Se connecterJackson stared down at me, his intense eyes growing even more intense. And then he sighed through his nose, looking away from me like I was a… nuisance.
Well, ouch.
“You’re drunk,” he said, taking a step back, and I could tell he was about to leave. “I’m not having this conversation with a drunk person.”
Just as he was about to turn, I lunged forward, slamming my hands on the tree behind him, caging him between my body and the tree. His eyes widened, his nostrils flaring.
I tilted my head, my eyes narrowed. “Are you running away, Jackson?”
He looked around us before he could finally meet my eyes again, repeating slowly, “You are drunk.”
“When you’re done stating the obvious, answer the damn question. Are you running away from a little girl?”
He scoffed harshly.
Finally, the moment I've been waiting for so I could determine what kind of bastard he was: his eyes finally trailed down my body.
Please don't be a right bastard. Please, don't be a right bastard.
I watched, with my bated breath, as his eyes took me in, lingering on my round stomach before he went lower, to my left thigh peeking out from the slit of my dress where I had a thigh chain wrapped around it.
His nostrils flared again. I waited for the look in his eyes to change. To grow disgusted if I was lucky. Hate, if I had shit luck tonight—which I usually did. But the only thing that changed in those grey eyes was the intensity: it grew.
Was my alcohol induced brain seeing things?
He looked back to my eyes. “There’s nothing little about you, Siri.”
I hummed softly as I leaned forward and my chest brushed against his torso, and he sucked in a sharp breath.
“Do you say that in a good way or a bad way?” I asked softly. You could almost say my voice sounded seductive.
“What do you think?” he asked, instead of answering, cocking his head.
Another step closer, and this time, my thigh was lodged between his legs, and he stiffened, his throat working as he swallowed.
“I’m thinking… if I ask nicely, will you touch me?”
“Jesus Christ," he muttered, his voice rough. He fixed me with a hard look. “Do you know who I am?”
“A handsome bastard named Jackson with an accent in his voice.”
What accent was that? And why does it sound familiar?
Ah, fuck it. We’ll leave the questions for later. For now, though… For now, I noticed his lips quivered into an almost smile.
Almost, I say.
“You will regret this come morning, Siri,” he said, and oh, I loved how rough his voice had gotten.
“I know.”
“If someone sees us, we’ll be in deep shit.”
I snorted. “We’re not teenagers sneaking off to go have sex, Jackson.”
That almost smile again, and I could almost swear he was enjoying this.
“No, we’re not. We’re two adults who shouldn't be seen doing this because of the wrongness of it.”
“Why is it wrong?” I asked in a whisper as I slowly raised myself to my tiptoes, but that didn't even bring me close to his neck. Tsk, I have never hated being short until now. That was a lie, but shut up. “Your words are beginning to sound like excuses to me.” He raised an eyebrow. I smirked. “What are the excuses for, pretty boy? Is Jackson Jr too little to get some action done?”
Snap. That was the sound of his control breaking into two.
He grabbed my waist with both hands, and before I could even blink, he had me pinned against the tree, caging me with his body. He lodged his thigh between my legs, so dangerously close to where I was already soaked.
And then… Fucking hell, and then he pressed himself against my stomach, and my eyes went wide when I felt something monstrous poking me, and he wasn't even hard!
“Repeat that,” he growled, his eyes hard.
Ah, yes, the male ego will always be fragile and so easily bruised.
“I’ve been a bad girl,” I said, dragging the words out. “Will you punish me, daddy?”
He cursed colorfully, using words I've never heard before. If I were sober, bells would have been going off in my head. My last experience with a man was… unpleasant. And yet here I was, with a man pinning me against a tree, driving me insane with his scent and the wild look in his eyes that I must be imagining.
And I was wet. I was so wet.
“You still haven't answered my question,” I said in that low voice that sounds too pleasant to be mine.
It was only a second, but his eyes dropped to my lips, and they darkened. He looked back at my eyes. “What question?”
I moved, rubbing my stomach on his dick, and he groaned. “Will you touch me if I ask nicely?”
His eyes dropped to my lips again, and this time it lingered. He dragged his eyes back up. Then, “No.”
My face fell. He let go of me, and my knees almost gave out, but I locked them together and remained on my feet.
“Come morning, and you’ll understand,” he said as he turned.
I watched his back as he walked away from me. And then I threw my head back and laughed.
Of course.
“What did you think was going to happen, you fool?” I asked myself. I shook my head as I adjusted my dress and moved to go find more alcohol.
My booze was already ruined.
“You never learn, do you?”
~.~
Morning came, and the hangover was brutal, but I had no regrets as I moved downstairs to hunt for coffee.
Thank fuck it was the weekend. I can't imagine going to class with this. But then I groaned as I remembered my shift in the café this evening.
Fuck, why do we need to keep working?
I went downstairs but paused when I heard voices and laughter. Why was the new web so jolly this gloomy morning? I decided to ignore them and made my way to the kitchen, but I was caught.
“Oh, Siri!” Lilian called out, and I winced. “Come, come! Come meet my son!”
I paused. Her son? So the bastard could make it? Why wasn't he at his mother’s wedding, then?
“Coming!” I called, grabbing a glass of water before stumbling into the living room. “Okay, I’m–”
My words died in my throat.
Grey eyes. That scent.
That face.
He was sitting on the couch, staring straight at me.
