-Chapter Twelve-
(Classic Flirt)
Jackson was amused.
Half an hour after waking up, Jackson texted his secretary to let her know he was not going to work today, adding on that he might be out for the rest of week too. The phone had been buzzing right after he left it on top of his dresser, it was too early to handle those shit tons of work when he had two babies to take care of. Speaking of the twins, Jackson headed inside the nursery room and settled into his morning routine. Jeremy and James were up within hour, and Jackson only had to deal with five minutes of crying before having the bottles ready for them. He was getting the hang of it and he even managed to take a quick shower without the twins noticing he was gone for a good ten minutes.
The day was rather uneventful compared to one prior, Jackson spent half the morning playing with the twins, getting a few documents done while they napped and going back to peek-a-boo for another hour. He did check his phone once out of curiosity, he groaned and immediately regretted because the secretary had reminded him the over heaps of contracts he was supposed to sign for the showcase to launch in the mall.
Forge my signature, Jackson replied and escaped the room, hoping he made the right decision without violating any law. It was around noon with Jackson sitting on a stool and feeding both of the boys some avocado and banana mash that Dustin decided to emerge from his bedroom. One look at those bloodshot eyes Jackson knew his best friend had an extremely wild night without him, it wasn't Dustin's fault that Jackson couldn't go out but he still nurtured a distaste for not even getting an invitation. An evil thought sprouted in his mind when he noticed Dustin was moaning and clutching his forehead for dear life while heading to the fridge in the kitchen. Childish or not, there was no one to judge him aside from his own sons as he put down the bowl and knocked on his wooden table with his knuckles, creating a loud annoying rhythmic noise.
Jackson didn't stop it there, he only brought James out from the high chair (Jeremy was dozing off) and held him up in the air before Itsy Bitsy Spider came out from his mouth. Dustin had to stop himself from choking on the milk before running across the kitchen floor to get in front of Jackson, covering his best friend's mouth with his palm to save his own eardrums. Even with the hand on his mouth, Jackson muttered out the lyrics in half hum and wiggled his brows animatedly at the older twin. James started to swat Dustin on the arm until he begrudgingly removed his hand and went on to cover his ears instead, apparently James adored his father's voice more than Dustin ever would. James's face lit up in an instant when Jackson decided to do a short drum loops to fill the interchange gap for the next song, Old MacDonald, that was Dustin's final wit end. It certainly did not help as the random beats were thumping with Dustin's headache, the pain was unbearable that he ran the whole way to the bathroom and emptied the milk he just drank down the drain.
"That's what you get when you mess with a dad!" Dustin groaned from the bathroom down the hallway and Jackson took it as a defeat. He finished up the rest of the mash and wiped kitchen floor with a wet rag, the younger twin spat out his mash when his father wasn't looking and he acted like nothing happened until Jackson felt the lump under his feet while he was preparing the coffee for Dustin. Jackson was kneeling and scrubbing the avocado stain when someone entered the kitchen, he didn't bother to tell Dustin to walk the other way while he was working on the left side of the kitchen because Dustin would probably make his way toward the coffee maker which was on the other side anyway.
"I made some coffee for you, I know how you like to bitch about not having enough caffeine in your system in a day."
"I don't really bitch about caffeine, I do bitch about not having enough alcohol in my system though."
That was not Dustin, Jackson nearly hit his head against the counter and had a heart attack at the sight of Andrienne Walker leaning against the sink in a towel and nothing else. The sound of his own heartbeat ratchet up the second his eyes landed on her cleavage was enough shot of caffeine for Jackson to last a few days. He couldn't even act like he wasn't startled, or in this case, turned on. Jackson cleared his throat and turned his back at her, facing the other way to hide his embarrassment away from plain sight. He should have changed out the sweatpants, and he should really learn to wear an underwear in the house. Screw that, it was his house until someone invaded that privacy.
"Morning," Andrienne said politely, dumping four sugar-cubes into her cup and following it up with a splash of low fat milk.
