12Author's Note: Please excuse this big mess! I feel it might be hard to understand and the thought process of my characters is as incoherent as my own. I hope you enjoy it anyway! :)
Leaping On You
Oh. It was on.
She burst out of the doors of the movie theatre, sprinting to catch up with the tall figure that was her older brother, who had the absolute nerve to lock her in the men's bathroom. Her bare feet hit the pavement with aggression as she barred her teeth once she cleared twenty feet of him.
His unsuspecting stance- one hand in pocket, the other jingling his keys absentmindedly, fed to her gain. The hood of his dark jacket was up, denying him his peripherals, so when she leaped up onto his tall back and wrapped her limbs around him, he hadn't a clue.
She put him in a chokehold, "WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM?" whilst beginning to shout intense threats and profanities. "I'M GOING TO CASTRATE YOU SO HARD-" Her brother was trying to pry her arms from around his neck, shouting things, but her yells over powered his. "I DIDN'T GET TO SEE THE REST OF THE MOVIE, YOU FUCK! WHO LOCKS HIS SISTER IN A DISGUSTING MALE'S RESTROOM?"
Goldie was so absorbed in shouting mindless threats and facts that she barely freaked when someone's arms snaked around her midriff to pry her off of her asshole of a brother.
"GOLDIE!" She heard hazily out of her blood and rage filled head, as she was flailing to latch back onto her brother's form and strangle the shit out of him. And then it came clearer. "GOLDIE!"
"WHAT?" She shrieked, ripping herself away from the yells, as she spun around, pinning her holder with a ferocious glare.
And then she could have fainted, because the person that had the nerve to grab her was, in fact, the same person that had the nerve to lock her in the men's restroom of their grungy movie theatre.
Her idiot brother, Ryan.
Lucky, for him, she was too stunned to summon the complete and total rage to attack him like she did the probably-gasping stranger behind her, so instead she settled with punching him in the face.
Ryan stumbled backward, right into the open parking lot. Good, Goldie thought. Maybe he'll get backed over.
But then was not the time to enjoy the show of her younger-by-one-year brother bleeding onto the pavement, because
1) Her fist was pulsing with the pain that resulted in slamming it against her brother's unnaturally hard jaw, and
2) She had some nerve and shame-induced apologizing to do.
Goldie whirled to the boy behind her who, as it turns out, was not a boy, but instead a rugged guy (or, dare she say, man) standing defiantly and absolutely furiously, fists clenched, staring down his straight nose at her.
"I'm really hoping you're against violence towards women," was what came out of her mouth.
His glare tightened.
"I'm so sorry," she said lowly, shaking her head slowly for emphasis. "You looked so much like my brother," she jerked her thumb over her shoulder at the hopefully car-flattened eighteen-year-old behind her, "it's uncanny. I really thought you were him. I wouldn't just attack strangers in parking lots." Goldie then realized the weight of what she'd just done and felt like crawling into a hole for the rest of eternity.
What if this stranger had been an ex-convict bestiality obsessor? A serial killer with personal boundaries?! Or worse... an ex-convict bestiality obsessing serial killer with personal boundaries?! Who was she kidding, he was probably exactly that! He was probably also totally for violence towards women!
Goldie squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her fists, and absolutely wailed, "I AM SO SORRY PLEASE FORGIVE ME I HAVE NEVER DONE ANYTHING LIKE THIS YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW SORRY I AM PLEASE DON'T MURDER ME, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE-"
Then she snapped out of her childish fragmented screeching, and opened her eyes wide, reaching out to his form but obviously not touching him. Hello? Ex-convict bestiality obsessing serial killer with personal boundaries she was dealing with here. Goldie wasn't stupid.
"Take my brother," she said whole-heartedly. "He's younger, he's stronger, he's daring, he's agile, he did gymnastics, he'll last longer! He's eighteen, he's legal, he can endure more, he has nothing to live for! Please! I'm in college! I'm going places!"
Goldie was in hysterics then, hair all over her face and hands shaking, so she was more than surprised when she actually looked to the guy's face, and saw him biting his plump bottom lip to... Keep from smiling?
Goldie simply became absolutely flabbergasted when someone pushed her aside roughly. Goldie stumbled into a small white car to her right, as her brother was to her left, holding her Gucci jacket against his bleeding face, but she had no time to attack him again because she was too entranced with her brother sharing a fist pound with the ex-convict!
"Sorry about her man, she overreacts all the time."
A stoic expression back on his face, the guy slid his eyes over to Goldie, the petite brunette staring at them in shock.
"Goldie, you freak, this guy you mauled is Jackson. Jackson, this is Goldie Hopkins, my freak of a sister."
At the second 'freak' comment, Goldie stomped on over to Ryan, ripping her jacket out of his grip as he hissed in pain. She observed the damage.
"I'm not a freak," She growled at the Jackson guy. "I was already having the worst day ever, and I just wanted to watch the movie in peace but Ryan insisted on especially making my life a living hell today of all days. And he deserves my wrath!" Goldie tried making Jackson there understand, and shook her jacket in front of him. "Look at this! He brought two jackets here, and to wipe away his gross nose blood he uses mine, which cost eight times the amount his did, put together!"