Jackson.
Was I still drunk? Or was this a new kind of hungover symptom?
“Siri, this is Jackson. My son.”
You have got to be kidding me.
CONTENT WARNING: This chapter contains references to domestic abuse and may be triggering to some readers. Reader discretion is advised. ~.~“I can think of a few things that can make you quit hockey,” my father said, his voice relaxed, but his face was filled with hell. He stood chest to chest with me, and I fought every instinct screaming at me to lower my eyes, to pull back. I fought them and stood perfectly still, not letting that dark look intimidate me.“What?” I spat. “Are you going to pay the coach to kick me out of the team? Then I'll just find another team to join.”“Jackson, please,” my mother whispered, and that just made my fists clench harder. Why was she calling me back and not her husband? He was the one threatening to take my dream away from me! My hopes for a better future, and still I was the one being called back? Did she really think I would just roll over and accept this bullshit? Bloody no. “That is way beneath me, Jackson,” he said in a low voice, acting li
SEVEN YEARS AGOThe sun had long since set, and the neighborhood was dark by the time I strolled in through the back door, my shoes tied together by their laces and hanging around my neck, my hands shoved into my pockets. Hopefully my parents were asleep by now, and I wouldn't have to deal with either of them. It was exhausting to look into their eyes these days and act like everything was fine when I harbored a little bit of hatred for my father. Okay, maybe it was more than a little bit, but I won’t tell if you don’t. I spent time at Jacob’s house long after practice, then came home and lied through my teeth, saying the coach sucked us dry with practice, which is why I was so late.You can’t blame me. The atmosphere in this house was depressing, and hearing my father whistle while he smoked his cigar, acting like all was right and fair in the world, was pissing me off when I could see my mother was losing weight, when I could clearly see she was losing her shine. She just needed
“You good, mate?” Jacob asked as he sat beside me and handed me a cup of hot chocolate. I took it without a word, cupping my hands around the mug and staring at the steam. He said nothing for a while, just drank his beverage, and then said, “The game is tomorrow, you know.”My shoulders stiffened. I heaved a sigh, sipping the hot drink, but I barely tasted anything. “Yeah,” I said, my voice scratchy from lack of use. “You haven't slept, haven't eaten anything. How are you going to play like this? Don’t expect us to go easy on you because you were our captain.” He said it as a joke, nudging my shoulder with his, but I remained silent, unmoving. He sighed deeply, placing his mug down and turning to face me. “Listen here, mate: it’s not your fault. It’s neither of your faults. You both have a shitty past, and she’s been hurt, yeah, but have you ever done anything to hurt her?” He didn't wait for an answer he wasn't going to get and just went on. “Sure, you were a fuckboy just three
JACKSONI haven't moved for an hour or two. It might be three. I don’t bloody know. I sat on the bench by the bar, my eyes fixed on the glass of liquor in front of me. A glass I haven't touched since it was placed in front of me. Usually, I would have downed the drink just to try to numb these painful feelings in my chest. But no. No, I wanted to feel them all. I wanted them to burn. I wanted them to hurt. Jacob has been sitting beside me since the-however-long hours I've been here, but he hasn't said a word, just nursing his drink. I wish he would say something. I wish he would call me a bastard or a fool. Why? I didn’t know. I just needed something to hurt. I needed it to hurt even more. He suddenly shifted beside me, going tense. “What the bloody fuck do you want, Toria? Here to push the knife in deeper?”“Calm down, J. I just need to talk to him.”“Well, he doesn't want to talk to ya. Piss off.”“Did you love her?” she asked anyway, and Jacob was already shaking with anger, wh
PRESENTEverything came rushing back to me in a hard wave, and I wish they would not. I wish these memories could be wiped so I could forget everything. I wish I could forget who I am, because right now I feel stupid, naive. I felt like I'd been played again.I heaved until nothing came out, my body trembling. I felt a hand pulling my hair away from my face, and I almost relaxed. Something almost loosened in my chest. That was until I heard that voice. “Are you okay, darling?” I jerked away from him like I was struck by lightning, my teeth bared, and my hard eyes fixed on him. I pointed at him, my finger shaking. “Don’t. Fucking. Touch. Me.”He stood frozen, his eyes wide with shock and hurt. “You… Siri, lis–” He took a step closer, and the look I shot at him had him freezing, the look of pain brighter in his eyes. People were walking past us, some staring, and I could see his friends standing a distance away, but we didn't look away from each other’s eyes. We didn't see the coun
My father shot out of the couch as I threw my weight forward, and the broken glass struck it, my blood darkening the purple color.“What is the meaning of this, Siri?” he asked, his voice loud, and for the first time since I've known this man as my father, I saw intense emotions in his eyes: shock, fear. Good. Good.“DIE!!” I screamed as I raised the glass above my head, my blood dripping down my arm as I lunged at him again. “Just die!”He stepped out of the way again, his eyes growing wilder. I was panting, my hair glued to my face, my entire body trembling. I could feel myself growing weaker with every movement, but rage and devastation were the fuel that kept pushing me forward. My vision grew blurry with my tears, a hard sob ripping from my throat. “Drop the glass, Siri,” he said, trying to stay calm, but I noticed his hands shaking and his chest rising a little too heavily. He was scared, or too shocked. Either way, I didn't plan to stop. I didn't plan to stop until one of u







