Page 37 of Caged Heat

With a few more steps, we turned the corner, and the kitchen came into view, the huge island the only thing separating us. I sighed in relief as I caught sight of Jackson. His face was stony as he watched, and I tried to figure out what it was about. I’d never seen him look that hard before.

“August, this is?—”

“Jackson, what are you doing here?” August asked before I could finish. The man in question crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes jumping from me to August and then to our joined hands as a pained look crossed his face.

“I could ask you the same,” he answered, his words clipped.

“Are you friends with Mack?” August asked, making my heart sink.

Shit. This couldn’t be going any worse. Jackson was pissed, and August assumed he was too young to be my date. Wait… my brow furrowed as I glanced between the two.

“Do you two know each other?” I asked, letting go of August and stepping between them as I swiveled back and forth. August’s eyes narrowed, and his forehead creased as he tried to assemble the puzzle pieces I was missing.

Jackson looked angry, and something inside me cracked as I tried to figure out why. I didn’t like seeing him like this. Jackson was meant to smile, not glower.

“Jackson?” I asked, hoping he’d answer since August seemed stuck. His eyes dropped to mine, softening a little. He took a deep breath and let it out; something on his face changed, making me fear whatever he was about to say.

“This is Anna’s son,” August said, beating Jackson to the punch.

All the air in the room seemed to leave as I tried to wrestle with the new information. They knew each other. Not only that, but at one time, August had been Jackson’s stepdad.

Was this wrong? It didn’t feel wrong.

How had I picked two people connected to one another?

“As in your ex-wife…” I mumbled, needing to say it out loud.

“How? Why?” Jackson asked instead, his words pained.

“I’m confused,” August said, stepping closer.

“He’s the other guy,” I said, taking Jackson’s hand, hoping to clear up the confusion for August. He stopped in his tracks, his eyes widening as he digested the new information.

“I thought you were dating Ella,” August said, still unwilling to accept the information before him.

“And you, Nora,” Jackson retorted.

“Uh, yeah. That’s me. I’m Ella and Nora. The only people who call me Eleanor are the girls at work. Everyone else has always called me Ele or E.” I shrugged my shoulders. “You talked about me?”

“He’s the friend training me,” Jackson supplied.

“Right.” I remembered him talking about the friend who’d been helping him get ready for an upcoming match and August talking about training Anna’s son.

“So, is this a problem?” I asked, cringing as I glanced between the two. August hadn’t moved or said anything else in a few minutes now. “August?”

He blinked, his eyes settling on me. “I don’t know. I’m trying to get my mind around it.”

The timer on the oven beeped, scaring me as I jumped. Clutching my chest, I dropped Jackson’s hand and moved around him to turn it off. I checked the oven and pulled out the dish, and sat it on top of the stove.

“Should we have dinner and talk, then?” I asked, needing us to move out of the kitchen at least.

“Yeah. Sure.”

Jackson moved to take the plates to the table, and August went to the silverware drawer. I sighed as I picked up the hot dish and moved toward the table, placing it on the trivet before sitting down. Both men were ramrod straight, their expressions blank. This was my absolute worst nightmare for how this night could go.

I served everyone, but no one said anything as they ate. It was the world’s awkwardest dinner I’d ever had. The longer the tension built, I knew I couldn’t take it much longer. This had been what I’d been worried about. Well, not this, exactly. But that they wouldn’t be able to coexist together.

Sitting my fork down, I glanced between the two of them.

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