Ryan rolled his eyes, but Jackson didn't seem to be listening. He was instead looking in another direction, seemingly watching people filter out of the movies. Before she had the thought to be offended, he looked back at Goldie. "You go to Harrison," he said in a deep bass.
"Yes- no," She blurted, backtracking. "Why?"
"You're the sophomore class president."
"Oh, yeah," She said, starting to smile a little bit. Familiar territory. She could do this. "You go there too? What class?"
"I don't. My brother does. He knows you."
"Who's that?"
"Josh Carter. Funny," he said, but the way he said it implied that it wasn't funny at all. "He described you as less... Hostile."
"Hostile!" She repeated, loudly. Jackson's sly look made Goldie clear her throat. She squinted off into the distance. "... Not quite sure what you're referring to."
"Right then," Jackson said, looking at his watch. "I'm off." He nodded at Ryan, who nodded back while checking to make sure his nose wasn't still bleeding, and looked at Goldie before walking off to his car.
She turned to Ryan. "Fuck you!" She roared.
"What?" Ryan cowered away. "It wasn't me-"
"Bullshit! I had to wait in that diseased bathroom, barefoot, for an hour!"
"I'm not-" Ryan started.
"Do you know the kind of physical and mental torment it brings a girl to have to stand in a filthy men's restroom for an entire hour?" She screeched.
Ryan bolted, and Goldie ran right after him, not bothering to suppress the appealing images of his tortured body from running through her mind.
It was an early afternoon when Goldie walked down the hygiene aisle at the local grocery store, looking for her favorite shampoo. It was an interesting blend of fruits that made her smell absolutely delightful. Just the way she liked for her hair to be smell, like one big Hawaiian smoothie.
Unfortunately, this shampoo was hard for her to find. She'd tried two different stores already, but neither had been in supply of her favorite hair-cleaner.
Her blue eyes scanned the rows in front of her before- viola- they landed on the adorable pineapple shaped bottle that would last her about a week in great hair smells.
Goldie flipped the lid and sniffed the perfection, and then she couldn't contain herself any longer. She squealed.
And squealed.
And squealed.
And- "Goldie?"
Goldie cut off her girly-ness as she turned leisurely toward the sound of the voice. Her stance was, hopefully, screaming "non-cha-lant" as she spotted one Josh Carter.
"Josh!" The tall dark-haired college sophomore ambled towards her, hands in pockets. "Hey, what's up?"
"I was just picking up some shit for my little sister." Goldie aww'd on cue, and watched him roll his eyes. "It's perfect you're here though; I was wondering if you'd take care of the rest of the feminine stuff."
Goldie took the list he'd thrust into her face, reading over it's contents before smiling slyly. Tampons, pads, shaving cream, razor, shampoo, deodorant and eyeliner. She looked up at him, laughing.
"I've got the toothpaste, but that's just about all I could handle," he shrugged, unbothered.
What did he do to deserve this cruel treatment? Tampons and pads? Goldie remembered sending Ryan to pick up her menstrual supplies one time. He came back empty handed and instead told her to "do them all a favor and just get a sex change." Needless to say when she finally got her much needed supplies she played one of her favorite games of See How Many Tampons Can Fit Into Sleeping Ryan's Huge Mouth.
Seven, by the way, before he started choking on them.
"Well, Josh, it's your lucky day, because it just so happens I excel in all of these categories. Come, come," She clapped, but then stopped, grabbing three more pineapple shampoo bottles, one for his little sister, and the rest to last her a while.
While Goldie grabbed random products for the girl, Josh talked. "I've never had to buy her shit before. Well, I've picked up some stuff, but nothing like this," he motioned to the growing pile in the cart. "It's payback, I swear. She's mad because I ate her leftover Chinese."
"Well, Josh, that's a damn good reason for her to be angry," she said, shrugging.
"She's evil, Goldie. Sisters are insane." Goldie laughed openly at that, and Josh smiled, whilst checking his phone.
"So, I met your brother the other day," she said while grabbing her favorite tampons off the shelf.
"You met Jackson?" He looked at her.
"Oh, yeah I think that was maybe his name," she feigned innocence. Goldie didn't want Joshy-boy thinking she'd grown some weird fond liking toward his damn well attractive, rugged and tall brother, now did she? Psh.
"Cool, cool. How'd you two come across each other?" Josh asked, observing the box of tampons she'd chosen. Weirdo.
"That park sucks," Goldie said, swinging her arms. Josh looked at her. "I kind of made a fool out of myself, actually. I thought he was my brother, and that didn't abide well." Josh looked genuinely surprised. "He didn't say anything?"
"Well, no, but I just got back into town last night. I haven't seen him, really. He just graduated from Redcliffe."
"Impressive," she nodded. Redcliffe was a small university on the other side of the state, and a difficult one to get into. "Well, he mentioned you. That's how I knew you had a brother, and yeah," she gestured lamely.
"What'd he say about me?" Josh asked, curious.
"Just about how you'd mentioned me as class president."
"Oh, yeah," Josh was unashamed, and then suddenly let out a laugh. "You should see the class president Jackson had. He was a joke. Turned out to be emotionally unstable. Stress got to him, and he screwed things over big time." Goldie blinked, owl-eyed, and Josh smirked. "You're going to do great come August, Goldie."
