<>Jackson<>
Now: Twenty-one years old
“Stay out of it! This is none of your business!” Harley seethed, walking away from me.
I stood there in a state of fuckin’ shock.
Not moving.
Not breathing.
All I could do was think…
One. Bad. Decision.
Too many repercussions.
Too many fucked up emotions.
Too much fuckin’ bullshit and consequences.
I was home for a week, before I had to go back to Tennessee to start football camp for my senior year of college. I'd had scouts on my ass since I was in middle school, but this would be the year I decided the future I wanted.
Choose what team I’d play for in the NFL.
Rubbing the back of my head, I sighed from the sudden splitting headache taking over. Pissed as hell I’d only been home for two days and was already knee-deep in a shit-storm.
Fuckin’ Gremlin.
I knew this battle was far from over between us. No matter how much shit she spewed out of her loud ass mouth. Even after all these years, Harley still didn’t know when to shut the fuck up. Constantly having to remind her to reel it in.
I don’t know how long I stood there, until I finally got my feet moving to chase after her. Right when she was about to haul ass out of her room at the MC clubhouse, I slammed the door shut from behind her.
Not hesitating for a moment to grab her arm and yank her around to face me again. I locked her in place in front of me, wedged against the door.
This wasn’t the first or the last time I’d manhandle her this way. Trust me…
She liked it.
A lot.
Looming over her petite frame with a menacing glare, I snarled, “The fuck?” Practically knocked on my ass by what she just said. “Are you fuckin’ with me?”
“Let go of me,” she bit back.
“Fuck no.”
“I’m done discussin’ this with you. Can’t you see I want nothin’ to do with you?”
“Too fuckin’ late for that, Harley. You can’t do this alone. You can’t handle this without me. We wouldn’t be in this situation if it weren’t for me.”
“You are so fuckin’ full of yourself!”
“Shhh … keep your voice down.”
“Why? They’re gonna find out anyway, as soon as I kick your ass if you don’t let me go. Why must you bully your way—”
“Don’t get it confused, sweetheart. I’ve never had to bully my way balls deep inside of you. Half the time I can’t keep you off my dick.”
She gasped, shoving me as hard as she could. I barely wavered.
“Oh, you arrogant fuck!”
“I call it like I see it, Gremlin. And right now, I’m telling you it’s not the right time to tell our families. Stop fighting with me for one goddamn minute, so you can see straight for a second.”
“Jackson, I don’t need you to do this—”
“I’m fuckin’ standing here, aren’t I? I want to be here for you.” I gestured between us. “Do this with you. Why is that so hard for you to understand?”
“There’s a motive. There’s always an ulterior motive with you. This is not about me, it’s about you.”
“No. It’s about you being knocked up ’cuz of me.”
She tried to pull herself out of my grasp, but my grip constricted tighter around her arm. She wasn’t going anywhere unless I wanted her to, and right now she was going to face the truth whether she wanted to or not.
“No matter how hard I get hit on the field, I always get back up. Do you understand me?”
“Are you really givin’ me a pep talk right now? I’m not one of your football groupies, you dick!”
“I’m like that in life too, and I’m a fuckin’ champion ’cuz of it. I’ll fix this. I’ll fix us.”
“There. Is. No. Us.” The little shit’s knee flew up to my balls, but I deflected the assault.
“Babe, enough—”
“You fucked it up! Like you fuck everythin’ up! That’s all you do! You fuck shit up!”
“Gremlin,” I rasped through a clenched jaw, sick of hearing her say the same shit over and over again like a broken fuckin’ record. “We were kids.”
“Oh. My. God. Are you seriously tryin’ to justify one fuck up? What about all the other ones, Jackson Pierce?”
I knew what she was referring to, but I refused to go there.
Wrong place.
Wrong time.
Not here.
Not now.
Not after all this…
Her chest was heaving up and down with her lips puckered out. My dick twitched in response.
I wanted to kiss her as much as I wanted her to gag on my cock. Either way it’d shut her up.
“Bottom line, you’re fuckin’ listening to me for once. I’m just trying to take responsibility for this. I’m the only one here who knows you … the real you, Harley. You hate me, I get that, alright? But that doesn’t change the reality I want this … with you.”
She swallowed hard, the honesty in my tone finally getting through her thick Jameson skull.
“Why today? Why is it so important for you to do this now?”
“’Cuz everyone is together, and they’re happy.” She shrugged, shaking her head. “It’s my daddy’s favorite day of the week. His Sunday MC barbeque with his entire family. I’m home, remember? It will be easier to break his heart by tellin’ him, not only I’m not a virgin, but I’m also havin’ a baby out of wedlock. He’s gonna kill me, Jackson. At least this way there’s family around to protect me from his wrath.”
“Exactly, Gremlin. The fuck you think he’s gonna do to me?”
“Jackson, you—”
I grit my teeth. “Don’t fuckin’ try me, Harley.”
