The Jack & Jill Series

by Ann, Jewel E

  “Two seconds after I got you off with my fingers shoved in your pussy and your nipple between my teeth, you said, ‘So … I’ll see you Tuesday.’ So, yeah. I’m not an idiot. You dismissed me.”

  Everything in Ryn’s head spun, making her dizzy because nothing made sense. Pussy? Did couples really use that term with each other? She tested it out in her mind. … two fingers shoved in your pussy versus … two fingers shoved in your vagina. It could go either way.

  “Would you look in the mirror? I’m sure it sounds like I’m beating this horse to death, but you. Are. A. God! In ten years you are still going to look like a god because men like you only get better with age. I, however, will look fifty: wrinkles, bags under my eyes, all of my skin suffering from loss of elasticity. I want you to be forty and me to be thirty, but it can’t be that way. Thirty for me consisted of supervising slumber parties and shopping for training bras … oh and trying not to upset my husband, who fucked every woman except me then beat the shit out of me for not working hard enough to keep him interested in me.”

  With a deep sigh, the kind that came after releasing a lifetime of guilt, Ryn pulled her brows together. “I try to eat well, I exercise regularly, and my bathroom vanity is covered in bottles of creams and lotions that have promised me the fountain of youth but have yet to deliver. I love … whatever this is we’ve been doing. It’s been such a vacation from reality. When I’m with you it’s just … indescribable. Our flirty banter, our pretend wedding with a Vera Wang dress and Ed Sheeran, and the things you say to me that make me feel sexy and desirable in a way I never imagined possible, it’s …” She shook her head.

  “I agree.” He stood, easing toward her with a caution he lacked when she arrived. “Except for one thing.”

  “You agree?” Ryn looked up as he laced his fingers through her hair, cupping her face.

  “Yes. You do eat well and exercise. And I’ve seen your bathroom counter … all those stupid creams are a waste of money because you can’t improve on beauty like yours. The banter, our wedding, the things I say to you, the way I look at you, how fucking hard I get every time I touch you … it’s not pretend. It’s not a game. It is reality. Okay, hot pants?”

  Ryn rebounded from her dump of insecurities and giggled instead. “I’m never wearing underwear around you again.”

  Jackson quirked a brow. “Mmm … that sounds like a tasty idea.”

  The hot flush of embarrassment she felt could have melted Saturn. Sure, she was forty but did that have to mean she was a prude? The woman behind the red face had led a sexually sheltered life coming from the school of boys having penises and girls having vaginas.

  “I can’t believe you just said that.” She averted her gaze to the side even with his hands holding her face so close to his.

  “I’m just being honest. I find myself constantly craving your pussy.”

  “Oh my God! Stop staying that.” Wriggling out of his grasp, she fisted his shirt and buried her face in his chest.

  Jackson kissed the top of her head as he chuckled. “What do you want me to say? I like licking—”

  “Stop!”

  Another devious chuckle. “Or eating—”

  “No! No! No!”

  “Do you prefer cunt to puss—”

  “Vagina! It’s a vagina, okay?” She stopped short of also emphasizing that it’s not a meal or snack. Although, denying how much she enjoyed his tongue exploring her vagina would have been a lie.

  Jackson’s chuckle escalated into a full roaring laugh. “You want me to call your pussy a vagina? You think that’s sexy?”

  Ryn smiled, face still buried in his shirt. “I don’t want you to call it anything. Please … just let me die.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Day

  Jessica had balls that were arguably bigger than most men’s. However, they failed to meet the size requirement for sharing with his parents the riding-Luke’s-face-just-shy-of-an-orgasm incident. He played her, used her for his own pleasure, then tossed her aside to prove a point—he was a worthy adversary.

  “Hope you like fajitas, Jessica. I am in the mood for margaritas and guacamole tonight,” Felicity said while filling the glasses, complete with sugar and salt rim garnish.

  “I love Mexican.”

  Luke handed her a glass. The shit-eating grin needed to be wiped off the smug bastard’s face. “Did you get everything finished up?”