"Morning," Jackson responded, his brain was too occupied with images to correct the time of day. Jackson did not know what was wrong with him, he had seen women naked all the time -not that Andrienne was- during the shoots and he did not even spare a glance at them. He had been on photoshoot with Naomi Campbell in lingerie and he hadn't been this affected.
Maybe it was business back then and right now Andrienne was standing casually in his kitchen wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around her body. He jumped when he heard the stool near him was being pulled, Andrienne took the seat at the kitchen counter where the twins at, drinking a sip from her cup before putting it down. He wasn't sure what was happening, he was still looking at the cabinet and avoiding direct eye contact with the woman that shouldn't even be here.
"Why are you staring at the cabinet?"
"I'm admiring the fine wood."
Fuck, Jackson stopped the groan in the back of his throat. Thankfully she was completely ignorant of what was happening in Jackson's brain... and his sweatpants. Then he heard the woman cooing at the twins and if he recalled correctly, the baby seats were facing where he was so Andrienne had to be facing away from where he was standing. He chanced a glance behind at Andrienne to see that she was indeed playing with Jeremy, and it was relief that she let her hair down over her back to block out any skin visible to Jackson's eyes.
He seized the opening and tried to back out the kitchen without her noticing but his footsteps were halted when Dustin walked in on him blushing. Their eyes met for a fraction of second before one of the two took a glance down south, to the half naked woman at the kitchen counter and put two and two together, a devilish smile was seen on the man who wasn't guilty and a frightful look on the one who was.
Dustin reared back, knowing Jackson was going to grab him, and ducked smoothly at the flailing arms to get ahead to the place he knew Jackson wouldn't follow, a foot in front of Andrienne, not with that condition he was having and Dustin pretty sure it wouldn't go down any minute since he understood very well how charming Andrienne's body was, for straight boys anyway.
"Sleep well, babe?" He poured himself a cup of fresh brewed coffee, smirking at a furious Jackson giving him a perturbed, disgusted look behind the counter as he took a sip at the bitterness.
It was fun to see how affected Jackson was being, the man practically had hundreds of women being all over him, naked or not, this was the first time he had ever seen Jackson trying to hide his embarrassment like he was afraid what Andrienne thought of him. Jackson was a petulant man, he was the kind of man Dustin's grandma reminded him not to become, no man was worth the time of day if he didn't know how to treat his lady right. It personally did not apply to Dustin's life since grandma never found out how Dustin liked his man, or that he liked man. Seeing how Jackson flustered over a woman was a rare sight, the divorce broke Jackson further of what he was before. That gold digger was lucky enough to escape before Dustin could sink his claws into those plastic breasts and ass. Somehow Dustin caught a glimpse of the old Jackson when he was with the twins, a grumpy Jackson but a complete one nevertheless.
"It was fine, the bed is too soft for my back since I'm used to my bed being hard and firm"
"Well Jackson is the only one in the house who has the hard one," Jackson covered his face with his hand and shook his head. Andrienne was still ignorant, that was, if the way she was nodding thoughtfully was any indication.
"I see the appeal of having a softer bed, the twins might like it once they grow up but don't let them sleep there until they could move, if not they might sink and suffocate themselves around the blanket."
It was inappropriate to laugh when someone was trying to educate you but Dustin did, imagine an oblivious half-naked woman sitting there only in a towel and teaching a very aroused and strangely focused guy the proper care of raising a kid, it would be a sin not to find it funny.
The previous night had become an interesting night for Dustin, it wasn't his first night in a straight club and trust him, there was nothing interesting in a straight club, it was the part Andrienne telling him how Jackson would be the perfect candidate for her brother that was interesting. The story got captivating and ridiculous as it went when she asked how Dustin had a hold of such fine man himself and did it take a lot of time to take Jackson out of the closet. It was then he realized Andrienne had no idea Mr. Ford was a straight man who had an ex-wife before, he nearly choked on his glass of tequila when Andrienne began to probe on the sex topic. She must be hiding under a rock to not know who Jackson Ford was, he was nominated for Top 10 Most Eligible Model Bachelor on Forbes for god sake.
