Page 38 of Healer’s Betrayal

“It’s easy.”

I narrow my eyes. “If it’s so easy, then you do it.”

“I can’t. I’m sure you don’t cut your own hair.”

I don’t tell him I’d never been to a salon until I moved here. And it was just a cheap walk-in place; I only asked them to take the dead ends off. Then, I colored it at home. “I don’t know; I’ll think about it.” He pulls into our apartment and parks and then surprises me once again by opening the truck door for me. I climb out and wait for Noah. Jackson closes the truck door, and I turn towards him. I’d forgotten until just that moment how much bigger than me he is. I look up and take a step back. “Thank you for lunch, or I guess dinner. It was really good.”

“You’re welcome.” He turns towards our apartment, and I pause.

“What are you doing?”

“Walking you in, making sure you get there safely.”

I debate arguing with him but remember the run-in he pretty much saved me from the other night and decide not to fight him on it. He opens the front door for me and frowns down at it. “Don’t they ever lock this door?”

“It’s broken.”

“It was broken last time too,” he says.

I shrug because there’s not really much I can do about that. “Okay. Thanks.” We start up the steps, and I’m not surprised when he follows. When we get to our door, I turn to him. “Thank you again.”

“That’s a dismissal,” he says in response.

I don’t bother correcting him. “It is.”

He finally takes a step back, but I wait for him to go down the stairs. When I give him a look, he points to the door. “Go inside, and then I’ll leave.”

I sigh in exasperation and unlock the door. Keeping an eye on him, I crack the door just enough for Noah to slip inside. I eye Jackson as I slip inside next. I meet his eyes really quickly before I close and lock the door. I try not to feel guilty, but I fail when I turn and take in Noah’s disapproving gaze. “What?” I ask.

He shrugs. “He’s just being nice, and he took us to dinner, Kayla.”

I groan and spin around and open the door. “Jackson,” I call out before thinking it through. He appears a second later at the top of the stairs with concern in his eyes. The concern throws me for a moment.

“What’s wrong?” he asks in that intense way of his.

“Nothing.” I open the door and wave my hand. “Come on in.”

If he’s surprised, he doesn’t show it. He also doesn’t decline the offer and steps past me into our apartment. I close and lock the door behind him. Our apartment suddenly feels five times smaller with him in it. I let my gaze fall over it and try to view it as he is for the first time. I take in the miniscule kitchen and small table with two chairs, our two air mattresses on opposite ends of the apartment and the baskets in between holding everything we own. Needing something to do, I walk over to the refrigerator and open it and pull out a cold water bottle. “Would you like a cup of coffee?” I nod at my small coffee maker on the shelf, a score from the second-hand shop in town. I don’t wait for him to answer and start making a pot. It gives me something to do.

Thankfully, he walks over to Noah’s side of the room. “What are some of your favorite books?”

I breathe a sigh of relief and focus on making the coffee. I make a mental note to get more coffee grounds from the store soon. Once the coffee starts percolating, and the smell of it permeates the air, I turn to face Jackson and Noah. The tension in my shoulders eases slightly as I take in Noah showing Jackson some of his favorite books. Jackson reads the back covers like he’s actually interested in them. I turn back to the counter and grab a mug. I look in the fridge and cringe when I see we’re out of milk again, and the last of the vanilla creamer is gone. I pour a mug for Jackson as soon as it’s finished and carry it over to him. “Coffee’s ready,” I say brightly and hand it to him. “I’m out of milk and creamer.”

“That’s okay,” he says as he stands from where he was crouched next to Noah. “I drink it black anyway.” His words are relaxed, but there’s an edge to him that didn’t seem to be there before. I give him the mug and step back, not willing to ask him about it. I don’t really know him well enough yet. I half expect him to follow me, but he stays next to Noah. Noah shows him his iPad next and the games he likes to play after Jackson asks him to. I wander over to the table and grab my phone. I glance over at the coffee but talk myself out of pouring a cup; I really hate black coffee. I open my search from last night and start looking at apartments again. There’s nothing that we can afford, but I reach out to a few different places anyway just to see if they have any openings. I can’t stay here if those guys keep demanding money. I honestly worry about what will happen when I don’t have the money in two weeks. What would they do to me? To Noah? A shiver runs down my back, and I push those thoughts away. I look up and lock eyes with Jackson, who was watching me. I force a neutral look to my face, hoping he didn’t see my panic. He seems like the kind of guy not to miss a whole lot.

I spend a little more time on my phone, but when it’s obvious he’s not leaving any time soon, I grab Clue. We scored some great games for really cheap at the secondhand shop, and I’m really happy about that right now. “Who wants to play Clue?”

Noah’s eyes brighten, and he looks up at Jackson. “I don’t know how to play, but if you teach me, sure,” he says.

“You don’t know how to play Clue?” Noah asks.

“Nope.”

“Kayla’s a good teacher,” Noah says confidently. A small smile forms on my lips at his words. I open the box and start taking out the pieces. “Noah, can you grab that basket?” He knows exactly what I need. He pulls the clothes out of the basket and brings it over and turns it over and sits on it, leaving the two chairs for Jackson and me.

“Thanks,” I tell him and finish setting up the game. “All right, here’s how it works.”

After three games of Clue, Jackson frowns at me. “Are you sure you’re not cheating?”