Infuriating, page 6
The tension in the room shifted when Ruby and Day caught sight of each other. Day looked at Ruby suspiciously, but Ruby looked at Day like he was fresh meat. Her smile looked friendly, but Jackson smelled trouble.
“You didn’t tell me you had company. I thought you weren’t seeing anybody right now?” she said, her tone letting him know she didn’t like being lied to.
Jackson sighed. “Day, meet my younger sister, Ruby, my nieces, Chloe and Keisha, and my nephew, Isaac. Ruby, meet my newest client, Dayton.”
“Day,” Day corrected, holding out his hand. “I love your dress. Did you get that at Calico’s?”
Ruby’s eyes went wide, and she smoothed her hands over her orange sundress before sticking her hands in the oversized pockets and swaying, giving Day a genuine toothy grin. “I did! How did you know that?”
“I know fashion,” Day said, his tone a bit smug. “That color is amazing on you. Very few people could pull it off.”
Jackson thought his sister looked like she’d just escaped from teaching a kindergarten art class with her bright sundress, oversized cardigan, and her hair in two buns on the top of her head, but the last time he’d commented on Ruby’s style, she’d forced him to go shopping with her. So, he said nothing, instead pushing a mug of coffee in front of Day, who took a sip of the black brew and sighed.
Jackson frowned as a thought occurred to him. “I thought you said you were going to call when you were downstairs?”
“Well, there was nobody at the desk, so we just came on up. Besides, if you’d had any warning, you would have just hidden away your new…client, and then I wouldn’t have gotten such a nice compliment,” Ruby said, beaming at Day, who smirked at Jackson, his brows somehow looking smug.
“What do you mean there was nobody at the front desk? There’s always supposed to be somebody at the front desk. That’s why I live here,” Jackson said, ignoring the way Ruby and Day appeared ready to tag team him.
“You don’t live here. You live in Miami,” Chloe reminded him. Jackson snatched the five-year-old up and tickled her until she screeched, “Stop! I’m gonna pee.”
That earned a snicker from Day, and it did something funny to Jackson’s chest to see him smile at Chloe. Keisha, however, was not one to be outdone by her baby sister. “Uncle Jack, I got a reading award at school.”
“You did?” Jackson asked, putting as much pride in his voice as he could muster. “Well, that sounds like you deserve some whipped cream on your waffle.”
“Gross. I want peanut butter,” Keisha said.
“Now, you're talking,” Day said. “Peanut butter on waffles is the bomb.”
“Nobody says ‘the bomb’ anymore,” Isaac said, watching Day warily and picking lint off his Spiderman t-shirt.
“Isaac Isiah Harrington. Is that how you speak to grown ups?” Ruby asked.
“Sorry,” he said, not sounding sorry at all. “I’m gonna go play Xbox in your room, Uncle Jack.”
Jackson watched as Isaac shot up the stairs and threw open his bedroom door, not waiting for permission.
“Can I take my waffle upstairs and watch Isaac play Assassin’s Creed?” Keisha asked.
“Yes, you may. Just don’t get your sticky fingers all over my bed,” Jackson said.
He finished prepping her waffle and handed it to her, watching her walk up the stairs at a much slower pace. Chloe didn’t follow. She climbed up onto the stool beside Day and just stared at him while he drank his coffee. When Day noticed her, he frowned at her over his cup before setting it back on the counter. “Hi?” he said.
“Hi,” she chirped.
“AJ, can you help me grab something out of my car, please?” Ruby asked.
Jackson knew there was nothing for her to get out of the car. She planned to interrogate him about why there was a client living in his home when there were several safe houses he could have chosen to take Day to. But he honestly had no answers and the last thing he needed was for his sister to see him wavering. She’d have his mother and sisters there before nightfall and Day would run screaming. He was far too fragile to be exposed to the entire Avery clan on the second day of knowing Jackson. Nobody was that strong. He’d seen those women bring Linc to heel with a look. Of course, they loved Wyatt and Day had very Wyatt-like qualities… He was just far more wounded.
