Chapter Twenty-Three

JESSIE REACHED HER ARMS UP and miraculously caught the football thrown by Nick.

They were playing touch football in Chris’ huge backyard on a Sunday in mid-September. Football was on the big screen in the house, and iPads and laptops were scattered everywhere as the guys monitored their fantasy football teams that they took way too seriously.

Jessie turned to run and make a touchdown for her team. She jumped up and down with excitement.

Jack, on the opposite team, came running toward her, scooped her up and tossed her over his shoulder, running with her across the sprawling yard.

She swatted her hands against his back. “Jack! Put me down!”

Jessie laughed as he flipped her back onto the soft grass and hovered over top of her, pinning her down. The sexy scent of whiskey on his breath made her dizzy as he smirked down at her. Why did she like that so much? She didn’t even like the taste of whiskey, usually.

“Good catch, but I let you run it in, you know.”

His eyes skated down her body. She looked adorable in tight jeans and a Washington Redskins football jersey. He would have preferred her be decked out in Carolina Panthers gear, but she was a lifelong Skins fan.

“Yeah, right,” Jessie giggled. “No way you would just let me score… you’re too competitive.”

“Not when I’m playing against little princesses like you I’m not,” he teased.

Jessie knew he must be drunk when he buried his face in her neck and playfully kissed the soft skin there, lightly biting her while one hand reached for her side and tickled her as she squealed underneath him. Jack only got touchy-feely with her when he was drunk. And even then only occasionally. Sometimes when he was drunk he was even more distant than usual.

As he inhaled her sweet scent his cock stirred and took immediate notice of the cute as hell blonde under him. He pulled away a little, trying to control the growing erection that he didn’t need right now.

“Come on you two… get a room!” Nick called. “You’re holding up the game!”

They glanced across the yard to find their friends watching them impatiently.

“Let’s go. Panthers game is getting ready to come on. I’m going back inside.” Jack got up quickly, pulling her to her feet. He lifted her up and carried her on his back across the yard.

JACK STOOD IN FRONT OF the television, yelling a string of curse words as the Panthers missed a 32-yard field goal needed to tie up the score in the final two minutes of the game.

“You’re fucking kidding me!” He picked up his beer and took a long drink. “It’s almost like they wanted to fucking lose that game.”

He turned to his buddy Sean. “Where’s that chick you’ve been hanging out with? Was looking forward to checking out that hot ass all day.”

Sean was engaged to be married, but his fiancé, Vanessa, was currently pursuing her MBA at Harvard. She was almost never around. Sean slept with whoever he wanted to on the side.

Jack wasn’t judging. He personally couldn’t stand Vanessa, who was an uptight little bitch in his opinion. Sean was only marrying her to please his wealthy parents, who had practically hand-picked her for their future daughter-in-law. They were planning a wedding for next summer, after Vanessa finished her degree.

Jack didn’t understand why Sean was getting married at all. The guy spent most weekends hooking up with hot sluts who liked to be dominated at sex clubs.

Sean was a cynical motherfucker when it came to women. Jack didn’t know what made the dude tick. He definitely wasn’t touching that. They were close friends, but they didn’t talk about feelings and pussy bullshit like that. They both preferred it that way.

“That’s over, dude. She turned out to be a fucking psycho.” Sean glanced across the room, his eyes settling on the pretty blonde laughing in the corner. “Jessie’s looking good. Wouldn’t mind going for a piece of that action.”

Jack followed his gaze to where Jessie was chatting with Zoey and Savannah. The three girls disappeared into the kitchen.

“You need to fuck off. You know that’s not going to happen.”

“You fucked her yet?” Sean picked up his drink and drained it.

Jack shook his head. “Nah. But I’m not about to let any of you mother fuckers have a go at her either.”

He usually denied having interest in Jessie. But he’d been drinking all day and was letting things slip that he usually kept to himself.

“So what the fuck are you waiting for?” Sean asked, irritated. “Seems unfair that you’re holding her sacred when you’re not even hitting it.”

Jack shrugged. “She’s not some slut I met a bar. I can’t just fuck her like any other piece of ass. Believe me, I wish there was a way I could without it messing with her head.”

“There is. It’s called having a girlfriend, you fucking idiot,” Nick chimed in.

The rest of the guys laughed and Jack smirked, laughing along with them.

“Yeah, right. My dick might be hard for her, but I haven’t lost my fucking mind.” Jack finished his beer and went for another.

“Friends with benefits?” Sean suggested.

Jack shook his head. “Nah. I wish. She wouldn’t go for it. Says she’s not into casual sex.”

“You’d never be able to hold onto a girl like that anyway. She’d put up with your shit for about a week if you were lucky,” Sean grumbled.

