Jaybird

by M. A. Foster

  “Come here.” I reach out and pull her to my chest. “I’m sorry, Jay. God, I’m so sorry.”

  “Me, too.” She sniffs into my shirt.

  “I know it sounds cliché, but it’s not what you think. Let me drive you home and I’ll explain everything.”

  She nods against my chest. “Okay, but I need to let Bass know.” She turns and hurries back inside while I wait.

  “I CAN’T BELIEVE we lost a whole year because of that bitch,” I say in disbelief.

  “My mom always told me never to make assumptions, no matter what it looks like. That’s why I called you. I wanted to give you a chance to explain.”

  “We kissed. That’s all. The only reason I told her I didn’t have a condom was—”

  She reaches over and covers my mouth. “No. Don’t tell me.”

  Grabbing her by the wrist, I pull her hand from my mouth and press a kiss to her palm. “Just listen. I told her I didn’t have a condom because I didn’t want to tell her about you and risk her telling Cole.” I shake my head. “I already felt so guilty for even kissing her. I called you the next day to come clean about everything, but you never answered.”

  “It’s bad enough I have to look at Reagan every day knowing you were with her. But knowing it was her who did this to us…” She shakes her head.

  “Reagan was a mistake. I liked her in tenth grade, but she never gave me the time of day. Last year, after Labor Day weekend, we started hooking up.” Jay winces and I give her hand a gentle squeeze. “Sorry, but you need to know everything so she can’t come between us anymore. She wanted to be my girlfriend, but I didn’t trust her.” I should’ve trusted my gut back then. “And three months after we officially became a couple, she cheated on me.”

  “Sounds like it still bothers you.”

  “She bothers me.” I turn in my seat. “I don’t believe in cheating, Jay. It’s a coward’s way out of a relationship. If anyone is guilty of head games, it’s Reagan Vaughn. Do you want to know what her excuse was for cheating?”

  “What?”

  “Because I only wanted to be with her after the girl I was in love with dropped me. Those were her words. I’m gonna get her lying ass at school on Monday,” I assure Jay.

  “No, Zach. Don’t say anything to her and stir up more drama. Just let it go for now. I’m pissed that she did this to us, but we can’t change it. From now on, we just need to be honest with each other.” She blows out a breath. “I’m gonna go ahead and put this out there so we’re clear. I love you, Zach. I never stopped loving you. Even when I didn’t want to love you anymore, I still loved you. Maybe I’m too young and inexperienced to know about love, but I know what I feel. And maybe it’s crazy, but I know in my heart that you could be my forever. If that freaks you out, I’m sorry, but life is too short for regrets. My dad used to say, ‘If you want it, then go after it.’ So, this is me, going after what I want. I love you.”

  Fuck, I love this girl. “Don’t move.” Shoving the driver’s door open, I hop out and jog over to the passenger side. Jay turns in her seat just as I jerk open the door. Reaching in, I grab the back of her neck, pulling her to me so that our foreheads are touching and my lips are hovering over hers. “The only thing that freaks me out is not being with you. I love you, Jay. You’re still my girl.”

  Jay sighs against my lips and I’m done. My lips are on hers, claiming her with a deep, demanding kiss. She instantly moves her arms to wrap around my neck and when our tongues meet, her body melts against mine.

  I slide my hand up her bare thigh and she parts her legs, allowing me to move closer. Her hands are everywhere, running up my back under my T-shirt before dipping into my back pockets, squeezing my ass. Breaking the kiss, I continue trailing small kisses across her jaw and down her neck to that spot behind her ear she loves so much, even though it tickles. She giggles and I groan. I want her so badly.

  I place another soft kiss against her lips before I drop my forehead to hers. “I’ve missed you, Z,” she whispers against my lips. She called me Z. And all is right again in my world.

  “I’ve missed the shit out of you too, Jay. Tell me we’re okay and I’m still your guy.”

  “We’re okay.” She smiles. “I’m still your girl and you’re still my guy.”

  I chuckle and press a kiss to her forehead before hesitantly pulling away. “I should head home. It’s getting late and your mom and the big guy will probably be home any minute.”