"Yeah, well, we'll see." Goldie looked at the list in her hands. "Well, Joshy, I think we're good here. See you soon?"
"Text me," he said, crumpling the list in his hand and smiling at Goldie's shampoo-filled arms.
"I will! Bye!" Goldie went to go pay, her mind already drifting to Jackson Carter and his incredibly handsome handsome-ness. She resisted from sighing. She couldn't help but go through this never-ending process of crushing on guys she knew nothing about… Goldie always got in too deep. A girl thing, she assumes.
Though, she couldn't deny, there was something about this one…
Goldie tried to force his image out of her head, but to no avail. She stood in line, seeing his tall form, tan figure, shaggy dark hair, straight nose, abyss-like eyes, and his mouth- ooh, that mouth.
Her thoughts stopped short as she pulled out her wallet to pay, only to see-
Nothing. It was empty. Completely empty, except no, not completely empty, Goldie realized as she came across a torn piece of notebook paper with a messily drawn picture of a penis.
The only thing that ran through Goldie's mind as she saw red and her clenched fists slammed against the conveyor belt, effectively scaring the clerk as well as fellow customers, was that she was going to demolish her brother.
It was early in the afternoon, and Goldie and Ryan were exhausted. Their psycho mother had insisted on taking pictures of them that morning, forcing them out into their garden and posing them together.
If there was one think that ground the siblings' gears more than each other, it was their mother's constant need to photograph them.
And it lasted an hour! It was a fucking Saturday, for God's sake!
In a desperate need to get out of the house, and away from their mother, the two went straight to Sundried Tomato's, a dinky little breakfast cafe thing that sold half priced coffee.
Goldie and Ryan sifted through the semi-crowded coffee shop to get to the seats by the largest open window before anyone else did. Everyone wanted those seats, and it was a miracle they weren't taken at that moment.
"Go, Ryan," Goldie commanded from behind her brother, growing anxious.
"I'm trying," he hissed back, their path blocked by an old lady choosing then to use her feet since practically the '80s. "It's fucking Manhattan in here."
"DO SOMETHING," Goldie yelled, completely and totally frustrated, earning the startled glances of the coffee-dwellers around them and then the angry glares after Ryan yelled back an "I'M TRYING, OKAY?"
But by then the old hag had finally moved and Goldie used her petite frame to dart around everyone else to the seats, slamming her palms on the table and yelling a proud, "Dibs!"
Ryan settled himself in the seat across from her, getting comfortable. "Don't be such an imbecile."
"Don't pretend like you know what that word means," she countered.
"I do," Ryan glared.
"Yeah, when you have a dictionary in front of you," the older sister scoffed, and then proceeded to kick him under the table, causing his hot coffee to slosh over the edge. "Oops," Goldie said, sipping her mocha and repositioning herself so that her glaring brother couldn't kick her back.
Minutes passed of them being silent in each other's company and Goldie watching a couple share a bowl of fruit and finish each others' sentences about God knows what (probably that super adorable speck of dust floating in the air!) when a sudden thought struck the curly brunette's mind.
"So, um, that guy in the parking lot the other day..."
Ryan looked at her, clueless.
"The dark...tall guy..."
Ryan's stare was blank, and Goldie was getting impatient.
"The one I jumped on, thinking he was you."
This got Ryan laughing, or, guffawing was more like it. "You... attacked... him," he said between gasps of air. "You... idiot!"
"Shut up!" Goldie yelled.
Ryan settled down, but was still smiling, probably about how his bathroom prank had such a positive outcome. "What about him?"
Goldie folded her arms to keep herself from slapping the grin off his face. "I was just wondering how you knew him."
"Friends of friends, duh," Ryan looked at her weird.
"Fine, shut up." She directed her attention out the window.
"Why?" Ryan gulped his coffee, and then proceeded to choke on it, looking at her, eyes wide. Unfortunately, he wasn't choking on it because it was scorching hot, but because... "Do you have a crush on Jackson, Goldie?" He was absolutely beaming.
Goldie became murderous, "Like it matters, cretin! It's not like I punched him in the boob asking for his number!"
This reminder of Ryan's crush on one of Goldie's older friends wiped that smile right off his face. "That was a long time ago, freak!"
Goldie bristled at the 'freak' comment, "As if! Two months is hardly a long time!"
"Yeah well at least I didn't strangle her!" They were probably attracting stares by then.
"At least I didn't steal porn magazines when I was twelve!" Goldie shouted loudly, delighted to know that many shocked faces turned their way, and ran out of the shop, leaving her red-faced brother behind.
Goldie darted to her car, started the engine and sped off, leaving her brother there, hopefully forever.
So there.
Goldie was not a creep. She was not some hormonal high school girl. She did not stalk, stare or obsess.
So why the hell was she looking through Josh Carter's texts for the name 'Jackson' in hopes of getting to know him better?
Blame global warming. Or Al-Qaeda. Or-
Oh, oh oh oh ooooh! Jack-son-pot!
From Josh to Jackson:
Hey man, susan says not to forget her ballet flats
Response:
Alright
From Jackson to Josh:
Did you read that book yet?
