The Marriage Pact (Viral Series)

by Mara White

  Jackie didn’t smoke.

  Then he remembered Ashley and how insatiable he’d been with her. How he’d pretended it was Jackie and the trick made him crazed, to the point where he’s lost all control. Crap! And it was Jackie herself who had told him to do it. He smiled at what she brought out in him, even when she wasn’t there. Ashley was great-fine-enough-whatever. But, Ryan didn’t want to make eggs for her.

  Now for Jackie, he’d jump out of bed and cook her anything she wanted. Bring it on a tray with a fresh-cut flower and a newspaper. Jackie was his best friend, his favorite person. He could only image what it would feel like, if she’d agree to go to bed with him.

  Chapter 4

  Jackie

  For Ryan’s sake, Jackie put on socks and sneakers. He was taking her pumpkin picking today for the sheer fun of it. She tugged on a tee shirt, followed by a long-sleeved shirt and Ryan’s jersey. She hoped she’d be warm enough. He didn’t bother knocking—he just waltzed right in. Secretly she loved that. “Knock much?” she asked.

  Ryan raised a brow at her, then grinned. “Why bother?”

  “Alright, funny guy, let’s get going.”

  He swung his arm around her shoulders as they headed out. “Big plans later?”

  Jackie stopped and looked up at him. “Yeah, dummy, we do.”

  Ryan simply smiled. She shook her head and rolled her eyes. She should have known better. Not once had he ever forgotten any plans they’d made. His truck was something Jackie was accustomed to back home. Big. Lift kit big, and loud. She crawled up into the cab and shut her door. When he cranked the engine, she flipped the radio to the country station.

  “You’re killing me,” Ryan grumbled but left it.

  “You can’t drive a truck like this and not listen to it. It’s sacrilege.”

  The banter continued until they reached Enchanted Valley Acres. As they pulled in, Jackie felt a pang of nostalgia.

  “You got quiet. For once.”

  “Looks like home. We never went pumpkin picking because we grew them on the farm.”

  Pallets lined a dirt road outside a large red barn. Families walked languidly around, searching for the perfect pumpkin.

  “You never went to one of these places?”

  She smoothed a flyaway hair down. “Nope.”

  “This is going to be so fun then,” Ryan said while rubbing his hands together. He had a mischievous glint in his eye.

  “They’re pumpkins . . .” When Ryan pointed up the hill, Jackie immediately understood what he had planned. “Oh, shit! Really? A slide?”

  “Yup, and mini golf and a petting zoo, hayrides and a corn maze,” he rambled. “Think you can handle the awesomeness?”

  Jackie laughed. “Think you can keep up?” She unbuckled and all but leapt from the truck. Jackie took off running up the hill without bothering to look over her shoulder for Ryan. She knew he wouldn’t be far behind. She climbed the stairs two at a time, until she hit a wall of kids waiting. When she turned, Ryan was nowhere to be seen.

  She looked down the hill, sweeping the scenery slowly until she spotted him. He was only just now making his way up to her. She popped out a hip and waited, giving him a pointed look until he reached her.

  “There’s admission,” he deadpanned.

  Jackie bit her lip to contain her smile. “Whoops,” she said.

  From the top of the slide, the view of the farm was stunning. It was at least two hundred feet long. They were the only adults in line without kids but it didn’t bother her. Jackie loved defeating people’s snap judgments of her. Ryan handed her a burlap sack before getting his own. They stuck themselves in and sat.

  “Ready?” Ryan asked. She reached out, grabbed his hand and gave herself the biggest scoot she could muster. Ryan let a surprised holler out as she tugged him sideways next to her. The slide wasn’t scary. More exhilarating than anything. She laughed the entire way to the bottom. She laughed even harder when Ryan slid to a stop next to her, horizontal instead of vertical.

  “That was awesome. And the view was incredible,” she said.

  “I wouldn’t know, I only saw half of it.” Her favorite thing about him was his chuckle. Not his laugh. His chuckle vibrated deep in his chest and came out staccato sounding. He laughed all the time, but he rarely chuckled. It was a sound, she liked to think, he reserved only for her ears. Certainly not secret, but a nuance she noticed and everyone else overlooked. They ditched their sacks, watched two other kids come down and decided to hit up the corn maze.

