Jack Who? (Book 1 Draft Version)

PART TWO~CHAPTER : 32

warning, steamy at the end of this chapter

♪♫••═════ PART TWO~CHAPTER : 32 ═════••♬ ♭

"We roll out in twenty minutes? Just double checking." Dax asked from the entry hall. One of Jack's bags hung on his shoulder, and Jack's laptop case was in his hand.

Jack flashed a grin and cut his eyes from me to his assistant. "Oh I know what you are doing. And it's not double checking." At this, Dax actually ducked his head in humility and Jack went on, "Yes, twenty minutes. Go get gas or something. "

"What was he doing?" I wondered from my perch at the bottom of the stairs. For almost an hour, I had watched the two of them load the car. The previous evening, a crew had arrived, loading and leaving with the gear that was going on tour with him.

Jack dropped to the stair beside me and played with my hair. "It was a subtle reminder to get started if we were having one last go for the road."

"Oh." My eyes dropped to our feet, absently comparing the size of his against mine. Jack and I had been up all night 'saying good-bye.'

Tender. Desperate. Whimsical. Passionate. Our last sex before he went on the road had been done a half a dozen different ways.

Pressing my thumb and forefinger to the corners of my eyes, I closed them as I leaned my head on his shoulder and whispered, "This is so hard."

"I know honey. Believe me I know..."

His face dropped to my hair, and when his arm wrapped my waist, I dropped one of mine hooking his jean encased thigh. His breath became ragged with emotion, and when he moved his head in a slight nuzzle, my lips pressed to the soft cotton of his tee shirt.

"I'm going to go tell Tristan bye. I will be right back..."

Propping my elbows on my knees, I dropped my head summoning all my self-control not to cry. Jack was back in five minutes, and this time he hauled me into his lap as he sat down.

The kiss was gentle, desperate, wild, and sweet. On and on, until his phone beeped. Stiffening, he brushed his lips against mine, then crushed them to me one last time.

My body immediately chilled without his warmth, and my ears cringed against the click of the door latch.

The house felt suddenly and sickeningly empty.

For five minutes, I glumly stared at the door before weakly pulling myself up from the stairs. In a drunken like stagger, I trudged the hall, pausing to check on Tristan, where he was napping on the couch with Rusty, before continuing to the end.

The music room. Twisting the knob, I leaned against the door, then pushed it open. With a flip of the light, I ignored the directors chairs, sliding instead to the floor with my back against the wall.

The wall opposite where I sat was my focus. The blank spots, where guitars always hung, stood out now that they were empty. Nine. He had taken nine total, and I occupied my brain by recalling practices and creating a game of placing which guitar was missing with which song it went with.

From the other room, I heard the lone beep of my phone and surged to my feet. Tristan looked up as I sprinted into the den, but sleepily went back to his show.

JACK

Missing you something awful

11:45 PM

***

"He sent a text less than fifteen minutes after leaving." I made the confession to Olivia. The phone was on speaker and propped on the counter top, as I moved around the kitchen cooking cheese casadias. "And he calls as soon as he wakes up, and we text all day. In fact, a couple of times, we talked all day since this part of the tour they are in the bus."