He wraps his arm around my waist as I take a drink. “Ah,” I say. “That’s good.”
Jack kisses my neck and then nibbles at my ear.
“
Don’t start that yet,” I say. “The pizza guy’s coming.”
“
He won’t be the only one,” Jack mutters in my ear. His teeth brush over my earlobe again and I shudder.
“
Seriously,” I say, giving a half-assed attempt to push him away. “We’ve got all night.”
“
Alright, alright,” Jack says, releasing his hold on me. “You win. For now.”
He takes a Corona and then sticks the rest of the beer in the fridge. Not a moment too soon, it turns out, as the pizza guy pulls up behind Jack’s Escalade.
Jack pulls his wallet from his back pocket, but I push it away. “I told you, I’ve got the pizza.”
I open my purse and pull a twenty dollar bill from my wallet. The pizza guy rings the doorbell and I open it.
“
Hi there,” he says. “That’ll be $14.33.”
He opens the flap on the black pizza bag and pulls out the box. I take it and hand him the cash. “Keep the change.”
“
Thanks,” he smiles and heads back to his car. I close the door behind him and the aroma of the pizza fills the kitchen.
“
Yum,” Jack says as I sit it on the counter. He pulls a slice free and plops it on a plate. “Here you go.” I take it and he grabs a slice for himself.
We eat the entire pizza and watch the first few episodes of a zombie TV show that Jack insists I'll love. Turns out, gore and pizza go good together. Jack's phone rings from his coat pocket in the kitchen.
He jogs over to get it and I start to clean up our plates.
"Hey, Mom," he says.
"Tell her I said 'hi'," I say, rinsing our plates in the sink.
"Carly says 'hi'," Jack says. "She says 'hi' back," he rolls his eyes and smiles at the same time.
"Yeah, we came back early. Got home around five."
I watch as he paces the space between the living room and kitchen. I watch his long legs as he walks; the muscles in his arms flex as he runs his fingers through his hair, which has decided to go all sorts of sexy tonight.
"Oh, I must've forgotten. Just bring it with you when you come over."
I put the plates in the dishwasher and close it with my hip. I lean across the island and just watch him.
"Alright, Mom, we'll see you tomorrow. Love you, too." He ends the call and then puts his phone on the counter next to mine. Our phones even look the same in their plain black cases.
"We're seeing your mom tomorrow?" I ask.
"She wants to come over," Jack says. "So you two can look at flowers and dresses and all that shit."
"She wants me to look at things for her wedding?" I ask, surprised. I just met her.
"I guess," Jack says. "You don't have to if you'd rather not." He leans toward me on the counter and I smile at him.
"Of course I will. I'm just surprised she'd want me to."
"How can you be surprised?" he asks, taking my hand. "She likes you."
"And I like her," I say honestly. "So, I'll be happy to debate lavender versus eggplant."
"Are those flowers or colors or vegetables?" Jack asks with a grin.
"Of course I'll help the woman. She can't expect you to know anything about it." I roll my eyes at him.
"Right you are," Jack says, kissing my hand. Jack's phone dings and lights up on the counter.
He picks it up and then looks at me. "I believe it's your phone," he says.
I take it from him, already aware of who it is by the look on his face and the icy cold in his eyes.
Please, just talk to me. That's all I ask.
"
I haven't been talking to him," I protest. Jack drops my hand and leans off the island.
"Talk to him. Call him."
Is this a trick? Is this some macho ploy to get me to get Nick on the phone so Jack can take it from me and threaten Nick?
"I don't wanna talk to him," I say.
"I want you to. I think you should," Jack says, but his eyes are hard and distant. "He obviously wants to talk to you."
I stare at my phone and then at Jack. What am I gonna do?
"I'm only doing this because you want me to," I say. "I don't wanna talk to him."
"But you need to," Jack says.
Why won't Nick leave me alone? He never gave a single inkling that he cared for me while we were doing what we were doing, so why now? Is it because I've moved on? Because I'm happy?
I scroll through the contacts and then touch his name.
Jack watches as I listen to the trilling of the line.
"Carly?" Nick asks, the surprise that I'm actually calling raising the tenor of his voice higher than I remember.
"What do you want, Nick?" I say. I keep my eyes on Jack as I speak.
"I'm just glad you finally called me," Nick says. "Why've you been ignoring me?"
"Listen, Nick. I only called you because I'm tired of you harassing me. We're over. Done. Finished. You and I, whatever we had, is never gonna happen again."
Nick is silent for a minute and I want to hang up. Then he speaks.
"I'm sorry. I just want you to know that. I know I wasn't always the nicest guy and I know I made you feel like shit, but I'd take it back, if I could."
