Love and Relativity (5 page)

“Fantasyland.”

I bit my lip harder and chanced a peek at his face, finding a positively radiant expression. Just as I suspected. That’s what I got for letting my nickname for him slip under the influence.

“Hell, we could go right now if you want.” He laughed and rubbed the back of his head, the motion sending a whiff of his sunscreen scent to my side of the elevator.

I caved, letting my smile loose. “You’re incorrigible.”

He hit the halt button when we reached the fifth floor, turning to press me into the wall as we slowed to a stop.

“Jackson!”

“Relax.” He pinned my hips with his hands and peered down at me through those dark lashes, eyes immediately finding my lips.

“People are waiting for this elevator,” I breathed, my back stiffening against the cool metal. My palms fell flat against it as I worked to keep the space between us.

“Emma Pierce, you’re the biggest pain in my ass, but you’re sexy as hell.”

I wanted to say ‘screw you, Jackson,’ and push him away, but the way he was staring down at my lips rooted me to the wall and I had no control underneath such intense scrutiny. My God, he was too damn beautiful, and he devoured my mouth with his gaze like a starved man.

My hands found his chest and drifted down to his lower stomach. His reaction was lightning, slipping one hand around the curve of my back to arch my body forward into his. The space closed in around us, the air pulsing with explosive electricity.

“Just say the word, Emma,” he whispered, lifting a hand from my hip to trace my jaw with his thumb. “Remember how good my lips felt on yours that night? On my couch?”

I inhaled his heady beach-boy scent and brought myself back down to planet Earth, knowing I’d be an idiot to succumb to him. “You’re here with Kayla, Jackson.” I nudged his hand away and wiggled out of his grasp, stretching my neck and shoulders.

“I’m not with her. I’m not with anyone.”

“You only play this game with me because you see something you want and you can’t have it. I won’t be another one of your conquests.”

“What makes you so sure that’s what you’d be to me?”

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe the fact that you have a different girl on your arm every week?”

He pushed off the elevator wall and shoved his hands back into his pockets. “Yeah, well, the girl I’ve wanted on my arm has made it real clear for the past few years that she’s not interested. What am I supposed to do, become a monk and wait around for another few and see if she decides to change her mind? You know, one of these days, maybe you should spend less time telling me what I want, and more time thinking about what
you
want.” He jammed the release button and the elevator jolted back into motion.

I froze. What I didn’t and couldn’t say, was that I
was
interested. But that didn’t change things between us. “Well, that’s quite the loaded statement. What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“Look, forget it. I just wanted to know...how you’re doing.”

I picked at the hem of my shirt and looked down as we reached the seventh floor, taken aback by his change in direction. “I’m okay...I mean, I guess as okay as a girl can be on the anniversary of her sister’s death.” The doors slid open and an erratic chuckle escaped my throat. “That sounds so weird, just saying it out loud.”

Jackson stepped out into the hall and I followed. “There was another reason I tried holding you hostage,” he said. “You might hate me for it, but that’s nothing new, so I guess I have nothing to lose, right?” He pulled me aside, reaching into his pocket to search for something.

“What is it?”

“I know you never read it...that it was hard for you. But it was meant to honor her memory, and I thought...”

“You thought what?” My heart clenched when he handed me a photocopied newspaper clipping.

“Just that...you know, maybe it would help give you some peace today, or some shit like that, I don’t know.”

A ruckus sounded from the end of the hall and he cleared his throat. Our friends emerged from their rooms, spotting and heading toward us.

“There you guys are,” Whitney said, her eyes narrowing into suspicious slits. Jackson ran his fingers through his hair and I stepped back to put a few more inches between us. “We’re headed to the pool, wanna come?”

“Yeah, sounds good,” I said. “We’ll be right down.”

“Baby, come on,” Kayla purred, stepping in front of Jeff and Michelle to tug on Jackson’s hand. She was spilling out of her bright pink bikini top, a tiny wrap secured around her curvy waist. “I need you to help put my sunscreen on.”

