Page 34 of The Fragile One

Aiden walks over and wraps me in his arms.

“You are amazing. Have I told you that today?” His hand grazes my cheek, his thumb ghosting over my lips.

“You have been lax in your duty today, sir. I’ll let you make it up to me, though.” I rise on my tippy-toes to kiss him, showing him exactly how I expect him to do just that.

He doesn’t disappoint. All three times.

“So, you’re getting that good D on the regular. I can tell. I have a way of sniffing these things out. Plus, you have that same amazing sex glow that your sister walks around with these days. I hate you both.” Abigail shakes her head, giving me a rueful smile. She came over last night and we had wine well into the late hours of the evening. I let her pass out in my bed because it was more comfortable than the couch. Plus, I may have wanted to sleep with Aiden’s scent all around me. What can I say? I miss the hell out of him.

We’ve been having the ultimate girl’s day, complete with pedicures, sappy movies. And, of course, wine. It’s been heaven.

“Well, a lady doesn’t kiss and tell, Abigail,” I say primly.

“Where are these ladies you speak of? I only see the two of us.”

She looks around the living room and under the coffee table.

“No ladies here, so spill,” she tells me after she seems satisfied that there aren’t any “ladies” present.

I laugh at her ridiculousness, something I do often when she’s around.

“Yes, the D is amazeballs,” I confirm.

She squeals in excitement, and I laugh with her. It feels good to catch up with my friend.

“It’s so much more than that. I feel brave with him. Even when I’m here on my own while he’s at a meeting or out of town, like tonight, I feel closer to the girl I was before everything happened. Like I can conquer all my fears.” I pause and take a breath, looking her in the eye. “I was kinda hoping you could help me with one of them, actually. It involves Jackson, so I understand if you say no.”

She gives me a confused, slightly disturbed look. Okay, so maybe I could have worded it better.

“God, Abigail, nothing crazy,” I quickly reassure her as I laugh at the expression on her face.

“Phew. I love you and all, but I’m strictly dickly. And Jackson is not the dick I’m referring to.”

I smack her with the pillow and fall over laughing.

“Oh my God, your face. No, I want to try going to the bar I used to hang out at. It’s really chill, and the bartender is a friend of mine. He’s the one who got us into Club Noir. I think it would be fun to have a night out with you like we used to. Aiden isn’t much for that scene, so I thought we could have Jackson meet us there.” I shrug my shoulders like it’s no big deal even though it is, but with my two besties there with me, it’ll be fine. Another step toward a normal me.

“I don’t know, Lindsey. Are you sure about this? I know you’ve been getting out of the apartment and all, but are you sure about a crowd?” She has a point, but I’m positive I want to do this. I’ll never know till I try, right?

“Yeah, it’ll be fun.” I try to make it sound exciting because I really think it’ll be fine.

She looks at me skeptically but nods.

“Okay, I’m in, but that jack-off better be on his best behavior. I’m not in the mood to deal with his shit if he acts up.” She gives me a stern look making it clear she means business. Par for the course with Abs and Jax.

Decision made, I text Jackson and tell him the plan. He agrees to meet us there and gives me a similar warning about Abigail. These two seriously need to get over it or fuck it out. I’d be fine with either.

When we get to the bar, I spot Jackson right away, ordering a drink from Alex. It’s nice to see a familiar face. I admit I’m a little more nervous about this experiment since Aiden isn’t here, but I’m committed. How great would it be for him to come home and be able to go out on an actual date outside of the apartment? Or to not have to have someone come stay with me when he isn’t home? I know that’s probably a ways off. Nevertheless, this is a step in the right direction.

Abigail and I make our way to the bar. It’s not too crowded, which I figured, since it’s Sunday night. Aiden will be home in a few hours, but I couldn’t wait to try this. I need to know it’s not just about having Aiden next to me but knowing I’m able to do this on my own, stand on my own two feet and all that.

Jackson turns and faces me with a smile, coming in for a quick hug and kiss on the cheek.

“Hey, Lindsey. You look great.” He turns to Abigail and gives her a small nod. “Hello, Abigail.” His voice is tense, and his body is rigid when he acknowledges her.

“Jackson.” Abigail nods in return. I appreciate that they aren’t instantly getting in each other’s faces, but this is weird. They’re both visibly uncomfortable being around the other. I chalk it up to promising me they wouldn’t gripe and start World War III in the middle of a bar tonight. It must be difficult not showing their mutual disdain for each other as per their usual barbs and insults.

“Hi, Lindsey, great to see you. What are you having tonight?” Alex asks. I suspect Alex had a little crush on me when I used to come here regularly. Hopefully he didn’t get in too much trouble when he let us use his friends pass to get into Club Noir all those months ago. It was a violation of trust on my part, knowing that Alex was only allowed to give us a pass because he thought I was genuinely interested in the scene and would keep my mouth shut. Jackson figured out my true motivation behind why I was there in the first place after the kidnapping and knew Alex was the one who got us in. Everything seems copacetic between those two, though, so it looks like Jackson didn’t hold it against him. I feel awful about the potential problems I could have caused Alex, but with everything that happened after the kidnapping, I never thought to ask Jackson about it.

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