Response:
Im getting to it
(Again) From Jackson to Josh:
Tell Susan I'll be at the movies tonight
Response:
K
And that was it. Goldie stomped her foot and resisted the urge to snap Josh's phone in half. Really. The boy leaves his phone in her possession while he goes to the bathroom and that's it?
All Goldie learned was that Susan (who she assumed- hoped- was their little sister) needed her ballet flats and that Josh had a book to read.
Ballet flats and books? Really?
Goldie was still grimacing when Josh came back from the bathroom. "Why are you clutching my phone?" He asked, plopping himself in the plush bookstore seat across from her.
Goldie slid it to him, evading the question, "So, what did Linda say?"
"Oh, the forms have to be completed and given to her by the eighteenth," Josh squinted in concentration. "Something else... Something else... Oh! You need to email Roberts on whether or not you'll be present for the pre-debate rally. Or whatever it's called."
Goldie sifted through the regulation booklet Josh had given her. "Any idea what the K-39 rule is supposed to mean?"
Josh glanced at the page of the booklet she was referring to, and then shook his head. "Sorry, I know Linda's your secretary and everything, but she's still in LA."
"Yeah, yeah," Goldie sighed. "You're a good boyfriend, doing this for her and all." Goldie leaned on her palm, glaring into space.
"What's got you so under the weather?" Josh asked, straight to the point.
"The weather," Goldie lied like the dirty politician she was. "It's so gloomy, don't you hate it?"
"Goldie, it's sunshine and daisies out there."
Okay... maybe she wasn't as dirty as she thought.
"What's wrong?" He asked again.
Goldie glared at Josh. "Fine!" She all but shouted, earning, of course, glares from the book-readers around her. "Tell me about your super hot older brother."
Josh looked temporarily stunned before he laughed. "Jackson? You like Jackson?
"I don't know Jackson, which makes this so confusing. Tell me what he's like," Goldie leaned forward.
"He's... I don't know, he's Jackson," Josh said cryptically.
"Oh, aren't you just Mister Helpful," Goldie rolled her eyes.
Josh just shrugged, smiling.
"Something! Anything!" Goldie was growing desperate.
"Get to know him yourself."
"I don't know where he is, Josh."
"He's working as a bartender at Newton's this summer," Josh supplied.
"Newton's Liquor? Josh, I'm nineteen!"
"That's all I got for you. Good luck though," Josh winked and got up, taking his useless phone as he did so.
Fuck this, Goldie thought, but grabbed her stuff as she all but ran to her car anyway.
Goldie strutted into the bar, kind of sort of expecting all eyes to turn to her. None did. Hopefully that had to do with the fact that the bar was mostly empty. It was two in the afternoon...
Goldie walked over to the counter and plopped herself onto a stool, dropping her bag by her feet and looking around.
There he was! Goldie resisted the urge to squeal and instead wrapped her knuckles on the wooden counter in front of her.
"Yo, bartender! Hit me up!" She hollered, and then tall Jackson, who was in the proverbial act of wiping glasses, looked over his shoulder. His eyebrow quirked at her, and then recognition sparked his eyes. He walked right in front of her. Separated by a wooden bar. Oh, forbidden love, Goldie sighed inwardly.
"Hopkins," he said, placing his palms down. Jackson Carter…Goldie Carter... Yeah. She could get used to a name like that.
"Carter," she smiled back. She couldn't help it. Her smile was huge.
"What'll it be?" Jackson asked, leaning on his elbow toward her.
Goldie was surprised. Did he really think her to be at least twenty-one? Impossible. He knew she as a sophomore in college. But she went with it anyway. "Surprise me."
Jackson turned to get her something, but she couldn't see anything. Damn her petite form. So she waited, content with observing his back muscles move underneath his black shirt. Then he swiftly slid a glass in front of her.
Goldie blinked, and sniffed the substance. "This... is water."
She heard him chuckle, and looked up.
"What do you take me for, Goldie? How old are you? Nineteen?"
"How old are you?" Goldie countered. "Twenty-eight?"
But Jackson raised an eyebrow, correcting her. "Twenty-two."
Goldie smiled, directing her attention to her water.
Damn it all if she wasn't fully considering keeping the glass as a souvenir.
"Goldie! Is that a smile I see on your face?" Goldie turned to the source of the absolutely delighted voice, her smile wavering.
Yes, it was true, Goldie had been absolutely beaming. It wasn't her fault though. Not three hours ago she had been engrossed in a very intense conversation featuring mostly physical violence and how it was "barbaric and shouldn't be treated lightly" (Gee, wonder who said that? ... It was Jackson Carter. The answer is Jackson Carter...)
Unfortunately, the conversation was very short lived, due to the fact that Goldie's phone had gone off. It had been her friend Virginia screaming at her for "forgetting about their picnic-eating ultimate-Frisbee-boy-watching-at-the-park date they had planned!"
So, Goldie left, bidding Jackson a very unwilling ado. She'd by lying if she said she wasn't tempted to blow off her picnic date with Virginia to simply hear more of Jackson scolding her on her violent tendencies. She'd also be lying if she said she didn't see a small frown on his face as she told him she had to go.