“Can it wait a few minutes? I’d like to eat my breakfast,” Jackson lied, ignoring the way Day’s gaze shot to his, a silent cry not to be left alone with a small child.
“No, actually. It can’t. I don’t want it to wilt.”
Wilt, his ass. Jackson had a black thumb. He couldn’t even keep a fake plant alive. There was no way his sister would bring one of her precious babies to Jackson for him to murder. He was lucky she trusted him with her kids. She said it was because the kids were old enough to ask for food and water. He shook his head. She wasn’t going to let this go.
Jackson sighed. “I’ll be right back. Ten minutes. Don’t open the door for anybody.”
“Duh,” Chloe said, her hand under her chin.
“Yeah, duh,” Day said, mimicking her gesture.
Jackson grabbed his keys and followed his sister out the door, locking it behind him. They weren’t even to the end of the hallway before she turned on him. “What’s going on with you and Wonder Bread in there?”
“Don’t call him that,” Jackson said, side-eyeing her as they waited for the elevator.
“What? I’m just saying. You never bring clients to the house. Ever. And he’s real pretty. Like flawless. I know you’re a sucker for those boys with big blue eyes and a sob story. I saw the way you looked at him. You like him. Like, you like him-like him.”
Jackson rolled his eyes as they stepped onto the elevator. “What are you, in middle school? You sound like Mom. I met him yesterday morning. He’s a client. He’s…prickly, and he witnessed something pretty traumatic, so I thought he’d be more comfortable here than in some bare bones safe house.”
Ruby narrowed her eyes at him. “So, you’re willing to risk the lives of the people in this building for his comfort? Sounds like he’s more than a client. Besides, when was the last time you actually took on a client? Ever? You’re the boss. You have tons of employees.”
Jackson huffed out a sigh through his nose. “Ruby. Stop. He’s not a client. Not officially. Jimmy asked me for a favor. As Dad’s old partner. What was I going to say? No?”
Ruby shook her head. “You could just tell Mom the truth, you know? It’s been a long time. She’s ready to hear it.”
The doors to the elevator opened just in time. Jackson headed towards the front desk where a young desk attendant with brown hair flopping over his right eye was now seated. Jackson stopped at the desk, leaning over it menacingly. “Where were you when my sister got here ten minutes ago?”
“Wh-what?” the boy stammered, looking up at Jackson like he might hurt him.
“I pay an obscene amount of money for a desk that’s guarded twenty-four-seven and that’s what I expect. This desk is never to be unmanned.”
“I just came on shift. J-Just now. I’ll tell my supervisor.”
“AJ! Stop scaring him. What is wrong with you?” his sister asked, her tone taking on a sharp edge.
Jackson tapped his hand on the desk. “I’m sorry. Please let your supervisor know I want to speak with him. Jackson Avery. Apartment 2501.”
The desk clerk nodded, scribbling the details on a message pad. Jackson stomped towards his sister’s Mercedes SUV that she’d parked illegally. “What is it you just had to give me?”
“Shit about having a stranger in your apartment. Seriously. Are my children safe here? Is somebody coming after him?”
“You think I’d let anything happen to those kids? He wasn’t the target, just a witness, but it's highly unlikely the killer even knows who Day is or where he lives. Jimmy is just being extra cautious because the victim was a high-level target.”
“High-level target? You’re not exactly making me feel better here,” Ruby said, crossing her arms over her chest and cocking her hip to the side.
“Do you want me to watch your kids or not?” Jackson asked, leveling a stare at his sister. She was the only person who could make him lose his patience. “Just go to your luncheon thing and watch your husband get his award and leave the kids to me.”
She snorted. “You can lie to yourself but you can’t lie to me. There’s something about that boy in there, and you and I both know it.”
“Please, get in your car and drive away, woman.”
“K, love you, bye,” she chirped, using the same voice as his nieces.