  “I think we should take different routes. First one to make it through wins,” Ryan said.

  Jackie smirked.

  “Let’s make this interesting. Wins what?” she asked.

  His cheeks were pink from running and the brisk weather. His eyes sparkled and she suddenly knew where this was leading to.

  Ryan stopped and thought it over before mischievously grinning at her. He shoved his hands in his pockets and said, “A kiss.”

  Jackie mustered her best, I’m-not-amused face, but in truth, her stomach somersaulted at the idea.

  “That’s the best you can come up with?” She took him in, his collar high under the clear blue sky. His eyes sparkled in the sun. She loved how he stared at her.

  He kicked the dirt at his feet.

  “Yeah. Maybe it is.” They were both feeling self-conscious, bashful at the exchange.

  Jackie laughed and started jogging. “Okay then,” she called over her shoulder.

  She faintly heard Ryan groan, followed by his heavy footfalls. They bumped into each other after two minutes, but Ryan turned and bolted away before she could stop laughing long enough to speak. Roughly ten minutes later, Jackie was fairly certain she was lost. And lost would equate to losing. And losing meant she would have to kiss Ryan. Jackie sped up her pace, she went left, then right and left again and kept ending up in the same spot. It all looked the same, endless walls of corn stalks rustling in the wind. The game was exhilarating and panic inducing all at once. She jumped as high as she could to try and see over the corn stalks. Jackie was a natural jumper, but she needed space to run. For a second she considered giving up, but she was competitive by nature and couldn’t let him win. He’d never let her live it down.

  In her failure to find the end, she realized that she’d never picked what she would win if she got out first.

  Stupid.

  Finally she heard giggling girls nearby and their parents calling them to come out. She knew she must be near the exit, so she followed the sound of the little voices and soon enough, she was in the clear.

  She exited the corn maze and to her surprise, didn’t see Ryan anywhere. Jackie gave a little hoot and danced around, only to be interrupted by the clearing of someone’s throat.

  She turned to face it. He stood grinning with two Styrofoam cups of steaming apple cider in his hands.

  “What happened, did you get lost?” he asked raising an eyebrow.

  “Shit,” she muttered, causing Ryan to chuckle.

  He set the cups on the bench to her left and approached her with a swagger in his step. She held her breath. It was rare that she didn’t know what to do but watching him come at her with such fierce determination, blew her mind. Why get wound up over a kiss? Jackie questioned herself.

  He stopped inches from her, wrapped one hand around the back of her neck and the other circled her waist. He bowed his head until his lips were mere centimeters from hers.

  “Jackie Bowen, I’m going to kiss the shit out of you,” he whispered.

  When his lips pressed to hers, Jackie’s world stopped. Gone were the giggling kids, the other voices, gone were the goats bleating in the barn. The chill in the air seemed to suddenly warm. His lips were hot. Soft like rose petals. He tasted sweet like cider. She moaned involuntarily.

  Ryan went in deeper. He nipped at her bottom lip. Tongues caressed and explored. Her hands fisted in the collar of his jacket. He was ruining all future kisses for her. No man would ever live up t
o this kiss. Moderation became a memory, as she let herself be swept up. In that moment, Jackie wanted to take Ryan in doses that were large enough to kill.

  When he finally released her, Jackie stumbled back a step, blinking. Her fingers lifted and brushed against her lips. She huffed, as if she were winded. She tried to act angry but it was impossible.

  Ryan stared at her in a way that made her feel as though she were naked for everyone there to witness. He grinned, adjusted his coat, and grabbed the ciders, which were not steaming any longer. She was steaming. His chest puffed out as he handed a cup to her.

  “Now, that was a fucking kiss.”

  Chapter 5

  Ryan

  It was the day before Thanksgiving and Ryan was in her room while she packed. She threw jeans and socks into her small rolling suitcase. He felt a swell of pride in his chest when he saw her toss in the jersey he’d bought her with his name and number on the back. She packed like a teenage boy, throwing random things down on top on each other, her textbooks, some bras, at one point an apple.