Anyway, back to the "Goldie! Is that a smile I see on your face?"
There stood Goldie's naturally innocent, naturally soft-spoken, naturally loving (or as Goldie and Ryan put it: obsessing) mother, hands on her hips in her, go figure, natural "Did I just see what I think I saw, giggle giggle!" stance.
One way to describe Goldie's mother was insane. Or, to put it more accurately, insane about Goldie and Ryan. Goldie literally could not count the amount of times she'd seen her mother's head peeking into her room, staring at Goldie, Crazy Face on.
(Crazy Face: Wide eyed, smile so large and mouth so wide that a baseball could fit in there, facial expression)
Goldie resisted rolling her eyes at her mother, and instead chuckled a little. "Chyeah, Mom, I do that sometimes, you know."
When her mom continued to stare at her with Crazy Face, Goldie got a little scared.
"Mom..."
The woman's smile got even larger (NOT EVEN POSSIBLE) and Goldie was about to make a terror-induced run for it when Ryan walked in the room.
As soon as he caught sight of their mom's face, Ryan slithered behind Goldie. "What did you... Why is she..."
"Ryan..." Goldie backed up, him backing up with her, and then- light bulb! "MOM! Ryan has a girlfriend! Did you know?"
Her mom's face quickly altered to a le gasp! expression, and their mother glided over to Ryan, arms outstretched. "Ry Ry? You have a girlfriend?" The woman's eyes started to glisten suspiciously. "You didn't tell me?"
Ryan pointed a finger at Goldie, who herself was gliding on out of the room. "Fuck you, Goldie!"
The only thing Goldie heard over her own laughter was her mother exclaiming, "You know about that word!?"
Goldie pulled into the driveway of her home, quite happy. She'd spent the day with some old high school friends she hadn't seen in ages and was ready to fall asleep to Shark Week in the warmth of her bed.
College was brilliant, but there was no place like home.
Goldie skipped to her porch, hopped up the stairs and burst into their foyer, sending her shoes flying in the process. It wasn't until she met the stairs that her good mood vanished.
"Goldieeeee," Ryan had sung, immediately putting her on edge.
Resisting the urge to bolt upstairs like she hadn't heard him, Goldie cautiously entered the hearth room, to see her little brother lounging on the big leather couch. Her eyes tightened, and then she saw a movement out of the corner of her eye and turned to see-
Oh no.
"Goldie, you remember Jackson, yeah?"
Goldie couldn't decide whether to be horrified or ecstatic, but considering this was her demon of a brother's doing, she decided that her emotions lead toward the former.
"Hey again," Goldie smiled at the tall dark, handsome (and shirtless!) guy anyway, pushing some hair behind her ear.
"Goldie," the dark haired (and shirtless!) guy said lowly, and something about the way her name just rolled of his- probably very attractive- tongue just made her noticeably shiver all over. Well, that and that fact that his toned body was only covered by his crossed arms.
"Cold?" Ryan asked, looking like he was about to burst with laughter.
"Cold-hearted?" Goldie asked back, causing him to show teeth.
"I saw Jackson running by the house on my way in and we got to talking," Ryan said cockily, and it wasn't until then that Goldie noticed the gym shorts and glistening body.
"You run at night?" Goldie asked him.
"Lost track of time," Jackson looked at his bare wrist absent-mindedly.
"Well, I'd better be off," Ryan stated, flinging himself from the couch. "See you soon, man," he nodded at the blank-faced Jackson and rammed his shoulder into Goldie's as he left the room, probably to go masturbate. Probably.
"Drink?" Goldie asked him, a little overwhelmed with this situation.
Jackson shook his head, looking at her.
"Outside?" Goldie asked, not knowing what she'd ask if he said no. Maybe whether or not he wanted to make out.
Jackson smiled a little bit, and Goldie knew that if she was drinking something she'd choke on it. "Sure," he said.
Goldie held the door open for him, quite the gentlewoman she was, and they plopped themselves onto the porch swing outside. Jackson stretched his legs out in front of him and yawned.
This got Goldie to yawn, and she laughed.
"So, you graduated already?" Goldie asked him, and Jackson nodded towards the setting sun. "What's next?"
"I'm going to be a pilot," Jackson, said, looking at her and she nodded, impressed. "It's something I've always been around, and I've been training for it," he shrugged. What about you? Politician?"
Goldie laughed, humored. "Hardly! I hate being involved in politics."
"You're class president," Jackson deadpanned.
"But, you see," Goldie leaned in closer, lowering her voice, "that's only because I'm good at it." This was true. Goldie may not have liked being involved in politics, but she loved excelling.
He smiled a little bit, looking a tad surprised. "You're not sane." She offendedly opened her mouth to retort, but he cut her off. "So, what then?"
Goldie paused. "High school teacher."
"No," Jackson looked at her, aghast.
"Yes! I want to teach Economics," she grimaced at his scrutiny. "Don't tell Ryan. He'd chew me out."
"Why?"
"Cause he's an ass," Goldie shrugged easily, knowing he was really asking why she wanted to be a teacher but not feeling like discussing her in depth intentions for wanting to be around hormonal teens for a profession.
