“No. I don’t know. I have no fucking clue what I’m doing. I play video games and wear t-shirts that say Blow me, I’m in a band. I’m not father material, B. I’m not even grown-up material.”
I sighed. “Don’t sell yourself short, Jacks. You are a good man and you are already doing a good job with her.”
He sank down on the bed and then reached for my hand, pulling me next to him. “I’m trying. I’ll keep trying. For as long as she needs me, I’ll try.”
“That’s all she needs, love. For someone to put in the effort to be there for her, to make her happy, make her safe.” When he held his arm out, I snuggled into his side. “She’s opening up to you, she’s talking more. Laughing. This morning she didn’t know you either.”
He ran his fingers up and down my arm. It felt good. “Thank you for coming, B. Thank you so fudging much.”
I hid my face in his shirt to quiet my laughter. Inhaling his scent. He smelled damn good. “You are going to be a great father, Jacks.” I knew who Jacks was; I knew his heart. And whether Landry was his, biologically or not, he’d never turn her away. He’d spend the rest of his life making sure that girl was well taken care of. We sat together, in comfortable silence, until he yawned. I took that as my cue. “Where is my room?”
“You don’t have one.”
“Oh, uh, okay. I’ll just bunk with Dylan, and Smith can sleep on the couch or something.”
I made a move to stand and Jacks tightened his arms around me. “Number one, Smith would go outside and build a room onto this house for you before he’d sleep anywhere but next to your sister. And two? I’m kidding, your room is right next to mine; we share a bathroom. I let Landry pick which one she wanted and she picked the room with the en suite and the giant claw-foot tub.”
I nodded. “Smart kid.”
“I don’t want to give you up yet. Let’s Netflix and chill.”
I scoffed. “Jackson Cole. I know darn well what Netflix and chill is code for. What kind of girl do you think I am?”
He spoke with his lips against the top of my head. “The kind of girl who loves campy horror movies and jammy jams.”
“You, sir, are correct.”
Landry
This bed was really soft and really big. My bed at home was small, and my mattress had some sharp parts that I had to be careful to stay away from. The elephant Jacks gave me to sleep with, Ello, he was soft too. He smelled nice, he smelled a little like Jacks. Like cologne and the stuff he put in his hair to make it look dirty. I didn’t know why he put stuff in his hair to make it look that way. All he had to do was not wash it for a while and it would look like that for free.
I could hear him and Bryan talking across the hall. He’d left my door open and she had done the same with his. I knew they were both probably worried about me. Worried that I would be scared to sleep alone in this big bed, in this big house. But I wasn’t scared to be alone, I was used to that. It was scarier to be surrounded by loud people you didn’t know. It was nice here and I liked everyone so far. I needed to be careful not to like it too much though. My mom probably lied, and Jacks probably wasn’t my dad. And when he found out, I’m sure he’d make me leave. No one wanted to raise someone else’s kid. I’d heard more than one man tell that to my mom.
I wondered if that’s why she left me. Maybe she met a man and he wanted her but he didn’t want me. I tried really hard not to cause trouble and not to get in the way. But I always ended up making people mad. Or at least it seemed like they were mad, because they were never really very nice. Not like the people here. All of Jacks’s friends were super nice and they smiled a lot and laughed a lot. They were like happy TV people. And Jacks was right, Bryan was really pretty. I’d stared at my reflection in the huge mirror in the bathroom. My hair was dark like hers and my eyes were light like hers…maybe when I grew up I’d look even more like Bryan. If I looked like her, maybe I could have a friend like Jacks too.
Chapter Seven
Jacks
Having Bryan in my arms was nice. Like really, really nice. I knew that when she left, I’d miss her. I’d miss her every day she wasn’t lying next to me. She smelled like vanilla and sugar. It was okay to think your friends smelled good, right? I mean just because she was making my mouth water and I was already dreading the day she went home didn’t mean I was going to try to bang her. Or that I was falling for her. It had just been a few weeks since I’d gotten any. Just built-up lust is all it was. We were propped up against my headboard flipping through the movies on Netflix, trying to find something to watch. “How about Halloween?”
Bryan looked up from her phone. “Which version?”
“Rob Zombie.”
“Nope. Keep scrolling.” She looked back down and resumed her texting.
“Who could you possibly be texting? I’m right here. Don’t tell me you have other friends. I won’t allow it.” I was only halfway joking.