“Yeah, I know that’s right,” Jack agreed. “She’s way out of my league. But even further out of yours, Christian Grey. She definitely wouldn’t be down for that Fifty Shades shit you’re into.”

Jack knew about Sean’s inclination for bondage and sadomasochism. Sean ventured into some pretty dark shit. Jack was only mildly interested. Some of it seemed pretty hot, but it also sounded like a lot of fucking work. He had enjoyed tying a girl up before, but all the props and shit that Sean was into, not to mention the whips and safe words… that was a little too complicated.

“Yeah, Sean, like a sweet girl like Jessie would ever give your sadistic ass any pussy,” Nick threw out. “You couldn’t score with her even if she wasn’t holding out for this dickhead.” He gestured toward Jack.

“What makes you think she’s holding out for him?” Sean took the shot of Fireball that Chris had poured for him.

“Anyone with eyes can see that Jessie’s into him. I walked out to the hot tub at the beach a few weeks ago and Jack had her in his lap. Let’s just say it sounded like he was getting her where she needed to be even without fucking her. ‘Oh Jack! Jack! Please don’t stop!’” Nick imitated Jessie with a high-pitched voice.

They all laughed, including Jack. He looked toward the kitchen, though. Jessie was probably in there putting food together with Zoey. It was so loud in here it was unlikely she could hear them.

Nick laughed, slapping Jack on the back. “Nah, seriously though, truth is Jack hasn’t done shit with Jessie, have you, brother? These girls talk about everything. Savannah tells me stuff. Jessie’s probably the only girl in the world that’s spent the night with Jack and not gotten laid.”

Jack smirked as the guys all laughed. “I could’ve fucked her, dude, trust me. I could fuck her anytime I want.”

“Hey… easy. No. You cannot,” Chris chimed in, laughing. “My girlfriend’s best friend is off limits to all of you dickheads. And that goes double for you, Jack.”

“Hold on. Are you telling me that you spent the night with Jessie and you didn’t fuck her? Man, what a fucking pussy,” Sean said, turning his attention to the television as the Redskins scored a touchdown and cheers erupted around the room.

“He’s spent the night with her more than once. A bunch of times from what I heard. She told Savannah that the most he’s ever done is kiss her and grope her tits.” Nick laughed.

“Fuck off,” Jack said to all of them.

Jessie came into the room then, carrying a plate of some kind of finger food and setting it on the buffet table. She made eye contact with him and her face lit up. She came toward them.

“Anyone hungry?” she asked. “We have a ton of food ready.”

He nodded and smiled slightly at her. She was so fucking sweet to him. Not that he deserved it in the least.

He fixed a plate of food and then found a spot on the couch. When Jessie came over with her own plate, he patted the couch next to him. He wanted to send a clear message to his asshole friends that she was off-limits. All the talk about Jessie had sparked that possessive feeling he wasn’t all that familiar with. A feeling he didn’t particularly like.

“Sorry I’m so late… had an emergency in the lab.” Jensen walked in, straight to Jack. “Here.” He dropped the swimsuit edition of a popular sports magazine on the couch next to Jack and Jessie. “Seen this yet? Your girl’s on the cover. Check it out.”

Jack picked up the magazine and looked at it. Sure enough, Isabella was staring back at him in a teeny tiny bikini. On her knees in the sand, she was giving the camera that sexy look that Jack knew so well. Her body was unfuckingbelievable.

Jessie glanced down at it, too. She recognized the model as a girl that Jack hooked up with fairly regularly. Isabella. She couldn’t help the jealousy that burned through her. Who was she kidding? Why would Jack ever look twice at her when he had a girl like that available to him?

Jack glanced at Jessie briefly before thumbing through the layout inside and then tossing the magazine on to the table. He shot a what-the-fuck look at Jens. Man, that guy was fucking clueless sometimes. Talk about the absent-minded professor. Didn’t he see Jessie sitting right there?

Jack was pretty upfront with Jessie about the girls he hooked up with, hoping that if she knew what he was all about she would lose interest in him. That was what was best for Jessie. The last thing a sweetheart like her needed was to be used up by a depraved asshole like him.

But flaunting Isabella’s modeling pictures in her face just seemed cruel. Jessie was adorable and had a smoking hot body of her own, but there was no denying that Isabella was sexy as hell. The airbrushed modeling pictures gave her an unrealistic and unattainable level of perfection. He knew enough about women to know that those pictures would make Jessie feel bad.

Jessie kept her attention focused on the football game. Suddenly she felt like a tomboy in her jeans and Redskins jersey, her hair loose and almost no makeup on.

After a few minutes, she got up and casually left the room, heading to the kitchen to clean up some of the dishes. As she worked on loading Chris’s dishwasher, Jack came in from the living room.

“Hey.” His eyes slid over her body as he brushed past her on his way to the refrigerator, where he took out a bag of limes.