"So, you must live in this neighborhood," Goldie said, and he nodded. It didn't surprise her. Goldie's neighborhood was probably the most popular and populated one in town, the majority of it's inhabitants also being youthful people, such as people she'd gone to school with.
They sat in silence on the porch, looking at the darkened sky and when she curled her legs up underneath her, his legs still rocked them.
"I haven't really expressed my true condolences for this... So, I'm just going to say, I really am sorry for attacking you in the parking lot." She focused on his leg hair. Nice leg hair. Attractive leg hair.
Jackson turned to look at her. "Yeah?"
"Yeah. And, for the record, you actually don't look anything like Ryan. I was seeing red, and... Yeah. Ryan's obviously the ugliest thing in the world. You're... Well, you're not."
"No?" He asked, this intense look on his face growing as he looked at her.
"No," she said uncharacteristically soft.
Jackson raised an eyebrow. "You're gorgeous, too."
"He called me gorgeous, Virginia! Gorgeous!" Goldie gushed over the phone to her oldest friend, right after Jackson left her house.
"Oh hell, please do him already," Virginia (the girl who had fucking 'virgin' in her name) exclaimed wholeheartedly.
Goldie's eyes glazed over. "I have to be with him forever. You know that right? I have to make him mine."
"You sound creepy. Let's focus on getting his mouth to connect with yours first, yeah?"
"That mouth," Goldie stuffed her face in her pillow, resisting a groan.
"Did you get his number?"
Goldie made a negative sound, kind of distracted by how comfortable her pillow was.
"Did you graze his hand with your own?"
Negative sound. Feather...filled...pillow...
"His penis?"
Negative sound.
"Did you at least show him your boobs, girl?"
Negative sound.
"Did you... Okay, you know what? Here's what you're going to do. First thing's first: The Kiss. We're going to find out what he does on Tuesday afternoons, and tomorrow, we're going to 'coincidentally' run into him. Now, I'm going to bring a retractable knife, you know, the ones my sister keeps lying around? Well, I'm going to pretend to gut myself right in front of the two of you, okay? And then you're going to faint, okay? And since it'll look like I'm already dead, he'll move to you and perform mouth to mouth. Okay, I know what you're thinking, isn't that used in the case of drowning? Well, he won't know that! Anyway, he connects his mouth to yours, and then- BAM- you're totally fine! You know this plan is awesome. And, sure, I may have just watched Sandlot, but I really do think it'll work, don't you, Gold? ...Goldie? ... Fuck, GOLDIE!"
She'd fallen asleep after the last negative sound.
Goldie honestly didn't know why the hell she continued to spend even the smallest amount of time with her brother. Every single fucking time she devoted an ounce of her time to the idiot, it resulted in awful.
Exhibit A: Last year, at the annual Native American celebrations held downtown, Ryan had poured a snow cone on her head. She attacked him.
Exhibit B: A couple months ago, after she'd gotten her hair braided by some very friendly (and very bored) black women, and gotten a (read: CUTE) teal dress, Ryan said she looked like "the offspring of Whoopi Goldberg and Gumby, with the face of a very ugly man." Goldie, you guessed it, attacked him.
Exhibit C: They were walking in the park taking their neighbor's dog for a walk. Ryan looked at her weird. Enough said.
But there Goldie was, driving down the road, with Ryan continuing to be an absolute fuck, pestering her and making fun of her about Jackson.
Goldie tried to bottle up in her anger, really... but after the third "I'm pretty sure he doesn't go with freaks with colors as their names," Goldie snapped. She swerved the car to the side of the road, parked, got out, stormed over to the passenger side, and yanked him out with her.
The smart idiot tried to run, but Goldie yanked a leg out from under him. And then pounced, going for the hair.
The shrieking Ryan somehow got out from under her, using his strength (since when was the twig strong?) to throw her a couple feet and he ran for it again. Goldie got up, dusting off her shorts, before preparing to dart after him.
But... she didn't go anywhere.
Goldie looked down in surprise, to see a pair ofarms restraining her. She couldn't stop staring at them. Those arms... they looked... familiar.
Goldie twirled around in her holder's arms, which had loosened enough for her to turn, but not enough to release her.
She came face to face with a chest clad in a black shirt. And then her eyes trailed upwards.
HOLY FUCKING CANNOLI!
Overload... Sensory overload... At that moment, Goldie swore she'd died and gone to Heaven. Hell, maybe she had. There were quite a few... blades of grass... to trip on out there. Maybe she'd fallen and broken her neck.
Or maybe, Jackson Carter was actually holding her!
...Unlikely.
These things didn't happen to her! This was out of some unrealistic fictional romance novel, not her life! An infatuation of hers appears out of nowhere and wraps his arms around her? A dream… It must be.
Though… she couldn't deny what was right in front of her… He was there, holding onto her. She tried to calm down.
But, really... His smell! Like sexy, and beautiful, and man, and was that Polo?
Goldie would know. She'd smelled enough magazine samples to know which cologne was which.
And those arms! So large, wrapped around her, each inch of his body fitting with hers, his hands holding her perfectly.
Perfect, perfect, perfect!
Not to mention that smile. Oh, damn, his smile was so large, so white, so pretty.