Jackson watched her drive off before he started to make his way back up to the apartment, giving another wave of apology to the boy behind the desk as he went. When he reached his apartment, it was weirdly quiet. Jackson went to his office and flipped on the cameras. Keisha and Isaac were lying on Jackson’s bed, Keisha munching on her waffle and Isaac’s fingers flying on the controller. He flicked to the camera in the hallway just outside Day’s open door. Inside, Day sat on the floor with Chloe, who had pulled several items from Day’s drawers. She wore huge white sunglasses and a hot pink feather boa over her clothing. He had no idea what Day was saying to her but they were both emphatically gesturing to each other, like two old ladies at a cocktail party.
Jackson couldn’t help but laugh. He kept the cameras focused on both rooms as he sat answering emails and checking in with Jimmy on where he was with the case, asking him to send the file so he could look it over himself. He had avenues he could search that the cops couldn’t.
By the time Jackson got off his conference call, it was almost lunch time. As he walked up the stairs, he could hear Isaac and Keisha laughing and playing, but Day’s room was quiet. When he glanced inside, it looked like the room had exploded. There were feathers and tulle and satin everywhere. It took him a moment to spot Day and Chloe because they sat on the other side of the bed, facing the windows. Day’s head and shoulders were visible, his elbows propped on his knees. All he could see of Chloe was her wild curls, bleached a light brown by the sun.
“What’s your book about?” Day asked, pointing to what Jackson imagined was the book in question.
Chloe looked down. “It’s called Maddi’s Fridge. Can you read it to me?”
Day was quiet for a long moment. “Uh, I don’t have my glasses that help me read. Why don’t you read to me?”
It was a lie. Day’s glasses were on his face and, unlike Jackson, he was far too young to need reading glasses. Jackson wondered if he should interrupt. Chloe was sensitive about reading.
Chloe’s voice dropped, like she was telling Day a big secret. “I don’t read so good,” she said in a stage whisper.
Jackson’s heart ached for Chloe. She was struggling in school. She was only five, but Ruby and Darren had already had to hire tutors to help her. She had some type of processing disorder that required special tutors three times a week. She also read to dogs at a local shelter as part of a program initiative that made it less stressful for kids to read out loud since dogs wouldn’t judge them. He hoped Day didn’t push her too hard. Chloe was the sensitive one.
Day dropped his head, his whisper conspiratorial. “Can I tell you a secret?”
Chloe nodded solemnly, her big brown eyes wide.
“Promise not to tell anybody? It’s a little embarrassing.”
Jackson frowned, suddenly feeling like he was intruding but also leery about leaving a stranger to share secrets with his five-year-old niece. Chloe, like most little kids, didn’t share Jackson’s reservations.
“Pinky promise,” she swore.
Day hooked his pinky with hers, leaning in. “I don’t read so good, either.”
“Really?” she asked, sounding awed.
Day nodded. “Yeah, really. So, why don’t you read to me?”
“People make fun of me when I read,” Chloe confided.
“I would never make fun of you,” Day promised. “When I was your age, I was so bad at reading, I had to have a friend read for me. You can read to me and if you make a mistake, I won’t even know, so you won’t have to worry.”
Jackson had never thought of that approach. Chloe didn’t like to read in front of her parents or siblings because she was embarrassed, but now, she saw Day as an equal. She cracked the book open and began to read slowly.
Jackson headed back downstairs to the office and set about figuring out lunch, watching Day and Chloe on the monitor. He’d have to thank Day for that later, maybe with something that involved them both being naked. Day would at least give Jackson that, as long as it didn’t seem like anything that resembled a date. Jackson had a feeling he was resigning himself to three months of Netflix and chill, but after seeing what Day had done for Chloe, Jackson was willing to go iceberg slow in the romance department.
Who would have thought Day would be a kid person? Who would have thought Jackson would want a guy who was a kid person?