  “You’re not exactly small, Z.” She laughs. “Don’t worry about Bass. He’s a giant teddy bear.”

  “More like a grizzly bear.” I smack another kiss to her lips before helping her out of the Jeep and walking her to the side door of the garage. “The adrenaline from the game has worn off and I’m exhausted.”

  “Oh, yeah. Duh.” She crosses her eyes and wraps her arms around my waist. Silly girl. “Congratulations on your win tonight. I’m glad I was there.”

  I grin. “The team won, not just me.”

  “Oh, there’s a team?” she teases. She’s cute.

  “Spend the day with me tomorrow. We can do whatever you want. Go to the beach, the mall, get pedicures. I don’t care. I just want spend the day with you.”

  “Okay, but I’ll let you pick since you asked.”

  “Yeah?” I grin. “Will the big guy let me take you out alone, or will I have to take the top off the Jeep to make room for him.”

  She laughs, smacking my chest.

  “Will you be okay by yourself or do you want me to wait with you?”

  “No, I’m fine. Grace is here.”

  “Who’s Grace?”

  “She’s my….” Her mouth twists to the side as she mulls it over. “Grace was my dad’s housekeeper for years before he met my mom. She’s family. Mom refuses to let her clean up after us, but Grace takes care of us. She cooks and sometimes she does my laundry.”

  “I can’t wait to meet her.”

  “Oh, believe me, she can’t wait to meet you either.”

  I kiss her once more and wait for her to disappear inside before I get back in my Jeep and head home.

  THE NEXT MORNING, I wake to a text from Chelsea. Where did you go last night?

  As happy as I was to see Chelsea last night, I hadn’t forgotten about her running her mouth to Reagan. I still plan to confront her about it, but not today. And until we have that conversation, I’m not telling her about Jay.

  Home.

  What are you doing today? Maybe I can come by later.

  Sorry. I have plans all day. Maybe tomorrow.

  Ok. Sounds good. TTYL

  Well, that was easy.

  Too easy.

  THE GATES AT the front of Jay’s driveway are open, so I continue up the driveway and roll to a stop in front of the house. Wow. I hadn’t taken in the size of her house last night because it was dark and I was solely focused on Jay, but I remember she called it her modern-day castle. And now I see why.

  Jay’s bodyguard, Bass, greets me at the door. “Hey, man, good to see you again,” I hold out my hand and he shakes it with a firm grip before taking a step back and gesturing for me to come in.

  “Princess said to tell you she’ll be down in five minutes,” he informs me as I step into the foyer.

  “And to not embarrass her,” a female voice adds just before the infamous Emerson Mackenzie appears.

  They say that if you want to know what your girl will look like in twenty years, all you have to do is look at her mother.

  I’d say the future is looking pretty damn good.

  Emerson Mackenzie King is a beautiful woman. Her black hair is in one of those messy buns and a pair of reading glasses are perched on top of her head, away from her vibrant green eyes.

  She smiles and opens her arms. “Zach, it’s so great to finally meet you.” She pulls me in for a hug and I bend at the waist to meet her halfway. Pulling back, she looks up at me with another smile, slowly shaking her head. “I can’t get over how much you look like your dad. I sw
ear it was like déjà vu watching you out on the field last night. You played a good game.”

  “Thanks. I didn’t know you were there,” I say, rubbing the back of my neck.

  “We were all there,” Emerson says, smiling up at Bass before she turns her emerald gaze on me once more. “Back in the day, the Mackenzies never missed a football game.”

  Bass moves to stand beside Emerson with his arms crossed, pinning me with an intimidating stare. Emerson scoffs, backhanding him across the stomach. “Would you cut it out? You knew this day was coming.” She turns to me and rolls her eyes. “Ignore him. He doesn’t play well with others.”

  Bass lets out a deep chuckle. “I play just fine.” He grins, raising a brow. “Just like a cat plays with a mouse before he devours it.”

  Emerson laughs.