  Evil coursed through her veins as she cocked her head to the side while accepting the drink. “Did Luke tell you about Fran?”

  Felicity and Tom jerked their heads in Luke’s direction. The easy mood vanished, leaving an eerie silence and tension so tight it felt as if the floor could crack open and swallow them whole.

  Jessica thought she’d seen every one of Luke’s facial expressions. She was wrong. There wasn’t a hint of adoration left. The icy look he gave her left her heart pounding in her throat.

  “So … you two have discussed Fran?” Felicity asked. Each word sounded cautious as if she, too, could feel the dangerous tension.

  Luke swallowed, glaring at Jessica. She wanted to take back every word.

  “We discussed how Fran and I met.”

  “Oh …” Felicity’s nervous smile hid something. Jessica didn’t know what.

  “I … we found out last week that Fran needs a heart transplant.”

  Tom and Felicity nodded slowly.

  “Jessica thinks I need to go visit her in Scottsdale.”

  What was going on? The three of them knew something … something Jessica didn’t.

  The victim turned monster had been in some very uncomfortable situations in her life, but nothing quite like that moment. Nobody spoke, yet everyone looked at one person: Jessica.

  Finally, Tom cleared his throat. “Shall we eat?” He might as well have said “at ease.”

  Felicity dumped a bag of corn chips into a bowl and handed it and the dish of guacamole to Tom as though the previous two minutes never happened. Except they had happened and Luke’s lingering gaze filled with anger, disappointment, and pain reminded her that she had somehow epically fucked up.

  “Have a seat,” Luke said, devoid of all emotion.

  She sat down. Jones plopped his big body on the floor behind her chair because he was a mama’s boy.

  “So did you get your place sold since moving in with Luke?” Felicity asked.

  “I rented. Only wealthy or very old people own property in San Francisco.”

  “I anticipated starting work on my sailboat before cooler weather hit, but now I think it’s just going to have to wait until spring. You still in on the project with me?” Tom asked.

  “Of course.” She glanced at Luke for confirmation that they would still be together in the spring. He gave her nothing.

  “Lake has a boyfriend and he has family in San Francisco, so I think you’ll be seeing your sister a lot more.”

  Luke nodded, dipping the same chip into the guacamole over and over without ever taking a bite.

  “What are your plans for the holidays?”

  Luke stayed in his zombie zone as if no one else at the table existed.

  Jessica smiled at Tom. “My parents have invited us to their house for Thanksgiving, but we haven’t really committed to anything yet.”

  Tom nodded, much like his son. She questioned if he even registered her answer to his question.

  “Of course, my other boyfriend invited me for a sex-filled weekend on his private island off the coast of Italy.”

  All. Three. Nodded.

  “Dammit, Jones!” Jessica stood, resting her palms on the table.

  Three heads jerked up and the dog scampered off to the living room, certain he was in trouble. Old habit. Luke may have bought her a dog and named him Jones, but when she was pissed, Luke’s name was still Jones. Actually, first name Dammit, last name, Jones.

  “I didn’t want to have it out right here in front of your parents, but it would seem they know more than I do so maybe
this needs to be a group conversation. You know damn well that I, more than anyone else, believe the past should stay buried with the dead, but yours is not, so out with it. Francesca—I want every. Little. Detail.”

  Tom and Felicity frowned at Luke with pain in their eyes.

  “Jessica, sweetie, he might not be ready to talk about this,” Felicity said.

  “Is that right, Luke? Because you said I could ask you anything, and now I want everything.”

  “Maybe we should give you two some privacy.”

  “Sit. Down.”

  Tom and Felicity didn’t move. Jessica could be cutthroat—literally.

  “I’d been drinking Heineken with my college roommate, Levi,” Luke spoke in a grave tone. “We’d both had at least four or five too many. He told me about his friend back home who was screwing his roommate’s fiancée. He asked my advice … asked me what his friend should do if the roommate found out they were screwing around behind his back. I couldn’t even think that night … I was completely wasted. So I laughed and said he should put a bullet through both of their heads.”

