me the cash for the windows. And stay the fuck away from my property.”
“Sorry, uh, sir, but how are we supposed to bring you the cash for the windows if we can’t come onto your property—”
“You look smart enough to me.” Jack moved the fireplace poker away from the teen’s chest. “You’ll figure something out.”
The teen offered Jack a silent nod before he took a few steps back from the cabin, not stopping until he was standing in the same patch of grass as his friends.
And then, the teens took off in a wild dash, soon disappearing into the night, their footsteps seeming to fall in near-perfect unison.
By the time Jack and I had walked back into the cabin, my mouth was already all over his own.
“What are you doing?” Jack murmured even as he pressed his hands against my hips. “I thought you were heading out.”
“I was heading out,” I explained. “But that… fuck, Jack. I think that was the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen in my fucking life.” I smiled as I slid my hands underneath Jack’s t-shirt. “I never would’ve expected any of that to come out of you. All that power… all that authority… and the way you were defending me, too—”
“I was defending my windows,” Jack replied, his tone cold.
“Okay, fine. You were defending your windows.” I playfully rolled my eyes as I leaned forward to give him yet another eager kiss. “Now, take me over to that couch, so you can defend your windows some more.”
“Is that what you want?” Jack asked, staring down at me with something burning behind his eyes that I couldn’t place. “You want me to treat you like you were one of those kids breaking my windows?”
“I want you to do whatever you want to me, Jack,” I answered with a small smile. “I’m all yours—”
“Go home.” Jack moved away from me, resting his hands on his own waist instead.
“What?” I shook my head in confusion. “Why? You don’t want to—”
“No. I don’t,” Jack interrupted my response. “I want you to go home, just like I said.”
“I don’t…” I took a moment to respond as I searched for the right words. “What did I do wrong—”
“You didn’t do anything wrong, Austin,” Jack answered. “You were just acting your age.”
“What the hell does that mean, Jack?” I pressed. “Are you seriously mad at me because I got turned on by you defending me? You’re really going to make me seem like I’m some kind of deviant, just because I liked the way that made me feel—”
“Go home, Austin.”
“Jack. Come on,” I pleaded. “Can’t we at least talk about this? Don’t you feel like you’re coming a little out of left-field?”
“I don’t want to talk about it, Austin,” Jack replied, pulling open the cabin door. “I just want you to leave. Now.”
“Jack,” I whispered before I looked over at the open door. “Really? Is this really what you want to do right now?”
“Really.”
“If you let me walk out that door, we’re done,” I said, keeping my tone casual and calm. “I can’t play this game with you anymore, Jack. I can’t… what am I supposed to do when you’re always pulling me in and then pushing me away? Why won’t you just talk to me—”
“Why are you still here, Austin?” Jack’s words were tinged with frost.
“You know what? I have no fucking idea.” I scoffed and made my way through the cabin door. “Goodnight, Jack. Have a nice life.”
Nearly as soon as I was on the other side of the door, I heard Jack slam it behind me, hard.
Stay.
You have to stay.
Because I love you, Austin.
Jack’s sleep-colored words haunted me all the way back to my car, seemingly following me back down to the Bed & Breakfast, swirling around my head like animated, cartoon stars, like something intangible and always just out of my reach.
Because now I knew, for sure, that Jack’s words hadn’t meant a goddamn thing.
17
Jack
Goodnight, Jack. Have a nice life.
Austin’s last words to me had been ringing in my head since he’d left the cabin.
I’d thought about running out to his car to stop him, to apologize and tell him that I was just overreacting, that he was right and we could’ve just talked about it, sorted it out before we came back inside the cabin and made love on the living room couch.
Made love.
That was the source of the whole fucking problem, wasn’t it?
Here I was, daydreaming about making more of what we had between us, trying