  “Did you just pack an apple?” he asked her.

  “Huh? Oh.” Jackie said. She grabbed it out and she tossed it at him over her shoulder. He caught it and shined it on his Henley, then took a giant bite.

  “Hey, Jacks. You nervous about going home?” He wanted to comfort her, say all of the right things, even though he didn’t have a clue of what they were. He couldn’t take away her sadness, he certainly couldn’t bring back her mom.

  “Not nervous. I just get stressed, you know. Mom’s gone. It’s only my Dad now running the whole farm. He’s getting older—it’s a hellofa lot of work. Soybean prices aren’t great. My sisters are young. I mean, boys, pimples, periods, losing your virginity. I’m not there to help them out, you know. Oh my God, never mind!”

  She blew out an exhale in frustration and attacked her overstuffed suitcase that obviously wasn’t going to close.

  Ryan stood to help, practically had to wrestle it out of her hands so he could give her a hand. Jackie didn’t like to take, it was like she was always on the offensive. He pulled her laptop and a few textbooks out in silence. Then he pulled the zipper closed easily and put the rest in her backpack. The whirring sound of the zipper was obscenely loud in their quiet. Ryan imagined Jackie zipping her heart closed, a fist-sized windbreaker inside her chest to conceal it.

  “Thanks,” She said.

  “I want to help. I want to hear. I want you to feel okay telling me, too.”

  She nodded her head and stared past him out the window.

  “Breast cancer. She was only thirty-four. It was rough.”

  The tears that welled up in her eyes were plain since she was standing in profile in front of the window. The gray-white light of late November felt sterile and harsh. Jackie sniffed and one tear fell. She wiped at it with her forearm.

  “I get it. I’m sorry. Come here.”

  He beckoned her into his open embrace. She flung herself into the hug and squeezed really tightly. She was vulnerable in that moment and Ryan could intuit that she wasn’t the type of woman to let that happen so easily. Or ever let it happen, period.

  “So, you’re little mom. That’s why you have to go home—to take care of everyone else.”

  “Something like that. Mia and Angel mean everything to me. Without them, I might not have been able to keep going. They are such good girls, both of them. They didn’t deserve a life without a mom.”

  “Neither did you,” he whispered into her hairline.

  Ryan could feel her heart pounding against his chest. The connection gave him a rush like nothing he’d ever felt.

  He wanted to unzip her wounded heart, trace the open and vulnerable line with his tongue.

  “Treat you to Starbucks before you hit the road?”

  “It’s my turn. I owe you.” She said and yanked her suitcase off the bed.

  “God, Jacks, can no one ever do anything for you without you biting their head off? We get it, you’re independent, self-sufficient, strong! Everybody sees that! Let the football player carry your suitcase! Let your best friend buy you a fucking cup of coffee!”

  “I’ll get you next time, then.”

  She flashed him her smile, the one that nearly knocked him off his feet. Jackie wasn’t just pretty, she was the whole package—if only she’d open up, too. She pulled a stocking cap on her head and stuck her tongue out at him.

  Baby steps, he told himself, as he threw her backpack over his shoulder.

  Jesus Christ. He was falling in love with her.

  Chapter 6

  Jackie

  The rental car decidedly did not tolerate washboard dirt roads well. Jackie jostled all over the driver’s seat, cursing her way up to the house. She would have taken the bus but the shitty rental car and gas were actually cheaper and she needed to save all the pennies she could. When she pulled in, the rear view mirror showed a cloud of swirling dirt the length of the driveway. She cracked her neck and stared at the front door. Heaving a great sigh, she pushed her door open and stood. Before she could open the back door and retrieve her backpack and suitcase, Mia and Angel were tearing down the front steps, squealing and shouting and headed right for her.

  Jackie felt her eyes crinkle at the edges and her cheeks hurt from smiling so hard. “Girls!” she shouted as she caught—as best she could—her sisters in a massive hug. Unfortunately for her, catching running fifteen and seventeen year old girls resulted in being tackled hugged right there into the dirt next to the car. She squeezed both girls to her, as they started in—both babbling at once.