  “I heard that, B,” Jay says as she skips down the stairs wearing a pair of cutoff jean shorts that show off her long legs, a white T-shirt that says “I have nothing to wear,” and sandals. Her black hair is braided and draped over one shoulder. She playfully smacks Bass on the arm as she makes her way over to me and wraps her arms around my waist, stretching up on her toes and pecking me on the lips. “Hi, Z.”

  Bass pretends to clear his throat to hide the growl as Emerson giggles beside him.

  “Hi.” I smile. “I like your shirt.”

  “Thanks.” She smiles and turns to Bass. “You told me last night that you approved, so be nice.” She looks up at me and winks.

  “Fine.” Bass playfully rolls his eyes, throwing his arms out to his sides. The two of them exchange a look as if they’re having a private conversation and I fight back a smile. Looks like Jay has the big guy wrapped around her finger.

  “Grace, come meet Zach!” Jay calls out and an older Spanish woman comes walking in from the back of the house. “Zach, this our amazing Grace.” She laughs. “Grace, this is my guy.”

  That statement sends my heart soaring.

  Grace gives me a warm smile as she reaches up and hugs me.

  Emerson laughs. “Sorry, Zach, we’re a bunch of huggers. There’s no such thing as personal space in this house.”

  “Speak for yourself, woman,” Bass bristles.

  “It’s so good to finally meet you,” Grace says to me before turning to Jay. “He’s so handsome.”

  “I told you.” Jay smiles. “Let’s go, Z.”

  “SO, WHERE ARE you taking me?” Jay asks, fastening her seat belt as I pull out of her driveway and head over to Cam’s.

  He lives two streets over from Jay, on the beach side. His house is big but not even half the size of Jay’s. “Cam’s out of town this weekend,” I tell her. “So, I figured we could go to his place and hang out on the beach.”

  “Awesome. I haven’t been over to see his house yet.”

  “It’s a typical bachelor pad.” Cam bought the house in January when he left the Heat to play for the Tornadoes. He has all the basics to get by. There’s a couch, a flat-screen, barstools, a pool table, and the bedrooms are furnished. The walls are bare, but the refrigerator always has beer, Gatorade and water. And the liquor cabinet is now locked and off-limits since the Chelsea incident.

  Jay laughs, knowingly. “Oh, believe me, I’ve seen Cam’s and Liam’s bachelor pads.” She tells me about the house Cam and Liam shared in Malibu just down the beach from hers.

  I roll to a stop at the gate and punch in the code. The gate opens and I pull up the driveway, pressing the remote for the garage door as I put the Jeep in Park.

  We enter the house through the door from the garage and Buddy, my six-year-old Lab, greets us, wagging his tail. I dropped him off before I went over to pick up Jay. It’s too hot outside to leave him in the car and I wasn’t sure how long her mom and bodyguard were going to grill me before letting her leave with me.

  “Aww, aren’t you cute?” Jay squats down to give Buddy some attention, which he happily accepts. “I’ve never had a pet. Well, that’s not exactly true. I had one of those beta fish once. But there wasn’t time for a dog or a cat.”

  “Cats are pretty self-sufficient.”

  “I think my mom’s allergic to cats. Or she just said that so she didn’t have to get me one.” She laughs. “What’s his name?”

  “Buddy.” He was supposed to be Logan’s dog, but he’s the family dog and since Logan is away at college and I’m busy with school and football, he’s become my dad’s baby. Since my parents had errands to run today, I figured I’d bring him over to Cam’s for some exercise on the beach.

  Jay scrunches her nose. “Buddy? Really?”

  I wrinkle my brows. “What’s wrong with Buddy?”

  “It’s a lazy name.” She rises from the floor and puts her hands on her hips. “Like you couldn’t take the time to give him a cool name, so you just went with Buddy.” She shakes her head, feigning disappointment. “That’s just wrong.”

  “Logan named him,” I inform her through a chuckle. “What would you name him?”

  We both look down at Buddy, who is blissfully licking his nonexistent doggy balls.

  Jay lifts her head and grins at me. “Sir Licks-his-dick-a-lot?”

