now. You know my past, man; I can’t get her involved in that.” I say back to him.

  “Dude, let her decide. I’m not saying anything, except don’t hurt her. Read between my lines man.” And with that he walks away. I have no clue what his ‘in between the lines’ comment was about, but I’m sure I’ll find out.

  That was one weird, yet insightful talk with him. After that, I ask Avery if she will watch Rhys. Her hugging me, makes me not want to let her go. I love having her in my arms.

  Chapter 13

  I honestly didn’t expect him to hug me back when he asked me to watch Rhys. I thought he was going to say thanks for the offer and leave it at that. I never know what he’s going to say or do next. Like I said, he’s hard to read. I’m hoping it will get easier.

  After what felt like a lifetime, the guys finally left to go out. I’m a little jealous because I don’t want to think about another girl all over him, but hey, it is what it is.