Little does he know there will be no smooth riding back here, and I wish I meant it in the way it sounds. I can see Jackson already champing at the bit to talk, and from how he acted the other day… I have no idea what he wants to say and it’s freaking me out.
Jackson’s phone buzzes a million times once the Wi-Fi kicks in. “Fucking shit,” he mutters and types away furiously, mumbling a million curses as his typing gets faster.
The upside is that his attention is elsewhere, and since I’m like a baby with motion, the rumbling on the plane has me quickly falling asleep.
“B?” Jack whispers.
I turn and lean my head against the headrest. “Mmhmm.” I don’t even attempt to open my eyes. “I just fell asleep. Why are you waking me?” I groan.
“You’ve been asleep for forty-five minutes, sweetheart. I want to talk to you.”
My stomach drops, worried about what he has to say. I should have kept my mouth shut and pretended I was still asleep.
Jack leans over and pushes my bedhead out of my face and behind my ears as best he can.
When I’m awake enough to open my eyes, I see he looks extremely nervous.
“What’s wrong, Jack? You look weird—wait, is that a Freddie Mercury sticker on your laptop?”
He lifts his chin proudly, smirking. “Yes, Charlotte gave it to me… well, I bought it for her to give to me, but I was showing her the record shop near my house, and she wanted to buy it for me since I love Queen. It was the proudest moment of my life when she recognized who Freddie was.” He sighs.
“You’re ridiculous, you know that, right? I can’t believe you go to meetings with that on there. It takes up the whole length of the laptop. It’s a little extra, no?”
“Excess is part of my nature. Dullness is a disease,” he states, as if I should know what the heck he’s trying to say.
I stare at him like he has ten heads. Wait. A. Minute. “You just quoted Freddie, didn’t you?”
“Of course I did, baby.” He laughs, and I can’t help but grin in return. How does he even know these things?
Giving his hand a quick squeeze, I tell him, “You are a special type of person, Jackson Peters.” And I mean every word.
I may kid around about him loving Queen so much, but it was an essential part of our childhood that I would never give up—even the part where I’d sneak around, watching him pretend he was a member of the band.
It was even better when Sadie quickly ran to tell all my brothers that Jackson was at it again. It left me alone to bask in all my Jackson glory without having to hide my goo-goo eyes from Sadie.
“B,” he whispers smoothly, waiting for me to give him my full attention. He runs his thumb across my cheek, and if I’m not mistaken, a slight tremor racks his fingers.
I stare into his eyes, and I’m shocked to see them clear, sparkling with a deep determination.
“Have you ever thought about us giving it a go?”
I hesitate, blinking in bafflement, wondering if I’m in the same universe as him right now.
Of course I have… my whole damn life. Though, those thoughts stay only in my dreams.
As much as I love and respect Jack, he isn’t made for relationships. He’s said it so many times before, which is why I’ve never expressed my feelings toward him.
“Jack,” I mumble with a shaky voice. “Where is this coming from?”
He swallows hard before getting his words straight. “It’s coming from years of pushed-down feelings because of my relationship issues. But I’ve realized the life I want to live is not one alone. And if I’m putting it all out on the table, I want you to know I’ve always had feelings for you, and not the fun flirtatiousness you see, but true, meaningful feelings. I just never let them boil into anything more than that. You’re the only one I’ve ever felt anything real for.”
“Years?” I choke.
Years?
“Years,” he confirms with resolve, never once breaking eye contact.
His large hand takes my face and holds it gently, smiling softly as I run through all my thoughts, which is not an easy task.
