“Yeah, I know what you’re going to say. Last night meant more than I realized and you want to see me again,” he said before looking at my bare legs, which were peeking out of the bottom of the shirt his mom had given me. “And maybe we can do this again at my frat house or your place. It must’ve been good for me to let you sleep in one of my favorite shirts,” he continued as he reached a finger out to lift the bottom of the shirt up.
“Listen, you don’t I understand,” I argued as I pushed his hand away and grabbed the doorknob to get out of there.
“Jackson,” we both heard his mom say from the other side of the door. “Are you feeling any better?” she asked right before the door swung open, knocking me into Jackson’s arms.
“Shit!” he swore as he caught me.
“Well, I guess that answers my question about you feeling better. If you’re up to bothering Kaylie already, then you must not have come down with anything serious last night,” she carried on as though she hadn’t heard Jackson swear. “Kaylie, dear, I washed your clothes so you’d have something clean to change into this morning. Everything’s waiting in the bathroom for you.”
“Wait, what?” I heard Jackson say as I escaped his bedroom as quickly as I could, mortified that he’d seen me looking like this and worried that his mom might get the wrong idea after seeing me in there with nothing on but his shirt.
And it wasn’t like it had even been my fault. He’d dragged me in there and wouldn’t listen to a word I’d said. Geesh, how many one-night stands did a guy have had in order to assume that the girl he saw in his parents’ hallway was some random chick he’d brought home with him? I got that I was dressed in his shirt and he didn’t remember most of last night because he had been sick. But come on. That was one hell of an assumption to make.
I showered as fast as possible and was happy to be back in my own clothes. Hopefully his dad was up and ready to take me back to campus because I really didn’t want to face Jackson again after what had just happened. I slowly pulled the door open and peeked in the hall, relieved to see that his door was closed. Rushing downstairs, I headed for what I assumed was the kitchen based on the noise I could hear from there.
As I rounded the corner, I bumped straight into what felt like a very warm brick wall. I glanced up and straight into laughing blue eyes. I swear to God, I had the worst luck possible with this guy.
“Hey,” I greeted Jackson as I backed away.
“We’ve got to stop running into each other like this,” he answered. “You in your pajamas at Sasha’s door. Me almost ready to pass out at the bar. You in my favorite shirt outside my door. Me waiting to apologize to you for acting like an ass this morning.”
“Wow. When you put it that way, it sounds really bad, doesn’t it? How about we just skip past all that and your dad can give me a lift back to my dorm?”
“No can do. My parents would be pissed if I let you run off without breakfast,” he said, waving me toward the kitchen table, where scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast were already waiting. “Besides which, my dad has already left for the bank. So you’re stuck with me for a ride home. My mom will be down in a second, but she has an appointment she needs to get to.”
I sat down at the table, stumped by how I would get out of this. I was a nervous eater, so I filled my plate up as I snuck glances at Jackson.
“You don’t have to look so thrilled at the idea of me giving you a ride home,” he complainedas he piled eggs and toast on his own plate.
“Maybe I’m still waiting for that apology that you mentioned earlier. The one you owe me for being an ass when you assumed I was some booty call that you had to sneak out of your parents’ house before anyone saw me?” I whispered since I could hear his mom coming down the stairs and didn’t want to embarrass myself any further with her.
“I’m so glad to see you both eating,” his mom said as she walked into the kitchen. “Jackson, you look none the worse for wear after feeling so ill last night. It’s a good thing that your immune system is so disgustingly strong or you’d be down for days with the bug that’s going around.”
“It didn’t seem so good last night with the way I felt,” he complained.
“Well then it’s a good thing Kaylie was there to rescue you, isn’t it?” she reminded him before turning to me. “Thanks again for bringing him home last night. I’m sure it wasn’t easy talking him into letting you help, especially since it meant you drove that beastly truck of his.”