Jeff snickered behind her. “Tough job, Jackson. Need a hand?”

“Hey, somebody’s gotta do it.” Jackson winked, draping his arm around Kayla’s shoulder to guide her toward their room. “I’ll take it from here. I have to change first. We’ll see you guys down there.”

“Lotion her up real good, Jack.” Jeff punched him in the shoulder before turning to follow the others down the hall.

Whitney smacked him upside the head as he passed by and she stayed behind with me, her expression concerned the moment she noticed my tears welling up. “What is it, Em? What did he do to you?”

I held the piece of paper out in front of me, staring down at it as if it would jump up and bite me. “He gave me Jen’s obituary.”

“He what?” Whitney’s eyes widened and her nostrils flared, and before I could say anything else, she snatched it from my hand and turned on her heel for Jackson and Kayla’s room.

I darted after her, wiping the tears away before they overtook me completely. “Whit, calm down.”

“I will
not
calm down.” She banged mercilessly on the door and cursed under her breath, reaching in her jean shorts pocket for the spare key. Sliding the card through the lock, she pushed the door open and I winced at the sight. Jackson and Kayla were half naked on the couch, Kayla shrieking and covering herself while Jackson fumed and yanked his zipper up, eyes flashing to mine.

“What the fuck, Whitney?”

“What part of ‘no’ do you not understand?” she snapped, holding the paper up.

“Whit.” I pulled the paper from her hand and tugged at her shoulder, averting my gaze from the scene on the couch. “Don’t, please. Let’s get out of here, come on.”

“No, Emma, I’m sorry. Somebody has got to tell him ‘no’ because he obviously doesn’t hear it enough.” She cocked her head to the side and shot an accusatory look at Kayla.

“Oh screw you, Whitney,” Kayla said. “You’re just pissed because you want Ruben but you think you’re too good for him. Get over yourself. At least I go after what I want.”

Whitney’s eyes narrowed. “Watch yourself.”

“Oh, for the love of God.” I charged toward the door. “Whit, just let it go.”

Jackson was in front of me in an instant, blocking the door. “Hold on a minute. First off, this is between me and Emma, Whitney. So butt the hell out. And Emma, I didn’t give it to you to upset you, I thought it would help.”

“Oh, please,” Whitney barked. “Don’t lecture me on privacy. You’ve heard why she doesn’t want to read it. You need to mind your own business and back off.”

Kayla wrapped her arms tighter around her bare breasts. “Jackson, what’s going on?”

“Nothing,” we both answered.

“It doesn’t sound like nothing.”

Jackson rubbed his eyes. “Kayla, can we do this later? I need a minute with Emma. Whitney, please get out.”

“
Excuse me
?” Kayla said, her head snapping to Jackson.

“You don’t have to talk to him about this, Em,” Whit said, turning to me.

I pressed my palm to my forehead and shut my eyes. “No, it’s fine. We’ll be quick.”

“You’re sure.”

“Yeah, thanks,” I touched her elbow. “I’ll be right out.”

Kayla huffed and grabbed her flimsy bikini top, then stormed out the room, with Whitney stomping after her.

“I don’t know how you deal with that girl,” Jackson grumbled, pulling his shirt on and plopping back down on the couch.

“That
girl
is my best friend in the whole world and she’s just watching out for me.”

He leaned forward on the edge of the couch to rest his forearms on his knees. He wouldn’t look at me. “I’m sorry. I just...”

“I know,” I said, crossing my arms uncomfortably. “I get what you were trying to do. I’m just not ready, Jackson. And I’m extra touchy because of the date and—”

“You don’t have to explain. I get it. I shouldn’t have pushed it. You told me once before why you didn’t read it, and Whitney’s right...I should’ve left it alone.” He finally met my gaze, and the remorse in his eyes jarred me. Gone was his confidence, buried underneath some heavy mix of emotion that I couldn’t quite work out.

