Chapter Sixteen
ADAM
Jackie stares out the window, quiet again, as we fly over endless lakes and pine-covered ridges that stretch all the way to the Canadian border. She hasn’t said much since we got the OK to leave from Logan and Derrick.
At least she’s more at ease around me after our little talk on the balcony. It’s better than the constant suspicion. The way she’s been watching me, waiting for me to slip up so she can prove she was right. That I was a ticking time bomb all along.
Dragging Carter’s friendship into the mix was my last resort. The truth about how I still feel, even if it doesn’t make any sense? That would send her running halfway back across the world. But if this is what it takes to have her not hate me, I’ll live with that.
The only reason I’m flying private is for Jackie’s safety. I don’t mind either way, but it always reminds me of the absolute horror on one of my Harvard classmates’ faces when his dad told him their jet had a technical issue. The only seats left during Christmas time were in economy. It was just a two-hour flight, but he acted like he’d been asked to ride home in the back of a wagon.
Meanwhile, I’d never even been on a plane. My parents and I drove all the way from Minnesota when I started school, the pickup crammed to the roof for move-in day.
“Are you sure your parents won’t mind us bringing all of this,” she says, gesturing to the security team spread throughout the cabin, “to their doorstep?”
It’s cute that she’s nervous. They’ve met a handful of times, and ever since, my mom has made it her personal mission to remind me how wonderful Jackie is.
“Mom’s probably already made enough tater tots to feed a small army,” I say. “You know how she is.”
She rubs her lips together, leans back on the seat, hands clasped in her lap. “Maybe this wasn’t the best idea.”
I reach into the pocket of my jacket and hold out a wrapped candy. She studies it for a beat, but plucks it from my fingers with delicate grace and unwraps it.
“No one knows where you’re going. It’ll be fine.” I shift in my seat, catching her gaze. “The truth is, Dad sounded more excited to see you than his favorite son. In the end, I had to tell him. Or he would’ve thought the government was finally coming for him, with all the suits traveling with us.”
“You’re his only son.”
“Technicalities. Just don’t get roped into the garage to check out his Sportster. That’ll turn into a never-ending show-and-tell.”
Her lips twitch. “He still has it?”
“I got him a special prosthetic for the grip.” Mom tried to convince him to sell it after the accident at the lumber mill, but he’s too stubborn. It would take more than a missing limb to make him give it up.
“I bet your mom is thrilled about that.”
“She thinks it’shot,” I shudder. “Something about men in leather and motorcycles. Please don’t ask her about it. I’ve heard enough stories about being the product of the chrome club.”
Jackie snorts, shaking her head. “Oh, now sex stories bother you. It’s funny considering—”
Her entire face morphs with dread, and she clamps her mouth shut.
“Considering what, Jackie?”
Her cheeks are pink, but her tone is cool. “Well, you weren’t exactly shy in college. I could hear you, you know. When you, Carter, and Logan were in the den during spring breaks.”
My heart falls to the bottom of my stomach with a splash, heat creeping up my neck.
“We were stupid kids,” I say, the words barely squeezing out. “Talking stupid shit, mostly to get under Carter’s skin.”
Jackie’s elegant brow arches, but her tone has a weird inflection. “Were the stories true?”
“Why does it matter? It was all before….” I can’t bear to say it.Before us. Before I put every piece of myself in her hands and never looked back.
Something sad shifts in her expression, but it dissolves quickly. “Was it?”
I stare at her. The meaning of the question slips through my fingers like water. I never so much as looked at another woman while we were together.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we’re beginning our descent and preparing for landing.” The pilot’s voice crackles through the speakers. “We expect to touch down in approximately fifteen minutes. Please make sure your seatbelt is fastened.”
