Page 52 of Jackson

“You did?” Jackson had suspected that even if Finn had never confirmed it.

“I asked him if he loved you and he said yes.”

He wanted to smile to hear those words from someone else. That someone else knew that Finn and Michael thought he was special.

“I’m sorry I did that now.” Skinner wrapped one large hand behind Jackson’s neck. “I hope you can forgive me, old friend.”

What. The. Fuck! Instead of reacting harshly, which Jackson really wanted to do, he took a deep breath. Whatever was going on, he needed to figure it out.

“No apology is necessary,” Jackson said. “I’m happy about how things ended up.”

“You are?” That was Jayme asking.

Jackson looked away from Skinner toward the table. Lance stood in front of both boys as Jayme and Marco hugged each other.

“Of course, I am,” Jackson answered. “I have two people that love me. That accept me the way I am. That are talking about a future with me.” What more could he ask for? Jackson was making his own family. It had been so long since he’d had anyone to call his own.

“But—” Jayme looked toward Lance.

“What about Finn’s boyfriend?” Lance questioned.

“Michael? He’s my boyfriend too.” The word boyfriend felt foreign on his tongue. They were so much more.

“Not Michael,” Skinner snapped. He shook Jackson. “Cary Jeffers.”

Jackson snorted. “That guy was never Finn’s boyfriend. Finn didn’t remember him. Michael was the one that recognized that he’d worked at the club for a total of two hours before getting booted out.”

Skinner cleared his throat before he released Jackson. Skinner slid his hands down the front of his expensive suit as he turned toward the others. “I don’t understand.”

“Me either!” Jackson waved his hand. “I mean what gave you the idea that this dude was Finn’s boyfriend?”

Jayme frowned. “I hacked his email. Which let me onto his server and into his computer memory. And his cloud storage. He had pictures of the two of them together. Going years back.”

No way. No fucking way. Finn would not have lied to them.

Okay, he needed to think.

Jackson bumped Skinner as he walked past and to the table. Reaching the others, Jackson ignored them as he picked up Jayme’s icy magic bean juice. He needed caffeine. He needed time. He needed to fucking think.

He drank the entire disgustingly sweet drink without stopping.

Finn hadn’t been lying. Jackson knew that without question. He’d lived too long in the shadows, watched people, not to be able to spot a lie. Also, there had been no need. Finn had admitted that he had played with boys from the club. Slept around. He hadn’t acted like he was an angel or any bullshit like that.

As soon as he finished the drink, he set the glass down, smiled at Jayme, then burped.

“Gross,” Marco complained.

“I wanted that,” Jayme grumbled.

“Jackson,” Skinner said.

Jackson held up one hand. No. He could see that his friends were looking out for him. Hell. They’d called some kind of intervention or some shit like that. It warmed Jackson. He’d been so alone for such a long time that he hadn’t even noticed he’d already been making a family of his own. Jackson had been blind to it.

He turned so he could see everyone in the room. “I trust Finn. If he says that he doesn’t know this guy, then he doesn’t know him. But I want to see everything you have. I need to be able to protect Finn and Michael.”

“I’ll show it all to you,” Jayme promised.

“And we’ll help protect your men,” Marco added.

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