"I think you should change out into something," Dustin raised a brow at Andrienne, "less revealing."
"You know I always wash my dress in the morning, I have nothing else to wear and not that you mind anyway." Andrienne replied while caressing Jeremy's head tenderly, making the older twin grin from ear to ear.
"I do actually, no gay man wants to stare a pair of breasts unless he's going to criticize them."
"Not every gay man is an ass like you, Dustin." Then Andrea stood up and walked toward Jackson, who already had calmed himself enough to face them and now he was closing his eyes and holding onto the counter-top behind for dear life without missing a beat to answer the spontaneous boobs question from the crazy woman.
"Yeah," Jackson got out between breaths, although his eyes weren't even looking which Dustin pretty sure his best friend wanted to but out of god know what, Jackson refused to allow his eyes to rove over the woman's chest when she asked him to.
What a gentleman.
"Oh no, you're not looking. Are they really not good enough?"
Dustin fucking needed air, he was wheezing out between laughs for a good minute and he did not know if he could survive this stomach cramp from this unbearable laughter. The tears were rolling down from his eyes, his laughing was so contagious that the twins started to join in, clapping their small hands as cheers. The second he recovered and finally able to breathe normally, he decided it was time to save his best friend who was now being cornered by a very angry woman who demanded a truth about her bosom.
"Stop torturing the poor straight man with your breasts, Andrea."
"What?" Both heads turned to look at him.
"He's straight, Andrea, he's straight."
"No he isn't."
"Actually I am." Jackson began to tiptoe away from the counter.
"No you're not."
"Andrea," Dustin motioned at the awkward crouching Jackson was holding, "he loves boobs."
Andrea turned her glance further down, face getting redder when her gaze dropping lower to his chest and lower, lingering, way too long, and finally she screamed.
And boy did she scream.
-
Jackson was still having quite a headache even it felt wonderful to see Andrienne punching Dustin in the groin. He had it coming, that was a shitty move to make for cheap entertainment and when said entertainment was Jackson himself. The twins had been crying along with Andrienne's meltdown, completely frightened by her exaggerated reaction. Thankfully Andrienne stopped immediately and took care of the situation and it was indeed an incredible sight to see how great she handled the twins back and forth without breaking a sweat. Dustin was gone by the time the twins quieted down and Jackson grabbed the idle time to take a long cold shower, and he was relieved he didn't need to use the bar soap to wash his hair again.
The cold water felt amazing running down over his body, taking all the tension away from his shoulders and of course, down there. He slowly soaped himself up and cleaned off that weird baby smell, he did not mind the smell when it was on the twins but not on him. He actually groaned as he massaged his scalps with the lemon flavored shampoo, steady and sure in his movements and feeling every thought dissipated from his mind instantly. Gratitude was all he could think of and how long he had been off without such leisure was unimportant now, all he could feel the suds sliding out of his hair and down his back.
He turned off the water once he had enough and wrapped a towel around his waist before walking out the bathroom, Jackson glanced around but he couldn't find any clean clothes and he was not going to wear the same shirt that had multiple stains. Carefully he padded barefoot and peeked out from his bedroom door, checking if Andrienne was around before making his way toward the laundry room at the end of the hallway. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding as he reached the room unnoticed, he shouldn't have this kind of fear in his own damned apartment but his hand still clutched tightly at the towel around his waist.
He wasn't expecting the door to open and holy shit, Andrienne was incredibly hot in the short dress. Her eyes widened and she looked Jackson wet near-naked form up and down and then hissed, "we should stop seeing each other like this," and grabbed the door knob, Jackson had to put a hand on the door to stop the slamming.
"Sorry, I'm just-I, um, can you open the door? I want to take my clothes from the dryer," Jackson said, biting his lip nervously. "They are really in the dryer, I promise," he explained. Man, he had never going to leave his room again without double-and-triple checking if he had his apartment all by himself. The door swung open suddenly and Jackson nearly fell forward without the extra force, holding himself right up and walking straight for the dryer. He noticed the twins were buck naked in the laundry basket surrounded with fresh clothes and Jackson had to look back at the woman behind the door, trying hard to make herself invisible.
