Valiant

She looks to Molly and Roman.

“Well, he still thinks he can walk into my house whenever he feels like it, he also steals all my beer, but he’s kind of cute so I’m starting accept that he’s simply weird and that’s okay,” Molly says and Roman laughs.

“Ditto, loser.”

I giggle again. They’re cute.

“Loser me again and see where it gets you,” Molly says, standing up and walking over, wrapping her arms around him.

He curls a hand around her waist and pulls her closer.

“Ew,” Matilda groans.

“Right there with you,” Quinn huffs.

“You’re only jealous because you can’t get any pussy,” Phoenix shoots at his brother.

“Phoenix!” about four different female voices say at once.

The men laugh.

Typical.

“Hey,” Jack says, standing and extending a hand. “Come with me. I want to show you something.”

“Ohhhh,” Molly teases. “They’re going to get it on!”

Jack rolls his eyes, flips her the bird, and takes my hand, pulling me away from the group.

“Where are we going?” I ask.

He grins down at me. “Just you wait and see.”

Well, okay then.

I’ll do just that.

~*~*~*~

“Stop being a girl and climb it,” Jack says, staring down at me.

“I could die, Jack.” I laugh, feeling a little too lightheaded from the alcohol.

“You won’t die, I swear it. Just copy what I did.”

“You’re climbing onto the roof of a shed ... drunk ...”

He laughs. “That’s what makes it easy. Come on, up you come.”

“If I die,” I mumble, using the old pile of bricks to get myself off the ground, “you’ll pay.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’ll haunt me, I already know,” he teases, reaching down for me when I get my foot on a windowsill and push myself up higher.

I finally get high enough to grab his hand, and he pulls me up the rest of the way. The roof is flat on top, thank God, because I don’t think I could navigate an angled roof right now. I’m feeling more than tipsy. Jack keeps hold of my hand as he leads me towards the middle of the roof, then he pulls me to the left and I see a massive blanket and pillows laid out.

“You did that?” I breathe, staring at the set up.

“Yeah.” He tugs me again. “I used to come up here when I was a kid. One time, my mom couldn’t find me. They all freaked out. I was up here, curled in my sleeping bag.”

I laugh softly. “You have a thing for secret places, don’t you?”

“Yeah.” He chuckles. “I guess we all have to have spaces where we feel safe, or at the very least, can be alone.”

“You’re right about that.”

We reach the blankets, and I immediately drop to my knees and crawl over to one side, lying down on my back, resting my head on the pillow. Jack lies down beside me, and for a minute, we just lie there in silence, staring up at the stars. It’s a clear night, and they twinkle in the night sky, bright and illuminate.

“I can see why you used to come hide here,” I say quietly, not wanting to disturb the peace. “It’s lovely up here.”

“Yeah, it really is.”

“I wish I had a place like this,” I admit, most likely the alcohol in my system talking. “Sometimes I feel like I can’t escape. Like there isn’t a single place on earth I can go to get peace.”

“Can I ask you something?”

Jack rolls to his side and studies me with those incredible eyes.

“Yeah,” I say, staring at his lips, and wondering how it feels to kiss. It’s been so long since I’ve felt a real, warm, incredible kiss.

“What happened to you to make your eyes so sad?”

I flinch, and I know he notices.

“Nothing,” I say quickly.

Part of me, a big part, wants to tell Jack everything about York, but my safety is on the line, and so is Rae’s. I can’t tell him that. I can’t tell anyone. As far as anyone is concerned, Maddie is dead and buried. At least, that’s what I want them to think. If York ever found me ... I shudder at the thought. I’m not so sure I could get away a second time.

“Something happened,” he says carefully. “You know you can trust me.”

I can’t, though.

I can’t trust anyone.

“Look, it’s not that I don’t trust you, but some things I just don’t talk about.”

That seems like a valid explanation.

“Yeah, I understand that, I won’t push. Just know I’m always here if you ever need me.”

I look to him. “Why me, Jack?”

“What do you mean?”

“What is it about me that makes you try so hard? I know you’re doing things you don’t usually do. I can tell by the way your family is with me. So, why me?”

He studies my face for a moment before saying in a low, husky voice. “You’re the first real girl I’ve ever met. Sure, I won’t lie, at first you were a challenge because you wouldn’t give in to me, but then I realised it wasn’t because you were playing some game, or trying to make me chase you, but that you were actually real and had some respect. That drew me to you, in a big way. I’ve never met a girl, outside of my family, that’s so incredibly real.”

My heart aches, but in the most incredible way. It’s an ache that starts deep in my chest and radiates out. It’s something I’m not sure I’ve ever felt before, and maybe that’s because Jack is real, too. I’ve met a lot of men, but Jack radiates something genuine, and strong, and incredibly trustworthy.

Can I trust him?

“Thank you,” I say softly. It’s the only thing that I can think of to say.

“It’s the truth. Don’t change, Baylee. Girls like you are hard to find.”

I think he’s wrong about that.

He doesn’t know the whole story, maybe if he did he wouldn’t think that.

“Have you had many girlfriends?” I ask him, changing the subject.

“Nah, I’ve slept around a bit, but I’ve never met anyone I’ve really clicked with. What about you?”

My blood goes cold, and I know I have to answer. If I say none, he’ll think there is something wrong with me for sure. I can’t use the old “I just slept around” excuse like he just did, because it’ll make me seem ... slutty. So, I’m going to have to just play it down, for now.