Day waited until the kids were gone and Jackson was busy in the kitchen before he laid down on his bed, pulled out his laptop, and put his ear buds in. He used his voice activated software to log into his accounts. It was probably too soon for Jackson to notice the little things about Day, the things that everybody figured out once they got close. The way he kept his earbuds in all the time. The way he only used voice to text. That he tended to take too long to look over reading material or just signed things without pretending to read them at all.
It was all well and good in the beginning. People who claimed to be his friends would, at first, think they were just little idiosyncrasies, until they realized Day not only used voice to text but that he also used software created for the blind that would read to him. Then his headphones became an annoyance, and his friends would ask why he didn’t just go to one of those literacy schools for adults instead of cheating the system, as if Day had just never bothered to learn to read. He used to try to explain his disorder, that he had a severe form of dyslexia and dyscalculia. That it wasn’t just a matter of learning to read but how his brain processed what he did read. That he still had a stutter when he was flustered or embarrassed. The support would eventually turn to annoyance and disbelief. But that usually took months. That’s why Day didn’t give people months. He didn’t give anybody anything. It just wasn’t worth the effort.
But Jackson was a different story. For some reason, the thought of somebody like Jackson belittling him or growing frustrated with him hurt far worse than the memory of anybody who’d made it past his walls in the past. Jackson was patient and kind and stable and hot and sexy and made Day’s whole body quake with need.
Jackson wasn’t like the guys Day had met when he and Sarah had run away all those years ago. Jackson was so far out of Day’s league that they weren’t even breathing the same air, and watching Jackson come to that realization would be more pain than it was worth. Day shook his head. He’d known Jackson for two days and he was worried about what he’d think of him? He was pathetic. It was just because he was the first guy with his shit together who’d ever shown an interest in Day. That had to be it. It didn’t matter anyway. In just a few weeks, this stupid investigation would be over and Day could go back to his lonely little life and Jackson could meet some rich business tycoon and forget Day existed. At least Day had their tape to watch.
Which brought Day back to the task at hand. He hit a button, and the computerized male voice informed him that he had several comments on his latest video and almost two hundred dollars in tips. He smiled. He’d known his audience would love it. It had taken Day twice the usual time to edit and upload last night because he’d stopped to jerk off. Every whine, whimper, and moan Day made while Jackson fingered him on the tape had driven him to distraction until he’d had no choice but to get himself off.
Day closed his eyes and hit the button for the first comment, knowing the software would continue to read the messages one right after the other.
PYT8014: So hot. You two were hot like lava.
Hawt4U: Who’s your new man?
Pattycake21: Yum. More please.
DTFU09: Did he win the contest? Is it over? Do we get to watch him fuck you?
Hawt4U: Yes. Please? We want to see you take that huge cock.
Ken4Ken: So pretty.
DannysDaddy666: whore whore whore whore whore whore whore whore whore whore whore whore whore whore wh—
Day pulled his earbuds from his ears and threw them on the side table before slamming his finger down on the spacebar to stop the voice from reading. His heart slammed against his ribs hard enough to make him feel lightheaded, his face burning with humiliation. He pushed his laptop away with shaking hands.
“Day, dinner’s ready,” Jackson said, leaning into Day’s doorway.
“O-Okay,” he managed, his tongue tripping over the word.
Jackson frowned. “You’re white as a sheet. What’s wrong? What happened?”
Day just shook his head. “No-Nothing. I’m f-f-f—” He huffed out a noise of frustration as his brain caught on the ‘f,’ causing the sound to go on for too long. “Fine,” he finally ground out.
Jackson came to sit on the edge of the bed, resting his hand gently on Day’s knee. “You’re clearly not fine. What’s happening? Did somebody upset you?”
Day could barely think past the heat of Jackson’s hand on his thigh, as comforting as it was distracting. He didn’t want to tell Jackson what it said. It was just a word. It came with the territory. It wasn’t the first time somebody had called him a whore, and it wouldn’t be the last. He should have just lied, but when he looked at Jackson and his big brown eyes filled with what looked like genuine concern, Day could only pick up his laptop and hand it to him.
