Page 56 of Jack

I snorted, but inside my heart practically burst out of my chest. “I doubt it, Jack. I don’t think letting their teenaged daughter move in with her equally teenaged boyfriend, a boyfriend she’s had for less than twenty-four hours and they’ve barely met, is something they would cosign. Not to mention said boyfriend lives in his own house. I mean, my parents are progressive and all, but I think even they would shut down a suggestion like that.”

Jack nodded his head. “Fuck. Yeah, that makes sense.” He leaned forward on the couch, resting his elbows on his knees and rubbed his face, the movements causing the muscles in his back and shoulders to ripple and stretch. “I’m going to call a private investigator tomorrow. We have to know where this dickhead is, so I know how to protect you.”

I gulped again, looking at him with continued astonishment. When Chad had been stalking me, harassing me, terrorizing me, in Michigan, my friends thought it was romantic, that I was being a bitch or overreacting. Now, I had these friends, these people who cared about me, who took my fears seriously. Nikolai had driven to Michigan for me. Jack wanted me to freaking live with him.

I leaned forward next to him and gently took his chin in my hand, turning his face to mine. “Thank you,” I whispered, then leaned in to give him a series of butterfly kisses. Jack allowed me to pepper his mouth with soft touches of my lips, but soon took the kiss over, thrusting his hand in my hair, deepening the contact of our mouths.

While still carnal, there was a sweetness, a reverence in how he was kissing me. He pulled back, still cradling my face with his palms and simply stared at me, his dark green eyes roaming each of my features, as if committing them to memory. I thought he was going to kiss me again, but instead he stood and held out a hand to me.

“I better get you home before I decide to rip your clothes off and drag you back to my bedroom.”

Heat leapt through my body and I felt wholeheartedly in favor of that suggestion, but he was right. I needed to get home and there was no way I was up for another round of sex.

I got my stuff together and Jack threw on a t-shirt and jacket. He gave me another hard kiss at the door and took my hand to walk me to his car.

“The window looks good,” I said, gesturing to his repaired driver’s side window.

“It took me two hours to take care of it. I had to pay the window guy a fucking fortune to do a same day, custom job so I could install it.”

“Well, if we see Chad, you can send him the bill.”

“Don’t think I won’t be taking the money I spent out on his ass if I catch up with him,” Jack muttered as we pulled out of his driveway.

It was a short drive to my house and we were soon pulling up to the curb in front of my house. Jack reached for his door, but I stopped him. “What are you doing?”

Jack shot me a look of disbelief. “I’m walking you to your door. Remember? Psycho ex?”

I laughed. “Well, yes, but–”

Jack covered my mouth with his hand. “Ava, I’m walking you to your door.”

I nodded my head and got out of the car. When we got to the door, he leaned down and kissed me for a long time, alternating between sweet, biting kisses and long, hot, wet ones that had me on the verge of dragging him back to his car and back to his house.

He gave me one more kiss on the mouth and pulled back. “Okay, Ava, get inside.”

I gave him a mock salute. “Yes, sir!”

He smirked. “I could get used to that, but maybe in a different context.”

My face flushed, and he laughed out loud, turned me toward the door and spanked my ass. “Go.”

I opened the door and watched him walk back to his car, unable to stop a dopey, lovesick smile from breaking out across my face.

“Ava, is that you?” my mother called out.

“Yep, I just got back,” I replied, walking back to the family room, where my parents typically were at this time of night.

They were sitting in their usual seats. My father was in a recliner my mother loathed but relented on buying because my father loved it. My mother was at a little drafting table she used for art projects. “Your father and I really like Jack.”

I rolled my eyes but broke out in another dopey grin at hearing his name. “Yeah, he’s pretty cool.”

My father was engrossed in the latest episode of Game of Thrones, but gave me enough of his attention to comment, “It’s about time you picked a guy I can actually have a conversation with.”

“Yes, Father, it is so sad that I haven’t been picking my dates based on their compatibility with you,” I snarked good-naturedly and my mother laughed.

“You have to admit, based on today, that it might be a pretty good litmus test,” he replied dryly.

I laughed. “You may be right.”

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