"A dog? What kind of dog?" Jack didn't look very keen on the idea. "Why do you want a dog?"
Beside me, Anna looked slightly guilty, as though she knew it was her stories of her childhood that had me wanting a dog, just like she had. Which was weird, because I didn't even really like dogs. I mean, I had nothing against them, but I'd never had much to do with them, either. But Anna had made having a dog sound like fun.
I shrugged. "I dunno. I just want one."
"Is it because of what I said?" Anna asked. "About Rupert?"
I nodded. "Partly."
James gave Anna a strange look, I had no idea what it meant, but she gave him a sheepish smile back. "I was telling her about my childhood," she explained.
"You can probably get a pet of some sort," Jack said. "But I'm not sure about a dog. It's a lot of work to look after a dog. You'll have to talk to Damon about it, and run it by the other boys. You might have more luck trying to get a kitten."
I was going to pout, and complain, but when I thought about it, I probably wanted a kitten more than a dog, anyway. And a kitten would be much easier to care for. It didn't need daily walks, for one thing. And I didn't know anything about dogs anyway. So instead, I smiled and nodded.
"Okay, I'll ask Damon. Kittens are cute."
Because I'd hurt my knee and couldn't skate any more, we left the rink.
Jack carried me out to the car as I clutched my hot chocolate and Anna carried our skates. For such a glamorous woman, she was pretty down-to-earth. I liked her, even though it pained me to admit it. I'd been fully ready to not like her, and to even go out of my way to not like her if need be, but she truly was nice. It was a bit annoying, really. It meant I had to be nice to her and accept her into Jack's life, because he would punish me if I didn't. I didn't like getting in trouble with my Jacky. It was so much worse than getting in trouble with Damon.
"So, what did you think of Anna?" Jack asked me, once we were in the car driving home. I'd sat in the seat and made gagging noises out the window as they'd kissed goodbye, but I don't know why they bothered, seeing as she was coming over tonight. Now that Jack didn't have to hide her away anymore, they were obviously going to make the most of it.
"She's nice," I admitted grudgingly. "I like her a lot. She's not allowed to steal you away from me though," I warned him.
Jack grinned and patted my knee. The not-sore one.
"You already know that's not going to happen. You probably won't see her very much, she's flying out to New York on Monday for work. I'll be joining her for a few days."
Jack looked at me briefly to gauge my reaction before turning his attention back to the road.
I pushed back the jealousy that welled up inside me.
"Do you usually travel with her?"
"No." Jack shook his head. "But there's some business in New York that needs to be taken care of, so I can do that at the same time. She'll be back late Friday night - the pool party is next weekend. Remember? She doesn't want to miss that. You'll be able to invite your friends, too."
Successfully distracted, I forgot that Jack was leaving me, and started thinking about the pool party. Logan had told me a little bit about it - they were huge affairs, with dozens of people invited. Damon hired wait staff to walk around with trays of food and drinks, and he and Alex manned the BBQ themselves.
"That will be fun. Will we be able to swim?"
"Of course you will."
I leaned back against my seat and smiled, planning to invite my friends over group chat as soon as I got home.
My knee throbbed. I tried to bend it more, then straighten it out, trying to find a position that was comfortable but nothing worked. Why had I ever made such a stupid, mean plan?
"I have a confession to make," I told Jack in a small voice. "You know how I fell over because I was going too fast?"
"Mmhmmm."
"Well I was going fast because I was planning to knock over Anna. You two were holding hands and kissing and I didn't like it."
Jack was silent, and my heart pounded. What was he going to do?
"Why would you do that, Carrie?" he asked, sounding not exactly angry, but definitely not happy.
"I told you why."
"No you didn't, you gave me some bullshit excuse. What would you have done if she'd gotten really hurt? How would she be able to work? She'd lose her contracts. What then?"
"I didn't think about that," I admitted. "I'm sorry."
"I'm not the one you should be apologising to," Jack growled. "I'm really disappointed in you, Carrie. I thought you were a better person than that."
"I am!" I insisted. "And I did apologise to her! I told her about it when you were getting the ice for my knee."
"And what did she say?"
"She thanked me for my apology and said she understood. I'm sorry Jacky, I really am. She's a nice person and I won't ever try to hurt her again."
Jack turned to me and smiled, just a little bit.
"I'm very pleased to hear that, sweetheart. But count yourself lucky you hurt your knee. If you weren't hurt I would probably be smacking your butt right now."
I swallowed hard and sucked in a big breath. "I know."
I drank the rest of my hot chocolate then took the lid off and used my finger to scrape around the sides to get the remaining chocolatey froth and melted marshmallow. Jack shook his head in amusement as I licked the deliciousness off my finger.
"That's gross, Carrie."
"No it's not, it's yum," I corrected him.
"It's not polite," he explained.
I shrugged. "So? We're in a car, it's only me and you here. I don't get the big deal. Why let all that yumminess go to waste?"
Without taking his eyes off the road, Jack reached over and plucked the cup out of my hand and squashed it, dropping it into a small plastic trash bag tucked into the console.
"Hey!" I objected. "I wasn't done!"
"You are now."
He sounded grumpy.
"This is because I was planning to hurt Anna, isn't it?"
"What?" Jack sounded confused.
"You being grumpy. It's because I told you about my plan that failed. Remind me to keep that kind of thing to myself next time."
Jack sighed. "There better not be a next time," he scolded. "But I'm not grumpy. I just don't want you getting sticky fingers all over my car. Plus I'm worried about leaving you. I might talk to Damon about me staying and Nick sorting it instead."
"But what about Anna? Won't she be disappointed?"
"Yes, but she'll understand."
Inside, where Jack couldn't see, I leaped for joy. Just as he'd promised, he was putting me first. Relief and happiness flooded me. I didn't need him to stay, though. Not now that he'd shown me how important I was to him.
"I'll be okay," I assured him. "It's only for a couple of days, right? The others will be there with me."
In truth, I wasn't sure that I would be okay, but I was willing to try. After all, Jack couldn't stay home with me forever. I had to form bonds with the rest of my brothers, too.
After being sick, I was already pretty comfortable with Alex, and I was getting there with Nick. I was fine with Logan, and although Damon and I weren't super close, I was okay with him. It was really only Rocco I wasn't close to, but I wasn't afraid of him anymore, either. Especially not now that I knew he'd given me my beloved teddy.
"Are you sure?" Jack asked.
"Yes I'm sure. But can I text you and call you if I need to?"
Jack turned to me briefly and smiled.
"Of course you can, sweetheart. I'd miss you too much if you didn't!"
A warmth spread through me. Finally, I knew without a doubt, that I was loved and wanted and belonged.
At home, Jack parked the car in the underground garage and lifted me out gently and carried me inside. I wrapped my arms around his neck and leaned against him. I loved being carried by Jack. He made me feel so safe. My other brothers did too, to some extent, but with Jack it was just better, for some reason.