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“No,” he said, which took all the excitement in my stomach and squashed it flat.
“Oh,” I said, looking down and twisting the pillow in my hands. “Well, I… I hope Callum finds it, then.”
“Oh my God, cutie pie,” Jackie said with a laugh, yanking the pillow out of my hands and giving me a little shove toward Callum’s bathroom. “I’m hoping he did find it. I’m just saying, I don’t want you to ‘be all of that’ if it’s not real for you, too. And it sure as shit would never work out, not really, if you thought you had to be what he wants to keep a roof over your head, you know? So go shower and think about what you want, then be prepared to tell me your entire life story while we sort everything out, because I need to know what we’re working with here.”
“Okay,” I said, feeling a little bit like I was caught up in a whirlwind. Whirlwind Jackie. It was kind of nice, though. Just like with Callum—well, just like that, but also totally different—it felt like I could just go ahead and trust him to figure out what should happen next, which took a weight off my chest that I hadn’t even realized was there until it was gone. “But, um, what are we sorting out again? Am I not… not going to house sit?”
Because he’d said something about keeping a roof over my head, and that part worried me a little since I hadn’t thought of where I could go next yet.
But Jackie gave me a softer grin this time, and it suddenly felt like it would all be okay. “We’re sorting out how to help my uncle finally be happy, because he deserves that even if he’s too stubborn to see it.” Then he winked at me and added, “But so do you.”
I was pretty sure he was the first person to ever say that to me, and it made my throat get tight for some reason. “You don’t even know me.”
“Yeah, but I already like you, so hurry up!” he said, making a whirling motion with his hand to get me moving toward the shower. “We’ve got some shopping to do.”
“For what?” I asked, my eyes darting toward the shopping bags Andrea had had delivered yesterday.
I still hadn’t unpacked them since I wasn’t sure where to put everything.
Jackie grinned. “For anything you want, Dash. I’ve got Callum’s black card, and it’s gonna make me hella happy to see how much damage we can do with it today.”
I couldn’t think of anything else I wanted. I already had so much more than I expected. But then I looked down at the nice-but-plain little briefs Andrea had picked out for me, and realized there was maybe one thing I wanted. And if Callum really did like pretty things…
But no. I could never ask Jackie to buy something like that for me. I wouldn’t have the guts.
“How about these pink ones, Dash?” Jackie said, dangling a tiny pair of satin panties in front of my face that were about a million times fancier than the ones I’d had to leave behind and probably the most beautiful things I’d ever seen. “Look, the color matches your face!”
I blushed even harder, still not sure how he’d ever gotten me to admit that I liked to wear things like that or how we’d ended up with all the stuff I kept telling him I didn’t really need, but pretty sure it had to do with his non-stop energy and the fact that we’d been shopping for more than five hours already.
“I really think you’re getting too much,” I said... again. “I’m sure Callum never meant for you to spend so much money on me.”
“You know what?” Jackie said, whipping his phone out. “Let’s find out. Uncle Cal never likes to be interrupted while he’s working, not unless it’s important.”
His fingers flew over the screen, and my heart shot up into my throat. “What? No! Please don’t… don’t bug him about me. You can buy whatever you want. I don’t want to make him mad.”
Jackie gave me what I’d started to think of as his evil grin. “You won’t.”
He flipped the phone screen around to face me, and to my horror, he’d sent a message that said 911 - Dash is worried.
Almost before I had a chance to read it, the message was replaced by an incoming call.
“Hey, Uncle Cal, you busy?” Jackie said as he answered it.
“Yes,” Callum said, his voice coming through loud enough for me to hear pretty clearly, and all growly in a way that did things to me, even though I also felt like I might be sick with nerves over bugging him like this. “Tell me what’s happening.”
Jackie winked at me. “We’re shopping.”
“What?” Callum snapped, making me jump. “Jackson, don’t fuck around right now. Is Dashiell okay?”
“Here, why don’t you ask him yourself,” Jackie said, pushing the phone into my hands.
They shook a little as I took it. “Um, hi? I’m so sorry. I’m fine. Everything’s fine. I didn’t mean to bug you.”
“You could never bug me, sweetheart,” Callum said, his tone suddenly softer and warm enough to make heat start to pool inside me. “Jackie can be a little shit, but if you’re worried about something, I need to know.”
“It’s… it’s nothing important.”
“Tell me.”