  His parents watched him. Pain. The pain was palpable, and she still didn’t know why.

  “A week later I found Levi in the shower with blood and bits of his brain scattered on the wall, a gun next to his limp hand. In the note on the counter he said he wasn’t worth going to jail over so he saved me a life sentence, and he chose the shower to keep the mess contained because of my obsession with cleanliness. Then he asked me to forgive Fran and raise his kid as my own.”

  Tom wrapped his arm around Felicity as silent sobs shook her body. But Luke … he said every word without an ounce of emotion, eyes locked to Jessica’s the whole time.

  “Fran had his baby?” Jessica whispered.

  Luke shook his head. “Nope. While he positioned his newly purchased forty-five at his temple, Fran was off having an abortion and then she planned on ending it with him because she still wanted to marry me. I’ve always wondered whose heart stopped first … his or his baby’s.” He blinked slowly several times. “I think you can guess why Fran and I didn’t work out. We both had blood on our hands.”

  “Luke,” Jessica said but no other words came out.

  “Anyway, I started college majoring in business. After my first year I switched to pre-med, inspired by my work as a firefighter. Psychiatry has been my own personal quest to figure out why, even in my plastered state, I thought death was a fair payback for cheating. And even more than that … what makes a person give up absolutely everything because he broke some sort of bro code.”

  He stood and before completely unfolding himself from the chair, he kissed Jessica on the cheek. “That’s everything, my love,” he whispered over her skin before he turned and walked out of the dining room.

  The slam of the front door felt like a book closing at the end of the final chapter.

  “Luke made his peace with Francesca after Levi’s funeral. It wasn’t pretty, but it was final. Even though he doesn’t blame her, she’s been dead to him for years. If she dies, maybe he’ll feel some sort of peace that Levi’s been reunited with the woman he loved and the mother of his child. But Luke doesn’t need to see her.”

  Jessica heard every word Felicity said, but she couldn’t determine if they were words of wisdom or those of a mother trying to protect her child from any more pain.

  *

  Luke stood at the end of the dock, squinting against the cool, numbing breeze as the sun set behind a scattering of clouds suspended in the orangish-purple sky. He missed Levi every damn day.

  New bro code: save the bro, kill the ho.

  Levi would have laughed at that. He had the best sense of humor. The guy actually giggled like a girl. Luke gave him shit about it, but secretly he loved watching Levi laugh. At the same time, he was a total idiot—missing half of his classes to watch The Simpsons and lift weights. Levi looked like an ironman. He claimed muscles and an accent was all it took to get the ladies. Fran certainly helped prove his point.

  “That blood on your hands …”

  Luke sucked in a quick breath as Jessica’s voice drew near.

  “… it never disappears. At best, you might be like me and find someone who loves you so completely that they see past that blood to the naked, untainted flesh beneath it.” She wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her cheek against his back.

  He squeezed her hands. “I figured you’d be like everyone else and try to convince me that I’m not responsible for Levi’s death.”

  “I suppose I should, but we both know I’m not like everyone else.”

  “Amen to that.” He turned, holding her like the lifeline she was while releasing a long breath.

  “Why didn’t you just tell me all of that a long time ago?”

  “I would have, had our relationship not started out as doctor/patient. You were my focus and I needed you to trust and respect me enough to let me help you. I felt like sharing the weakest moment … the darkest time of my life would lessen my credibility as a psychiatrist.”

  “But you told me to ask you anything.”

  “I did.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you trusting me as the man who adores you beyond words has become more important to me than your opinion of Dr. Jones.”

  “I think you overestimated my opinion of Dr. Jones.”

  “I think you eat men’s egos for breakfast.”

  Jessica smiled, looking up at him for a few seconds before it reversed into a frown. “I was rude to your parents. I think I need to apologize.”

  “We were all rude to you.”

  She took his hand, pulling him toward the house. “I hadn’t noticed.”