Goldie could feel an orgasm coming on. Just kidding. Or... nah, just kidding.
Wait... where had her anger gone?
Screw it.
"Goldie..." Jackson laughed, and she relished the sound. "You okay?"
Goldie swore that she responded with, "Oh, Ryan was being an idiot. I kicked him out of my car, and was preparing for battle when you're delicious arms wound around me. By the way, your smile is better than Bradley Cooper himself..."
But what really came out of her mouth was: "Um... Idiot... Car... Arms... Smile-"
"Goldie?"
"Mhm?" Her lungs were shutting down. Breathe, Goldie, breathe...
"Did I see you pulling your brother's hair just a moment ago?"
"Um- yeah. He was... being a douche," she said, slowly retrieving her coherency.
"How so?"
"He was saying provocative things pertaining to me and- um. He was being a douche," Goldie averted her eyes.
"Ah. Well, I'll have to think him for that."
"Wha- why? Wait. What are you doing here?" Goldie did not fail to realize that his arms were still holding her against him. Sah-woon.
"I may or may not have been driving by," Jackson's eyes penetrated hers, and at that moment, Goldie threw out all the times she'd exclaimed how much she abhorred living in a tiny town, and instead vowed to love that fact forever.
"And you figured..."
"I figured you wouldn't be too happy if you murdered him."
"I wouldn't have cared-"
"Fine, then I figured you wouldn't take to jail too nicely."
"Aggressive lesbians do scare me..." She mumbled, staring at Jackson's chest, which rumbled with laughter.
"Then you're welcome."
"You're welcome," she repeated stupidly. "I mean... Thank you."
"Anytime," Jackson said, intensely (of course), right before he slowly let her go. "See you later?" He asked, walking towards a car she hadn't noticed there before.
Goldie backed up towards her car, too, nodding and smiling. "Bye."
She slid into her car, taking a few minutes to collect herself before pulling out her phone and typing a short message to Ryan:
You're one lucky son of a bitch.
Goldie pulled into the driveway of the Carter residence, quickly hopping out of her car and making her way to their front porch, where Josh Carter was chilling on a chair.
"Hey, Josh!" The younger Carter boy smiled at her, standing up. "Here are the forms for Linda."
Josh took the forms from Goldie, glanced at them, grimacing, and then threw them on the small table next to his chair. "Thanks, Goldie. But what's with the urgency? Linda will be back tomorrow."
Okay, so Goldie didn't need to deliver the stupid class presidency forms to Josh, on that exact day. But, really, she hadn't seen Jackson in two days! The girl was deprived!
"Oh, you know, I forget about tons of stuff and I just wanted to get it out of the way- hey, can I use your bathroom?" Josh looked at her funny, probably knowing that Goldie only lived a couple of minutes away.
"Sure, here let me take you to it..." Josh led her inside. "So, what, did you drink like a two liter or something? I mean... You must really have to piss-"
"Shh, Josh! Shh!" Goldie hissed at the confused Josh, who was really looking at her funny, then. Goldie sighed. "Jackson can't know I pee!" She exclaimed whilst whispering, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Josh blinked. "Then why'd you ask to use the bathroom?"
Goldie rolled her eyes. "So I'd have an excuse to come inside!"
He squinted. "Must be a girl thing..."
Goldie just looked him. "Hey Josh?"
"Yeah?"
"Is Jackson here or not?"
Realization dawned his face. "You like Jackson!"
Goldie smacked her head. "Josh! We've already established this! I hope you pay more attention to Linda than you do to me..."
Josh got a distant look in his eyes.
"Stop thinking about Linda, Josh! Is Jackson here or not?"
"Oh, yeah. He should be upstairs."
"Take me?" Goldie asked, hopeful.
Josh rolled his eyes. "Follow me."
"How many times do I have to tell you? Capital punishment is completely justified! The day it's done away with is the day the death rate drastically increases, Jackson!" Goldie heard the feminine voice come out of one of the rooms. She followed Josh into said room to see Jackson lounging on a futon beside a riled up girl with long dark hair, long legs, and a determined frown on her face.
"You don't know what you're talking about. You're only a sophomore," Jackson said, frowning back at her. An identical frown, Goldie noticed.
Hello, future little sister-in-law.
"Oh, nice," she threw her arms up, frustrated. "Like you were completely oblivious when you were a sophomore."
The two bickering siblings had yet to notice Goldie or Josh, and Josh's zoned out expression (thinking about Linda's naked bod, no doubt) told Goldie that she was the one that would have to announce their presence.
Thus, Goldie cleared her throat, effectively turning all eyes on her.
"Goldie," Jackson said, this weird tone in his voice. Goldie smiled at him.
The girl shook her head in dismay, obviously held up on the former topic. "So you're saying that if I got brutally raped, you wouldn't want the guy dead?"
Jackson abruptly turned back to his little sister. "Don't say that," he looked disgusted.
"I would want him dead, Susan," Josh inputted from beside Goldie.
"Shut up, Josh! You're not a part of this, you Chinese-food-stealing-food-stealer!" Susan pointed her finger at her brother.
"Get over it!" Josh yelled, frustrated.
"Never!" The younger girl roared.