"They threw up on themselves, you probably fed too frequently between the hours." Andrienne motioned at the running dryer, "I think I put your clothes in the basket too."
She was definitely staring at his torso, Jackson wasn't self-cautious about his physique since he made sure all those diets and work-out sessions paid out well at the end. His body looked great, he might not have veins threatening to pop out when he flexed or stretched but being a model meant your body had to be sculpted almost perfectly. But that was back at a time he had a fitness instructor and not a full-time father, his regimen soon fell apart and now he could hear the crying of his former manager every time he took a bite out of a taco.
Jackson smirked a little when she was caught staring, her ears going a little pink. "Um, I heard you're a busy guy so I guess you need some time to work, don't worry I'll help you to look after the twins for awhile until Dustin comes back from his beauty spa."
Andrienne was full on blushing now, this was weird. She looked adorable, though. "Um, that works for me," he replied quickly, "thank you."
The twins were already reaching out for their father as Jackson bent over, slowly gathering them into his arms. It wasn't a good idea that his arms were occupied, still he tried his best to take out his white Polo shirt, a pair of undies and sweatpants. At the verge of holding two babies and three items in his hands, he would have dropped all of them if it weren't for Andrienne's rescue. She quickly took both of the twins out from his arms, the sudden absence of weight took him by surprise that Jackson actually fell forward this time. Instinct came fast for Jackson, fortunately his hands able to break his fall as he sighed in relief.
"That was close," Jackson grumbled, pushing himself up from the ground.
The towel slipped to the floor
Andrienne took a deep breath.
"At least now we are even?"
Andrienne looked up and blinked in surprise.
-
When Dustin came back after three hours, he blatantly ignored the bright red mark on Jackson's right cheek as he grabbed a glass of water in the kitchen. He only came out after he had completely restored his body fluid system, he was so thirsty on the way back he thought he might die in this awful New York traffic. Normally they would have plenty water served around the place for the customers but the jug of water he was offered in the saloon had cucumbers inside, no matter how reassuring the woman sounded Dustin just couldn't imagine drinking a vegetable juice that were meant to put on your face. Shuddering, Dustin flopped onto the couch next to Jackson who was staring at the reruns of House of Mickey like it was offending him. Andrienne on the other hand had a gloomy look on her face even though there were two adorable babies sitting right in front of her, Dustin raised a brow before picking up small James into his lovely arms.
"Did something happen?"
"Nothing happened," both of them spoke up simultaneously and well, Dustin wasn't a fool to fall for that.
"Uh huh," James made a content noise, snuggling into his godfather's chest. The kid was too cute that Dustin forgot what he was going to say except grinning like an idiot and cooing at the already falling asleep baby. The two adults looked at each other for a fraction of second, warning each other through some form of telepathic to not say a thing about the incident and somehow they managed to reach an agreement because Dustin would never let this go if he knew, they already made a fool out of themselves this morning and that piece of information was enough to haunt them forever.
Little did he know Dustin saw the whole thing, somehow pretending to be having a one-sided conversation with a baby was a good distraction for any occasion. Their secret wouldn't be secret too long, a few drinks and Andrienne would spill the beans all over the table, just a matter of time.
Oddly Dustin felt this could work, both of them being together, obviously they were not the best pairing he had encountered, not good but not bad either.
And now he hoped Andrienne could be what Jackson needed to get back on track.
And maybe, Dustin thought, she needs him as much he needs her.
+_+
Sorry it took a long time to finish up this chapter, writing in Jackson's life is a bit not in my usual vibe. Before anyone giving any hate comments about Jackson's sexuality, please bear in mind that I have never written anything SOLID regarding Jackson's sexual orientation until now. I have planned this from the beginning of this story, so you're welcome.
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