“Listen, you stubborn asshole. In a few days I go back to startin’ my junior year in Tennessee. It gives him some time to cool off. Gives me the relief I need to figure things out. How I’m gonna be a single mom.”
“Again, Harley, I’m standing right fuckin’ here.”
“You say that now, but you have your whole future ahead of you. What about the NFL? Huh? What about your career? Your dreams? Everythin’ you worked so hard for? You’re gonna give it all up for me?”
I should have said yes. I should have told her everything I felt in my heart and soul.
How much I loved her.
How much I always loved her.
Except I didn’t.
I couldn’t.
I just wasn’t made that way.
Instead, I simply stated, “No. It’s for the baby. Our baby.”
She winced. It was quick, but I saw it. My reply hurt her…
Yeah, it fuckin’ hurt me too.
“I can’t let you do that.”
“You have no say in the matter. The Panthers want me, Harley. I can sign with them. It will keep me home here in North Carolina for the both of you.”
“Holy shit! You already thought this through? Jackson, you ain’t playin’ fair.”
“I’m not playing at all.”
“So what? We’re just going to pretend we’re one big happy family?”
“I could think of worse things than being married to me.”
“Married to you?!” she blurted, shocked as shit I just said that.
I wasn’t.
I knew what I wanted, and nothing was going to stop me. Not even her.
“Now we’re gettin’ married?”
“It will be easier for the baby that way. Medical insurance, my salary, a stable home life with two parents who love him or her.”
“Whoa, Rudolph, I don’t wanna marry you. I don’t even really like you right now.”
“You say we’re family all the time. Here’s our chance to make it official.”
“Do you hear yourself? You sound insane.”
“Harley, I’ve seen what you call fashion. Your online store isn’t going to provide for you, let alone a baby. My starting salary is five million dollars. If we are married, you’re entitled to it all if something happens to me.”
She frowned, conscious of what I was referring to. However, in Harley Jameson style she came back with a vengeance. Stating, “I only get half after I divorce you for the quarterback on your rival team.”
I chuckled, fuckin’ brat.
“I can do this on my own.”
“I don’t want you to. For fuck sake, what more do you want me to say?” I asked, feeling frustrated beyond belief which was never a good thing. “What do you need to hear, huh? You want me to tell you I love you? Is that what you’re waiting for?”
She scoffed out a breath, “Why would I want you to lie to me?”
I held my chin higher, resisting the urge to tell her exactly what I just snapped.
I’m a fuckin’ idiot.
“Baby girl, we’ve been through a lot together. I don’t have to tell you what you mean to me. You know.”
“What I do know is I don’t want you involved. Back the fuck off, Jackson. Walk away. Do you understand me?”
“I can’t do that.”
“Yes, you can. It’s easy, just watch me.”
I jerked back, feeling her response in the depths of my core.
With that I let her go, wanting to fuckin’ kill someone.
Myself.
This was all my fault.
I watched her walk out the door into the living room, far away from me for what felt like the hundredth time. You’d think I’d be used to it by now, but each occurrence felt as though it was the first time all over again.
My eyes couldn’t move fast enough, intently surveying the room full of our loved ones. Waiting on daggers for what would happen next…
What would she say?
How would she say it?
Where would we go from here?
Question after question echoed through my mind, one right after the other. There was no way around this, it was happening with or without my consent.
“Hey! Can I have everyone’s attention?!” Harley shouted, tugging me away from my rapid thoughts.
Everyone crowded around her, anxious to hear what she had to say. Once all eyes were on her, the little shit didn’t waver.
As if it were nothing, she revealed, “I’m pregnant.”
No one made a sound.
You could hear a pin drop, it was that quiet.
Quickly, I came to terms with it being now or never.
Not giving a flying fuck about her requests, I did what was right…
What I wanted.
Needed.
Couldn’t live without.
I made my way through the crowd of people, until I was standing front and center with her.
Harley’s bright eyes widened, knowing exactly what I was about to do.
In all honesty, this was the first time in my life I thought about my future in a way that mattered.
Not football.
Not dementia.
Her.
Them.
Mine.
There was no uncertainty on my part when I declared, “And it’s mine.”
Fully aware I just changed the course of our lives.
Where all that mattered was my biggest mistake suddenly turned into my greatest blessing.
A family.
My family.
That was until I heard Mary Poppins scream, “Jackson, RUN!”
Realizing right then and there, I still had to answer to her old man and Uncle Noah.
The Prez reached for his gun.
“Oh, fuck me.”
He roared, “I’m gonna put you to ground, you son of a bitch!” Aiming his gun right at me.
“Creed!” Mia shouted with panic-ridden eyes.
Given the history her daddy and I had, there was no doubt in my mind he’d pull the trigger. I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t where I thought I was going to die. Or at least end up in the hospital.
My saving grace came from the person I least expected, when she stepped in front of me with her hands in the air.
Professing, “Daddy, don’t! We’re gettin’ married!”
Release Day: April 14,2015 Genre: Contemporary Romance Series: Book 2 in Six Degrees Series One look, one ...
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