  “Of course not … you were too busy planning your holiday getaway with your lover on his private island.”

  She whipped around. “So you were paying attention.”

  “I’m always paying attention … but only half of the things you say to me deserve a response.” He jerked his hand from hers then gave her a playful body check. She stumbled a few steps to the side.

  “First one to the house gets to swim naked in the lake tonight,” he said, sprinting to the house.

  “Dammit, Jones! You did not just shove me.”

  He’d fallen hard for a fiery little woman, but he knew without looking back, she chased his ass with a huge grin on her face. Even if he didn’t die with her, he’d die loving her.

  *

  Jessica apologized to Felicity and Tom. They both dismissed it, insisting they were the ones who needed to apologize. After the truce, they ate lukewarm fajitas and finished the rest of the melted margaritas and browned guacamole.

  “Luke’s jumping into the lake naked tonight. I think we all should.”

  Luke choked on the last ounce of his drink while his parents smiled, eyes wide.

  “I—it was a joke.” He cleared his throat.

  “I’m in.” Felicity looked at Tom.

  He winked at her, white teeth peeking through his boyish smile. Jessica hoped decades and a slew of kids later that Luke would still look at her that way.

  “Great! We’re going to need blankets, a roaring fire in the back fire pit, and more alcohol.” Jessica stood with a slight wobble to her tequila legs.

  “I’ll get the blankets and alcohol.” Felicity eased out of her chair with Tom holding her steady at the hips.

  “Luke and I will start the fire.”

  “No! No. No. No.” Luke shook his head. “Did you not hear me? It was a joke. There will be no jumping in the freezing lake naked. I am not … I refuse to get naked with my girlfriend and my parents. God … just no.”

  “Come on, Son, live a little.”

  Luke glared at Tom. “As a doctor I should warn you of the dangers. You could go into cardiac arrest or—”

  Tom laughed. “I hate to disappoint you, but this isn’t my first skinny dip in the lake … not even my first this week.” He swatted Felicity on the ass. She blew him a kiss over her sh
oulder.

  Luke remained glued to his chair at the table with his face buried in his hands.

  “Oh my God!” Jessica giggled in Luke’s ear. “I love your parents so much.”

  Luke looked up with a wrinkled, pleading look etched on his face. “Do you two jump in the lake naked with any of my siblings?”

  Felicity tucked a six pack of beer between the pile of blankets. “No. But only because they’ve never suggested it.”

  He glared at Jessica.

  “This is happening … it was your idea. Don’t make promises you can’t keep. Now, up.” She tugged his arm until he lumbered to standing.

  Surrounded by the chirping and rustling creatures of the night, they made their way down the hill to the fire pit Tom stoked to life with more kindling.

  “Who’s going in first?” Felicity taunted her son with a sly grin.

  “It should be Luke, but the stick in the mud is always the last one to join the party so …” Jessica shimmied out of her jeans.

  “Jess, don’t … please.”

  “Sorry.” She giggled. “I lost all inhibition three drinks ago, Jonesy.”

  Top. Bra. Panties.

  “Carpe diem!”

  The air was cool in the lower fifties. The water—arctic. Rising to the surface, she gasped only to be greeted by Tom and Felicity midair, holding hands. Boobs, balls, and bare booties.

  “Ahh!” A creature from the deep attacked her. “Oh my God, Luke.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I d-didn’t s-see you j-jump i-in.”

  His bluish lips sucked on hers until their teeth chattered against each other. “F-fucking cold.” Luke grinned, his whole body shivering.

  “Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one … out!” Felicity yelled as she and Tom raced to the ladder on the dock.

  Tom showed no signs of aging as he leapt up the ladder and helped Felicity out. Jessica and Luke quickly followed, all four staggering in a shivering race to the fire and blankets.

  “H-here.” Felicity tossed Luke and Jessica a huge blanket. “W-wool.” She and Tom wrapped up together in the other blanket, plunking down in a chair by the fire.