  I throw my head back and laugh. “Gangster. I like it.” Grabbing her hand, I lead her through the back door and down to the beach, snagging a couple of beach towels on the way as Buddy follows.

  ZACH TOSSES A tennis ball into the water before turning to wrap his arms around my waist. My arms instinctively circle his neck. “Tell me about this.” He brushes his thumb over my tattoo and I flinch because it tickles.

  “It was one of the last things my dad said to me before he died.”

  He nods and lifts my arm to rub his fingers over the “Conquer” tattoo on my inner bicep.

  “And this one?”

  “I’m a King.” I flex my bicep. “King’s don’t cower. They conquer.”

  Zach’s gaze moves from my tattoo back to my face. His blue eyes flicker as he stares into mine, and he exhales forcefully. “I’m sorry.”

  I frown. “For what?”

  “For everything. I’m sorry for hurting you. I’m sorry you lost your dad. I’m sorry your whole life has changed. But I’m not sorry you’re here. I tried to let you go and move on, but I couldn’t. I was miserable. And now I’m so fucking happy, it doesn’t seem real.”

  “I know. Me, too. But we’re still us, Z. We might not know everything about each other, but we’re still the same two kids who grew up together over summer vacations. We’re still Zachy and Sparkles.” I burst out laughing and Zach shakes his head.

  “Logan and his stupid nicknames.” We sit down side by side on the shoreline, Zach continuing to toss the ball into the ocean so Buddy chases after it.

  “How is Logan? I haven’t seen him in years.”

  “Still the same annoying ass he always was, but he’s doing well. We don’t hear from him too much because he’s busy with law school. He hasn’t been home in nearly a year, but my dad went up there a few months ago to see him and to make sure he was doing okay.”

  “He’s at Columbia?”

  He pulls his legs up and drapes his arms over his bent knees. “Yeah.”

  “And what about you? Where are you going to college?”

  “I’m still undecided.”

  “Cole has his heart set on South Carolina.”

  “I know. He’s been talking about it since we were little. What about you? You’re going on tour with Royal Mayhem?”

  I nod. “Yeah. I think this tour will give me the closure I need to move on with my life.” Wow. This is the first time I’ve ever admitted that out loud.

  “What do you mean?”

  I shrug. “Jaybird started as a side project; something fun for my dad and me. It wasn’t supposed to turn into an album, much less a tour. But after we found out he was sick and wasn’t going to get better, he wanted to make it a farewell album.”

  “That’s sad, Jay.”

  “Now he’s gone, and I feel like the pressure is on me now. I
’m worried about how the fans will receive me. I’m not my dad. Royal Mayhem was his band. His baby. His life. Not mine.”

  God, it feels so good to finally let it out.

  “So, you don’t want to be a rock star?” he teases, bumping his shoulder against mine.

  “I don’t know what I want, but whatever it is, I want the choice to be mine. I spent a lot of my childhood on a tour bus. I don’t think I want to spend my adult life living on one, too. The tour is something I need to do. I owe it to my dad, to the band, and I owe it to the fans. Maybe even myself, too. I worked hard on that album. But after the tour, I’m not sure what I want to do. I really like being involved with the Project Mayhem class.” I shrug. “Maybe I’ll continue to do that. Be a mentor, kind of like my dad was on America’s Voice. Maybe I’ll go to college and get a teaching degree.”

  I bump my arm against Zach’s and look over to see him watching me. “God, I’ve missed you, Jay. This has been the longest year of my life.”

  “It’s been the worst year of mine.”

  “I know.”

  Our eyes lock for a split second before he reaches out, grabs the back of my neck, and slams his mouth down on mine. I let out a soft moan as his tongue pushes past my lips and slides against mine. Without breaking the kiss, I fall back into the sand with my hands buried in Zach’s hair as he moves over me. Sliding his hand up my thigh, he brings my leg up to wrap around his waist, rocking his hips, pressing his hardness against the spot that aches for him. I lift my hips to get more friction, earning a groan from Zach. He breaks away and I almost whimper in protest.

  “Let’s go inside,” he murmurs.

  “WHOSE ROOM IS this?” she asks.