back?” She handed over the generic cold medication, and once more, the cashier tried the card. When it declined again the girl’s eyes filled with tears, and the cashier gave a nervous look to the line forming behind her.
The woman sighed once more then sneered. “If you can’t afford to shop here, maybe you should try the Save-A-Lot downtown with the other poor people.”
The girl sucked in a breath, tears spilling over. Before Jackson could defuse the situation, Day fixed the lady with a look Jackson hoped to never be on the other side of.
“I’m sorry? Where are you going in such a hurry, Karen? Is there some kind of grumpy California cunts meeting you’re late for? I see you’re wearing yoga pants, but given that the size of your ass is even bigger than your sour attitude, I doubt you’re on your way to the gym. So, why don’t you calm your tits and stop huffing and puffing before somebody thinks you’re having an asthma attack and shoves a paper bag over your head and accidentally smothers you with it.”
The woman turned on Day with murder in her eyes. “Why don’t you mind your business and put on some boy clothes?”
Jackson’s eyes went wide, and he put a hand on Day’s shoulder, but he shook it off, cocking his head and his hip in a stance that made both Jackson and the cashier slightly nervous.
“You know what they say, all clothes are boy clothes if you just stop being a little bitch about it. You should try it, or maybe you could just try pulling the stick out of your ass and shove it up your—”
Jackson slapped his hand over Day’s mouth, pulling him back against him. Jackson thought Day might actually chew through his hand as his mouth was still moving, his words muffled.
“I’m reporting you to the manager.”
Whatever Day said behind Jackson’s hand came with two middle fingers aimed directly at the woman. Jackson couldn’t stop his laugh as the lady hurried towards the counter at the far end of the store. “Easy, killer. You’ve made your point. She’s gone.” He dropped his hand from Day’s lips.
“Fucking twat,” Day muttered before realizing the cashier and the woman both stared at him with wide eyes. “Sorry,” Day tacked on almost as an afterthought, not sounding sorry at all.
Jackson pulled his AmEx card free and handed it to the cashier. “I’ve got her purchases.”
The girl shook her head vehemently, adjusting the baby on her hip. “No. I’ll just come back later. My husband is just being a jerk. He does this sometimes. He turns off the card to teach me a les…” She trailed off. “Sorry, you don’t care about any of this.”
Jackson nodded to the cashier who rang up the girl’s purchases and then theirs, ignoring her protests before handing back the card and the receipt. Before the girl left, Jackson handed her his business card. “I do care. If you need help, call the number on the card. It’s my cell phone. I always have it on me.”
She gawked at him for a minute before nodding and hurrying from the store with her purchases. Jackson took the bags, but Day took his bakery bag back, like he was guarding it from Jackson as if it was a surprise. Day was mercurial to say the least and Jackson couldn’t get enough.
“Come on, crazy. Let’s get you out of here before you get arrested for beating up an old lady,” Jackson said.
“Wow, you’re, like, a knight in shining armor,” Day said with a smirk as they walked through the parking lot.
“Yeah, and you’re like a rabid poodle,” Jackson said, nodding towards his car.
“A rabid poodle?”
“Yeah, all frills and bows on the outside, but snarling and vicious deep down.”
“Sorry, but I refuse to be somebody I’m not.”
“Did I ask you to?” Jackson asked, enjoying how easy it was to rile Day up.
“You just called me a rabid poodle.”
Jackson grinned. “Yeah, but I’m a dog person.”
Day stayed silent most of the way to Jackson’s place. He had no idea why he’d agreed to this farce of a security detail because he’d wanted to jump Jackson the moment he’d seen him and let him do things to him he’d never even considered letting anybody else do. The worst part? It seemed like Jackson was definitely down to fuck. Or whatever might be fuck adjacent. At least, until after he sold his virginity. All these wannabe Daddies all thought they had a shot