MEETING JACKSON

HAZEL

"Have you spoken to Jackson?" I ask softly, afraid that mentioning his name may cause Ramon to freak out. Ramon's eyes run over my face and his jaw clenches.

"I have. Why do you ask?" His tongue darts out and cleans his lower lip. I watch the tenseness of his shoulders as he takes in a deep breath and lets it out ever so slowly. He is agitated, but not to the point where he won't discuss the topic.

"Well, he isn't dead so I figured you either haven't spoken to him and you're waiting for him to make a wrong move or he is innocent." I chew on my bottom lip and reach my hand across the table to hold his. Softly, his thumb runs over my knuckles and he lets out a sigh of relief.

"Is this your way of asking if you can talk to him, little wolf?" My nickname rolls off his tongue like silk, and I inhale slowly. The thickness of his voice is telling me that he doesn't want me to go.

"Is this your way of telling me you want me to stay?" I raise an eyebrow and give him a playful grin. Ramon