“Let’s just forget it. I’m going to head down to the pool. I’ll see you there.” I turned to leave, caught somewhere in between saying things I’d wanted to say to him for the past year and leaving the room’s silence untouched. I wondered if the words would ever make their way out, but I didn’t doubt that Jackson already knew they existed.

“Thank you,” he said, causing me to stall in my tracks at the door. “You forgive easily.”

An image of a broken windshield and scattered chunks of glass on black pavement surfaced, the ambulance lights illuminating the darkness in an eerie red glow. Jen there in the car, slumped against the steering wheel, her cheek twitching while she extended shaky fingers to me, waiting for me to say goodbye.
I love you, Jen. You’re not alone. I’m right here.

A fabricated memory, all of it. Stored up in my mind like some bland, programmed afterthought for the sake of vague comfort. She’d been waiting for the goodbye, alright. But the goodbye never came.

“I wish I knew what that felt like,” I said.

Chapter 3

The party was in full swing by the time I changed and made it down to the pool area. Lucky for us, the pool was just as massive as the hotel itself, so our group had managed to take over half of one end without pissing off the other tourists. Still, Ruben and Jeff were drawing plenty of attention with their cannonball antics, and Jackson had his rock music turned up nice and loud while he and Enrique played water volleyball.

“So, did Ana bitchslap Elena yet?” Whitney asked from her pool chair, leaning over to sneak a peek at my Kindle. She was cozy with a Jennifer L. Armentrout paperback while she soaked up the sun. Kayla, Michelle, and their friend Kelly were passed out on the chairs next to her.

“Oh yeah, she’s already moved on to bigger and better things.” I winked and laughed with her, loving our Fifty Shades gush fests. We’d read the trilogy a few times already, but gossiping about it never grew old. It was the fangirl code for every book geek: read, chat, squeal. Re-read, chat, and squeal again, until it’s all over and the dreaded book funk sets in. Find the next best thing to fill the void, then repeat steps one through three as necessary.

“How are Katy and Daemon making out?” I tapped her copy of
Obsidian
. “Did they blow up the laptop yet?”

“Oh God, I wish.” She glanced out over the pool wistfully. “What I wouldn’t give to blow up a laptop with that man.”

“Alien, Whit. He’s an alien. Get it right.”

“Who’s an alien?” Jackson asked from the edge of the pool. He was at our feet, staring up at us like a kid excluded from his favorite game at recess.

“You are, Jackson.” Whitney shooed him with her foot. “Now go back to whatever planet you came from and stay there.”

He pushed up on his arms and flung himself out of the pool, his hard muscles rippling with each movement. I swallowed and readjusted my sunglasses when he rose to full height in front of us. Bending over our legs, he shook his hair out like a wet dog.

“Jackass!” Whitney screeched.

“That’s my name, don’t wear it out.” He reached down to the pool’s edge and sent a small splash her way, grin widening when she set her book down to shoot up and splash him back.

I laughed and covered my Kindle under the towel to keep it from getting wet. “Don’t encourage him, Whit.”

“But he’s instigating!” She reached down to the surface to splash him again, but he sprang forward and lassoed her first, hauling her straight into the air and into the pool. She landed with a hard splash and my laughter grew louder, my hand snapping over my mouth. Her head emerged and jaw dropped, her shoulders tensed up around her ears as she pushed the hair from her eyes.

“You are going to
pay
for this, Jackson Taylor!” Before she could lunge forward and out of the pool, Ruben wrestled her from behind and dunked her head back under water. Enrique and Jeff started cracking up and swam over to join in on the fun.

Jackson sat down on the edge of my chair, grinning down at me. “Whatchya reading this time?” He pulled my Kindle from underneath the towel. “
A Tale of Two Cities
or some shit?”

“Jackson.” I reached to grab it from his hand, but he pulled back and jumped up on two feet, playing with the buttons. “Give it back, come on.”