I am free

I had all of my papers in my bag and was making my way up front. Ke

“I almost forgot. My bag is in the back. You go ahead Ke

“We’ll wait.” Ke

I growled under my breath.

Only a minute later she came ru

My jaw dropped to the ground. Little Bo Peep was not what I expected, not at all. She was anything but. Her green eyes were big, almost too big for her face. Her skin was pale white, and her lips were… Damn those lips.

I’ll be damned. This girl was beautiful, just like Ke

I snapped back into the moment when someone cleared her throat. When I flicked my eyes up to meet Ke

What could I say?

She was right about this. Despite this girl’s ridiculous clothing, she was gorgeous.

More than that even. She was an angel.

“I’m Grace,” she said in a low and sweet voice. “I don’t think we’ve met.” Her eyes flicked to my face then back down. She clearly was a shy girl.

“No, I would have remembered you.” I held out my hand and waited for hers. She seemed kind of stu

She placed her tiny hand inside mine, and gently squeezed. Was she afraid of me? Her hand jerked free almost as quickly as it touched me.

“I’m Jackson.”

She looked at me briefly than anywhere else she could find. She was avoiding eye contact. To be so beautiful, she sure was withdrawn.

“Don’t mind my brother,” Ke

Following them outside, I waited for Ke

Even I was calling her names.

“Can we give you a ride home?” I asked.

I didn’t care that Ke

“No thank you,” she answered politely. “I don’t mind the walk. It’s not far.”

“It’s too damn cold,” and it was. She was only wearing a sweater. “I’ll take you.”

Her eyes grew big. “Honestly, I’m fine.”

“Well here then,” I shrugged out of my coat. She at least was going to stay warm. I held out the coat and waited for her to put it on.

“Oh dear brother, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen this side you before.” Ke

It didn’t go u

“Just take it,” I snapped.

She slid her tiny arms inside, and wrapped the jacket tightly around her. “Thank you.” She said. “I better go.”

“See you tomorrow.” Ke

“Yeah, see you tomorrow. Thank you for the coat Jackson.”

“You’re welcome. See you tomorrow.” Her head leaned to the side a little, and I smiled big. Bet she didn’t know that she’d be seeing a lot more of me.

When I got inside the car, I looked in my mirror and watched that girl walk off in the opposite direction. I couldn’t keep my eyes off her. Who was she, and where did she come from?

“I knew it. I knew it. I knew the moment that you laid eyes on that girl, that you’d be biting your tongue.” Ke

I rolled my eyes. “Okay, so she’s beautiful. I’ll admit it. What’s with that damn skirt though, and did you see her shoes?”

“Don’t be such a superficial prick Jack. She’s different. So what?”

“I’m not superficial, I’m honest. She needs some new clothes.”

“Maybe she doesn’t want new clothes,” was Ke

“Hell no. Colleen Marie would never be caught dead looking like that, so your theory is wrong.”

“Who the hell is Colleen Marie?”

“Playboy’s playmate of the month, August 2003.”

“You’re seriously disturbed brother. That fact that you know that is ridiculous. You were not looking at Playboy’s in 2003.” She huffed.

“You can search anything you want on the Internet, and that’s not the point. She looks like she’s part of some Little House on the Prairie farm.”

“Just give it up, would you? It’s not like you have a chance with her anyway. She is far too inexperienced for you.”

“That can be changed.” I gri

“Shut your face. You’re getting on my nerves.”

“Well it’s my car and if you don’t like what I have to say, then you’re welcome to walk.”

Thankfully, that shut her up.

I thought about Grace the rest of the ride home. I knew Ke

7

Grace

“So whose jacket are you wearing?” Aunt Darcy asked as soon as I walked in. Her eyes were bright and the smile was much too big for her face.

I hadn’t even thought about her seeing me in it. I couldn’t wrap my head around it myself. I’d never been around boys much, outside of my brother. It was different, and nice. Yeah, nice was a good word. Of course, I got really nervous and didn’t say much, but what could he expect from me. He saw what I looked like for goodness sakes. He couldn’t expect much. The entire walk home I kept thinking about how forthcoming he was. He wasn’t afraid to say anything, much like his sister. But the gesture of his jacket was nice. It kept me warm the entire walk home, and it smelled so good.

“It belongs to a boy named Jackson. He is Ke

She was curled up on the couch with her coffee mug, and patted the spot next to her for me to sit. “So, what does he look like? Tell me all about him?”

I sat down, but I didn’t want to say anything at first. You just weren’t supposed to talk about these things, or maybe you were and I’d just been doing it all wrong all of these years. But whom was I supposed to talk to, certainly not my mother. And this was the hottest boy that I’d ever spoke to. Besides, he was the only boy I’d ever spoken to.

I couldn’t contain myself any longer. “Oh Darcy, you should have seen him. He’s so handsome. He has this dark brown hair, that is almost black, and it was fixed perfectly. I’m not sure what he uses on it, but it never moves.” She laughed and I continued. “He’s really tall too. Well, you can tell by this jacket, and he says whatever he’s thinking. Like, he doesn’t care what comes out of his mouth. I’ve never met anyone like him.”