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Chapter Fourteen
Ollie had no fucking clue who the band was. But they were playing music she didn’t listen to, and they’d been at it for an hour already. Everyone else was singing along and cheering, but Ollie didn’t particularly care about it. However, it was clearly winning Jackson over, because he was singing along and smiling at her when she caught him in the act. It was fucking adorable.
Hewas fucking adorable. And sexy. And charming. And insanely distracting.
They’d finished their second set of shakes and, like the first round, it had been glorious. Ollie didn’t know what Mr. Chipper did and how he managed to create something out of their favorite items, but it was damn good.
When the band announced they were taking a 15 minute break, Jackson turned to her. “I can tell this isn’t your kind of music.”
“Was it because of my heavy sighing or because I was slurping my drink so loud?”
“Both.” He laughed and slid a hand over her bare knee, making it seem like the most natural thing to do. “Do you wanna leave?”
“Nope,” she took another sip of her drink. “You look like you’re having fun and there’s nowhere else I want to be.”
“Good,” Jackson mumbled, his eyes falling to her lips as she swiped her tongue over them and he quickly looked up into her eyes. Ollie didn’t know how to react to the fact that Jackson was distracted by her, so she was glad when he quickly followed it up with a question. “What’s your favorite color?”
“Aquamarine. What’s your least favorite food item?”
Jackson made a face. “Mushrooms. I tell everyone I’m allergic, when in reality I can’t stand the idea of eatingfungi. Dream vacation destination?”
“Don’t hate on mushrooms, they’re delicious,” Ollie laughed and poked his side before answering. “Bali. Drink you like the most?”
“Craft beer is a big win in my book, but I like a glass of whiskey now and then. Movie you can watch over and over again?”
“Armageddon. Makes me cry every single time.” Ollie grinned. “Favorite job?”
“Being a designer at an advertising agency, basically what I’m doing right now.” Jackson said and Ollie nodded. “A secret talent?”
“I can bend myself like a pretzel.” She wiggled her eyebrows.
A growl came out of him and Ollie couldn’t help but smile as Jackson’s eyes glazed over before he blinked. “You did that on purpose.”
“What?”
“Don’t look at me like you’re innocent.” He pointed at her and Ollie laughed.
“You asked and I told you.”
“Fuck.” The word came out so soft, but Ollie heard it in his growly tone. “I need to do something else to stop thinking about it.”
“Okay, how about this,” she said, lowering her drink as she smiled at him. “You tell me how you got into karate, and we move on past my random fact?”
Jackson narrowed his eyes and Ollie gave him her best angelic smile, which clearly won him over. But his body language changed, his face tightened and his shoulders seemed to rise to his ears and Ollie frowned. Instead of stopping him, she reached for his hand, linked their fingers together and set it in her lap. Jackson watched the action and let out a shaky breath.
“I was bullied as a kid,” Jackson started. “My mom left soon after I was born and my dad checked out because he was depressed. My older siblings were too young to really raise me, and of course without adult supervision, I was messy, so the older, bigger kids would get pretty aggressive.”
Ollie squeezed his hand when Jackson paused, this time he lifted his eyes to hers and smiled softly. “Then my dad met Mindy. She and her baby became part of our family. She was a great mom to me and saw how much shit I was getting at school, so she would stepped in and helped. Mindy knew of this guy who worked at a karate dojo and signed me up. I was maybe 12 or 13 and I went every day after school and I got tough. At first, I was getting picked on there as well, but I kept fighting back and eventually, I made it stick.”
She remembered what he said at the coffee shop, how doing karate wasn’t just about physical strengthening, it was also for mental strength. It clearly helped him as a bullied kid get stronger in every way. And looking at the man in front of her now, Ollie was glad he’d overcome it all.
“That’s incredible, Jackson. So that’s why you’re teaching other kids?”
He nodded. “Bullies don’t stop existing in the world, they get bigger and bolder. And there are so many kids who look like me…scrawny, underfed and unloved who are great targets. I want to help them the way Mindy and my sensei helped me.”
“Youare incredible,” Ollie whispered, their eyes meeting as she gave his hand another squeeze. “How many kids do you work with?”
“Right now, I have about 12 students in my class.”