“Hi.” Jessie didn’t look at him.

She felt him come up behind her and the next thing she knew his hands were on her hips and he was leaning down, his lips hovering close to her ear.

“What are you doing later?” Jack asked. Jessie could smell the whiskey on his warm breath again as his lips skated lightly over her cheek. “Going out with that guy you’ve been seeing? What’s his name again?”

“Luke.” Jessie giggled nervously as Jack slid his fingers over her stomach. “Stop! That tickles!”

“You gotten naked with him yet?” His voice was low and rough.

Fuck. Why did the thought of her letting that dude get her naked make him feel so fucking pissed off? And why was he getting hard? Pissed off and turned on at the same time. So fucking confusing.

Jessie laughed nervously. She dropped the plate she was washing and it clattered as it fell in the sink. “Oops.”

“Take it easy,” Jack soothed. “Didn’t mean to…”

“It’s okay,” Jessie said quickly. “You just surprised me, that’s all.”

“So what’s up? You give him a taste yet?” His low, rough voice sounded almost angry.

It was clear that Jack was drunk. Otherwise he wouldn’t be standing this close to her. He certainly wouldn’t be asking her about her sex life.

“That’s none of your business,” Jessie said lightly. “Not sure why you care anyway. Nothing I do would seem very exciting to you. Compared to your X-rated sex life, my life is a Disney movie.”

“Oh come on, Jessie. I tell you everything you want to know about the girls I hook up with,” Jack complained, turning her around so she was facing him.

He looked down at her, his hands still pressed into her hips.

“Yeah, you usually tell me more than I want to know, actually,” Jessie joked.

Jack smirked. “Yeah, right.” He leaned close to her and whispered teasingly in her ear. “I think we both know how much you’d like to find out all the dirty things I like to do with a hot little body, don’t we?”

He felt himself get harder. Great. Another Jessie-inspired boner he’d be jerking off himself later.

“Whatever, Jack.” Jessie felt her face heat up as his erection grew even more massive and rock solid against her. She tried to squirm away from him. “You’re drunk and being a jerk.”

Jessie broke away from him and left the room. She grabbed her jacket and keys and slipped out the front door to leave.

He’d made it clear that he wasn’t interested in her except as friends. Confusing her with dirty talk and that intimidating erection pressed against her was more than she could deal with. She wasn’t sure why he seemed to enjoy teasing her, but she wasn’t going to stick around for it.

“You’re leaving? Seriously? Oh come on, I was just fucking around,” Jack called after her.

The door slammed behind her.

Jack groaned in frustration.

The mean streak she was bringing out in him was new. He wasn’t sure where the fuck that had come from, but he knew that he was pissed off that she was fucking up his head. Maybe he wanted to punish her for that. Certainly no other girl had ever gotten so much of his time and energy. It was pathetic, really. So fucking gone over a girl he’d never even banged.

The next morning Jessie looked at her phone and found that Jack had texted her at three o’clock in the morning.

Jack: I’m a dick.

She sighed and typed a message back.

Jessie: Yes, you are. But I know you can’t help it. You’re broken. See you at work.

OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS, Jack and Jessie spent their days working on cases, bouncing ideas off of each other. They worked well together and it showed. It was why Russell kept pairing them up so much, even though Jessie was able to handle most cases on her own now.

They had somehow fallen into a routine of assuming that they would grab drinks together after work, which usually turned into dinner as well. Sometimes Chris and Zoey joined them, or Nick and Savannah. Rarely, Sean would make an appearance, but he seemed to work a ton of hours.

Weekends were a little different. Sometimes Jessie went on dates. Then she would only see Jack on Sundays to watch football, at either his or Chris’ house.

If Jessie didn’t have a date, she would tag along with Zoey and Chris and go out. Jack often joined them. He usually ended up leaving with someone. Either a girl he already knew and had arranged to meet up with, or one he had just met. He didn’t introduce Jessie to any of his girls and she steered clear of him when he was trying to hook up.

She tried to pretend she didn’t care as she danced her ass off or chatted up some cute guy. But try as she might, she couldn’t stop herself from glancing over now and then. She hated that she felt jealous at all, when Jack clearly couldn’t care less what she did.

Jessie tried not to think about him, but it seemed hopeless. Every once in a while, when it was late and she was having trouble sleeping, she would slip her hand inside her pajama bottoms and play with herself, imagining Jack touching her, until her pussy was dripping wet. She would lay in bed awake, thinking about what it would be like for Jack to make love to her. Her pussy would literally throb at the thought of it, and when she could make herself come it felt so good.

Sometimes, though, she wasn’t able to get herself off. Sometimes she just couldn’t get there. It was so frustrating. It was like she needed something else, but she didn’t know what. Well, actually she knew exactly what she needed.

Jack.