  “Dad didn’t even work today,” Angel said and pouted.

  “Tyler Kendell asked me out,” Mia squealed.

  “OMG, Jackie, Kratch and Robin were totally asking about you and if you’d be home this week for break.” Angel pushed her hair out of her face and sat back on her haunches. Mia pulled Jackie’s hand until she was sitting, too.

  “Ang, stop, let me tell her about Tyler first.”

  Jackie held up her hands. “Whoa. Stop. One at a time, and can I please get inside the house first?”

  Angel laughed. She stood, grabbed the backpack from the backseat and dusted off her jeans before marching to the house. Mia, the more sensitive one, walked with Jackie, swooning over some dude named Tyler.

  “Is that my girl?” Jackie’s father’s voice sounded what she imagined the Marlboro Man sounded like. Raspy, breathy and deep.

  “Hi, Pops,” Jackie said. She abandoned her suitcase to hug her dad. He smelled like tobacco and motor oil. Mack Bowen wasn’t a very emotive man, but he did his best when it came to his three daughters. “I heard you didn’t do a lick of work today.” Her dad pulled back, kissed her cheek and rolled his eyes toward Angel.

  “She rat me out already?”

  “Dad. Come on. We need to get everything winterized,” Angel retorted. Thank god she had a brain in her head because Jackie wouldn’t be able to motivate her dad via phone from school.

  “It’s one day, for crying out loud. Can we all just relax and visit for a little bit?”

  “I just drove forever and I want to sit and stare at your faces,” Jackie said. She plopped onto the worn couch.

  “How’s my smartest kid?” her dad asked. Angel rolled her eyes. Mia grunted and sat down as close as possible to Jackie.

  “Pops, you gotta stop that. It’s not nice,” Jackie said. But secretly, it did make her proud when he said it.

  He waved his hand through the air as if her scolding him was pure nonsense. “Are you going to tell us or what?”

  “It’s great. I love my classes. I love the campus. I love . . .

  “Ryyyyan,” Mia sing-songed.

  “Who’s Ryan?” her dad asked.

  “Jesus, you guys. He’s my best friend. That’s it.”

  “Uh huh . . . but daddy, every single time we call to talk to her, he’s always with her.”

  “You being safe?”

  “Pops, we’re just friends.
Seriously. Friends. Now, Mia, when’s driver’s ed?”

  Mia grinned. “I can take it after Christmas.”

  “Angel, are you on course to graduate in May?” Jackie asked. Angel looked sheepish but nodded. “Dammit, Ang, you have to go to school. Every. Day.”

  “That’s what I tell her,” dad said.

  Jackie made a face at her father. He definitely never chimed in on getting anyone to school because he rarely noticed what anyone else was up to.

  “I’m starving. Let’s eat,” Jackie said. She had four days to pick fights. Today she just wanted to savor her family.

  When Kratch and Robin from the neighboring farm called to invite the three girls over for some fun, Jackie was staring out the window, thinking of Ryan. She missed him already. She wondered what his house was like during the holidays. He probably had parents who decorated. The house probably smelled of apple pies and chocolate chip cookies. She shook the thoughts from her head and looked around. She could never bring a guy like him to her house. It was dilapidated, at best. Her sister wasn’t kidding when she’d said they needed to winterize. There were holes in floorboards and a roof that needed to be patched and insulated to help keep the heat in. There was wood to be chopped to make sure they had heat all winter. Her father refused to fill up the oil tank more than once a quarter, which meant they had to supplement with the woodstove. She would need to hit the grocery store and stock them up on non-perishables and make sure she took the junker Angel drove to the shop for a tune up. As she ticked items off in her head, Mia bounded through her bedroom door.

  “Guess who’s going to Kratch’s tonight?” Jackie shrugged. Mia pouted. “Don’t be a downer. Jimmy and Jonny.”

  “Sounds like fun,” she said.

  “And daddy said that I’m allowed to stay as late as you tonight.” Mia appeared to nearly burst at the seams. Jackie laughed.

  “Alright, but you aren’t allowed outta my sight. And no booze. You’re too young.”