Hazel ignored his comment, examining him with interest. “And Leah asked you to visit?”
Matt’s smile slipped a little.
“No, I didn’t.” Leah’s gaze was on Jackson’s back. So huge, so tense. So stoic.
“I see.” And Hazel sounded as if she actually did.
Chapter 41
Jackson
Jackson used Natalia, Ollie, Sam, and Kash as his defensive line for the rest of the afternoon. They were the only people he could stand to be around. Even so, his conversational contribution was poor to nonexistent and he ignored the questioning side glances they gave him with a stony resolve.
Though he refused to look at them, he was brutally aware of Leah and her guest. Fucking Matt of the fucking text. He wanted to leap on that smarmy shit and drown him in the vat of coleslaw Marjorie had made. He wanted to walk out of the house, climb in his car, and force an end to this whole painful experience. More than anything else, Jackson wanted to erase the image in his brain of Matt’s arm around Leah’s waist, his fingers on her hip, his lips on her cheek.
How she had become so important to him so quickly made no sense. He hungered for her like an addict but that wasn’t all. As much as Jackson wanted to touch her, smell her, lick her, fuck her, he also wanted—needed—to wrap her in his arms and hold onto her for as long as she’d let him. But being close to him put Leah at risk. And Matt was sliding into his place instead. Jackson didn’t know how to deal with any of it.
After everything Leah had said about their toxic relationship, he couldn’t understand why she would get back in touch with Matt. Did her ex still have that much of a hold over her?
Jackson glanced over just as Leah disappeared into the house with Natalia. It looked like a tour was on the cards. Left behind, Matt headed straight for the food again. There was no conscious thought behind Jackson’s decision to confront him; his feet moved of their own volition.
“She’s worth ten of you.”
Matt’s hair flopped as his chin jerked in surprise. His fingers paused over a hunk of bread. “Oh, I don’t know, man. I’m pretty much the full package.” He smirked, then backed up when Jackson’s eyes spat poisoned darts. “Hey, chill out—I’m just kidding.”
“I’m not.” Jackson itched to wrap his hand around the scrawny prick’s throat.
“Look, Lee and I go way back. I’m not going to waste a chance to reconnect.”
“She’s told me a little about you.” Jackson tried to keep his face blank. “How you treated her like crap.”
Matt bristled. “Leah and I are cool. If she said otherwise, she was probably just being a bit overemotional. She gets like that sometimes.”
“She’s not overemotional.” Jackson’s nostrils flared, the three words weighted with livid emphasis. He took a step closer to Matt, making sure he had his full attention. “She’s fucking perfect the way she is. If you upset her, I’ll find out. Talk shit to her and I’ll hunt you down. Make her doubt herself and I’ll ruin you. Stamp on Leah’s sparkle and I’ll burn your whole fucking world in a heartbeat.”
Matt’s mouth clamped in a subversive line but his eyes slid to one side and he had no comeback. Jackson stepped away, the victory hollow.
The vine of tangled misery knotted and spread in his chest as he threaded his way back through their guests. He wasn’t this guy. He didn’t have big feelings like these. He’d known Niamh for years and only ever nursed lukewarm affection toward her. After Dom’s death, he’d severed the pathway to his heart and surrounded it in concrete. Loving and losing were excruciating. He couldn’t afford to make that mistake again.
Jackson grabbed himself another beer, rolling his neck to loosen the muscles. His jaw ached from clenching his teeth. The last thing he needed was to bring on a migraine to top off the afternoon.
“Matthew seems like a nice guy.”
Fucking fuck. His dad had broken through the defense like some sneaky-assed wide receiver. Sam and Kash shot Jackson matching looks of apology.
“Matthew seems like an asshole.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I had an interesting chat with him about the link between music and mental health. He has some thought-provoking views. Very well read.”Bam. There was the jab. “In a lot of ways, he reminds me of Dominic.” And a cross for the one-two combo. Even when Jackson guessed it was coming, it still stung like a motherfucker.
“Shame you’re stuck with my help right now then. Looks like I’m still your best bet if you want to avoid getting your kneecaps broken.”
“And yet there’s no ‘Sold’ sign in the front lot. We’re running out of time, Jackson.” Not by a single flicker did his dad indicate an acceptance that this was a shitstorm he’d created, that he had pulled the pin and chucked this grenade into both of their lives.
“For Christ’s sake, take some responsibility, Dad. I’m doing everything I can and selling my condo, too. This is not on me.”
“If the business goes down, you’ll go down as well.” His father straightened his shirt cuffs. “Is that what you want, Jackson?”
“I don’t want that,” he said through gritted teeth. “I’ve never wanted that. But have you ever asked me what I do want?”