Jack continues to look at me in silence.
"Nick, I appreciate that, but there's nothing to apologize for. We had whatever kind of fucked up relationship we had and now it's done. I've moved on to someone who treats me like I deserve to be treated and never makes me feel like I'm his whore."
Anger rises up in me, anger that I tried to convince myself I didn't feel toward him. I don't love Nick, I never did, but he treated me like shit and he deserves to hear it. Jack gives me the strength to make him hear it.
"Allie told me you were dating that guy. The one who took that fucking cheap shot and decked me. She also told me his name. Robert Webster, Jack to most people."
Now all the kindness is gone from his voice and this is the Nick I know.
"And?" I ask.
"And I talked to my dad about it. Now that I know his name, I can press charges for assault."
"You wouldn't," I say, but I know he might.
"Yeah, I would," Nick says. I can hear the malice in his voice.
"Why?"
"Why do you think?" Nick asks. "He can't have you."
Jack walks toward me, alarmed at the look I know must be on my face. "What's he saying?" Jack mouths.
I hold one finger up.
"What do you want?" I ask.
I look at Jack and he motions for me to put it on speaker, so I do.
"I want you to stop seeing him. I want things to go back to how they used to be and I want you to apologize to me."
"That's not going to happen," I tell him.
Nick laughs and it's a cruel laugh. "I thought you might say that. Turns out, Dad did a little digging. Jack has a drunk driving offense from a few years ago. He's still on probation."
"So what?" I ask.
"So, when he assaulted me, he violated his probation. He'll go to jail."
Jack's face hardens and his eyes narrow.
"So all this shit you've been saying about how you've changed and you regret the way you treated me…you were just saving this bit of information in case I wasn't stupid enough to fall for it. You fucking piece of shit."
"I may be a piece of shit, but at least I know where I belong. You're just a trailer trash whore who fucked her way into a rich guy's bed."
Jack grabs the phone and puts it to his mouth.
"Listen to me, you little fuck. You go right ahead and press charges against me. You're never gonna touch Carly again,
never.
You think you can hide behind your daddy? Well, let me tell you, you little cunt, I'll fucking go to jail if I have to, but you'll never get to lay another finger on her."
Jack ends the call and almost throws my phone before slamming it down on the counter.
"Fuck him!" Jack yells. "That little prick."
I stand there, unable to move. I watch Jack as he puts his hands on the counter and then drops his head down between them.
"Why didn't you tell me you're on probation?" I ask.
"Because it was for the motorcycle accident and it's over in May," Jack says.
"This is all my fault," I say.
Jack looks at me and for a second I can't believe the rage on his face.
"This is not your fault. Not at all. This is him," he stabs a finger at my phone. "Whatever happened to the days when a man lost a woman and fucking let that be that? Why all this shit about pressing charges? He got his ass kicked and obviously couldn't take it like a man." Jack runs his fingers through his hair and then grabs his phone.
"Who are you calling?" I ask nervously.
"My lawyer. If that little cocksucker is gonna do this, I want my lawyer ready."
I feel like I want to cry and throw up all the beer and pizza to boot. Why would Nick do this? I know he's a spoiled brat, but to do something like this over me? Over a trailer trash whore? His words sting in spite of how much I hate him.
I'm surprised Jack's lawyer answers this late on a Saturday night. I tune out completely as he starts explaining the situation. Tears attempt fill my eyes as I watch the man I love furiously flex his hands at his sides. He's raging, imagining beating the living shit out of Nick.
I grab my phone and call Allie. She answers on the second ring.
"Carly!" she says happily.
"When did you tell Nick Jack's name?" I ask, careful not to raise my voice at her. This isn't her fault.
"Oh god, what's he done?"
"He's threatening to press charges against Jack for hitting him at the club."
"Shit," Allie breathes into the phone. "He showed up at the bar yesterday and was asking all sorts of questions. He asked if you guys were serious. I thought he was just a little jealous. He asked what Jack's name was. I couldn't help it. I bragged that he owned the sawmill. I wanted to bust his balls, make him regret how he'd treated you. I didn't even think about what he'd do with the information."
I know I can't be mad at her, and I'm not really, but she definitely complicated shit for us.
"It's okay, Allie. Really. Jack's on the phone with his lawyer right now to try and head this off at the pass."
"What did he say to you?" Allie asks.
"Pretty much what you'd expect him to. Called me a trailer trash whore. Said I'd fucked my way into a rich guy's bed."
"That motherfucker," Allie says. "God, I hate to think I helped him with this. Please tell Jack I had no idea what he'd do."