Page 31 of Hidden Desires

Chapter Ten

When Autumn woke the next morning, Jackson wasn’t beside her. She had little sleep and laid awake most of the night contemplating her life. If Jackson had entertained her ideas of marriage and a family all those years ago, where would they be now? As much as she wanted to think they’d be the Brady Bunch with a happy family to come home to, she seriously doubted it. He kept too much of himself a secret. He didn’t trust her with the painful details of his life.

She stood and dressed in the cami she wore the night before. Thoughts of him calling that love flooded her mind, and she took a deep breath. She wanted to believe it. With all that she was, she wanted to.

Jackson came in the bedroom just as she hung her robe on the rack attached to the bathroom door. He had pulled on a rugged pair of jeans and looked like he had as much sleep as her.

He stopped in the bathroom doorway, propping a hand above his head as he leaned. His eyes met hers in the mirror. Something unspoken lingered between them for a few seconds before he cleared his throat. “Your brother just called. He’ll be here in about thirty minutes.”

She didn’t say anything, figuring the less words spoken the better.

“Uh, I talked to Davis, too. He’s taking off for the weekend to come down, though he said it was mostly just to use your hot tub.” He smiled and shook his head.

Autumn glanced down at the washcloth she’d twisted into a knot. Not only one brother but two. As if life couldn’t get any better.

“Look, I’m not leaving, Autumn. You can hate me, fight me, curse me—whatever. I’m not leaving.”

She uncoiled the cloth and flipped the faucet on warm. She pursed her lips while she held a finger beneath the streaming water, waiting for it to heat. She knew he wasn’t leaving. Telling him to was a joke. She probably couldn’t get him to leave the bathroom so she could pee, much less her house. And if she weren’t so stressed out, she’d be the one to leave. He was smothering her enough as it was.

“Fine. Don’t talk to me.” Jackson threw his hands up in the air. “You think you know everything anyway, why bother trying to clue you in.”

Autumn watched him leave, waiting until he was out of her sight before letting the sobs come.

* * * *

“Autumn Bottom,” Jeffery pulled his sister into a hug when she answered the door. “How is the world’s most annoying little sister?”

“Pissed off.” She squinted in the sunlight. “Who the hell is bright-eyed and bushy-tailed before eight?”

She pulled away from Jeffery and stepped to the side. He and Kristin entered her house, each carrying a duffel. Jackson stood with a bowl of cereal in the living room, freshly showered and dressed in a white chest-hugging tee and loose, worn-out jeans.

“You’re a vet. Don’t you deal with emergencies at all hours of the night like MDs?” Jeffery tossed his bag on the couch and turned toward his sister. “Besides, what would Dad think of you not being up at the crack of dawn, doing jumping jacks?”

“Dad never made me do all the shit he made you boys do.” Autumn smiled and shut the front door. “Daddy likes me, remember.”

Jeffery scoffed. “Right. Just like those puppies you favor can fly, huh?”

“Get over your jealousy, Jeffery.” Autumn smiled at Kristin. “How do you ever put up with him?”

She hugged her sister-in-law. Kristin Wilson came into their family during a rough patch of their lives. When their mother died, she and her family helped Autumn’s father and the rest of the family take care of themselves. Somehow, Kristin and Jeffery became really close and eventually married three years later.

“He only acts up when we’re out.” Kristin smiled. “I guess I’m going to start leaving him at home.”

Jeffery plopped down on the couch and propped his feet up on the coffee table. “You wish. You just want me as your twenty-four-hour boy toy.”

Autumn held up her hands. “Eww. Do not mention anyone being anyone’s twenty-four-hour boy toy in this house.”

Jeffery looked over at Jackson, who simply observed their conversation as he ate his cereal, and then looked back at his sister. “Tell me, little sis, you have a new boy toy in your life? I’m surprised to see you haven’t killed each other yet.”

“Give her time. She’s planning my death as we speak.” Jackson crossed the living room to return the bowl to the kitchen.

“What? Are you saying you kept your grubby paws off my sister? The Jackson Cooper who fucks anything with a skirt.” Jeffery waited for a response.

“Jeffery, language,” Kristin scolded.

“Your sister doesn’t wear skirts.” Jackson took his seat in the recliner. “And she’s got bigger balls than the both of us combined.”

Jeffery glanced from Jackson to Autumn. She simply stood there smiling. “Uh, did I miss something here?”

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