Josh grumbled something as he left the room, leaving Goldie there alone.
Jackson stood up. "Goldie, this is Susan, my murder-supporting sister. Susan, meet Goldie."
"I'm with you, dear," Goldie said to Susan, referring to the girl's support of capital punishment.
Susan cracked a smile, which only got bigger when Jackson turned to Goldie. "You're kidding."
Goldie shrugged at him. "Well, I mean, I'm on the verge of murdering Ryan every single fuck- freaking! -day, and I have no qualms about that..."
"You two are all consumed with rage," Jackson said before taking Goldie's wrist and guiding her out the door. She waved bye to Susan.
Jackson pulled her down the hallway and into a large messy room with dark walls and lots of the usual works: CDs, papers, movies, clothes, books, etc.
Jackson let Goldie go and walked to his bed before sprawling across it. When Goldie continued to stand there, he lifted his head and motioned for her to join him.
She didn't need to be told a second time.
Goldie hopped on his bed, immediately getting a whiff of the sexy smell that encompassed him.
It was official: that bed and herself were never, ever going to part.
Jackson smiled toward the ceiling before reaching to the floor and grabbing his television remote. He flipped it on to some movie, or television show, who knows, put his laced his fingers behind his head and glanced at her before closing his eyes.
Beside him, Goldie was amazed. Why was this so not-at-all-awkward? Why was Goldie so fucking happy to simply lie on his bed beside him?
What was going on?
Instead of voicing any of this, though, Goldie grabbed one of his pillows to lay her head on, and, like him, didn't even glance at the movie playing on his television. No, instead, she focused on Jackson who could probably feel her eyes on him, but kept his closed anyway.
And then, who knows how long later, she felt a tapping on her temple, bringing her to consciousness. She roughly slapped the hand away, but the tapping quickly continued.
Goldie snapped her eyes open, ready to tap Ryan right in the eye, but instead came face to face with an amused Jackson.
"Wow," was the lame thing that came out of her mouth. Goldie could have smacked herself.
"Your phone's been ringing. And I have to get to work," Jackson smiled at Goldie's still in-awe face. "You good?"
"Oh, I'm good. You good?" Goldie inquired.
"I'm okay," Jackson's smile widened, and she got to see his pretty teeth.
Goldie sat up, straightened her clothing and hopped out of his bed, then noticed him in the same shirt he was wearing when she saw him at Newton's Liquor not too long ago. Goldie's heart totally went berserk. Had he changed in front of her? Oh, God! Goldie had practically seen Jackson Carter naked!
That night could not have gotten better.
So, thus, Goldie and Jackson's delicious-smelling bed did have to part. And as they both walked out the front door, (Goldie going over the scene of her in his room over and over again) him to his car and her to hers, her night did get better.
Because, right after she opened her car door, about to get in, Jackson called out her name.
"Yeah?" She turned, hopefully in an 'I'm a cool, chilled girl, that totally isn't in the middle of naming our future children' way.
"Call me," he said simply.
Goldie tried not to smile but, of course, failed. "I don't have your number."
Jackson smiled. "Yeah you do," he said, waggling all of his fingers pointedly at her.
Goldie quickly dove into her car, spreading her fingers under the light that had turned on when she opened her door, to see the ten digits of his phone number on each of her ten fingers.
Oh... my God.
None of Goldie's close friends would answer their phones! Seriously, not one of them! She'd literally called six different people that would put up with her girlish squealing and all had resulted in her getting their voicemail. Either 1) they all somehow knew Goldie was in psycho obsess mode over how Jackson Carter not only wrote on her hands in her sleep but also told her to call him, 2) fate was just being cruel, or 3) it was all Ryan's fault.
Goldie went with the latter.
But, even after she'd stormed into Ryan's room (did the idiot really not have anything better to do with his life than stay at home?) and thrown one of his TMNT figurines at his unsuspecting head, she still had no answers.
So, Goldie did what was probably the stupidest thing she could've done: she went to her mother.
Desperation makes you do crazy things, people!
Goldie walked into the hearth room to see her mother watching an old children's movie, probably on the verge of tears.
What was she getting herself into...
"Mom...?"
"Yes, baby?" Goldie's mom turned to her, eyes wide. At least it wasn't Crazy Face... "Do you want to watch Barbie with me?"
Goldie started, narrowing her eyes. "Which one?"
Her mother said happily, "Swan Lake."
"No," she quickly replied, not even bothering to wonder why her mother was watching Goldie's old Barbie movies. No matter, Goldie thought, deciding to get straight to her original point. "How long would you wait to call a guy after he gives you his number?"
"W-why?"
"I was just... Watching this movie, you know?" (Chicken out much?) "And the main character called the guy within, like, five minutes after he gave her his number! And I thought that was just stupid. What's your opinion?"
"Goldie..." Her mom shook her head. "I'm not sure you should be watching a movie like that..."
Goldie couldn't decide whether to laugh or be outraged. "...I-"
"You don't... have a boy's number, do you? Goldie, do you like boys?" Goldie's menopausal mom was getting up, tears sure to fill her eyes in t-minus ten seconds.
Maniac! Goldie was on the verge of bolting. So, she went to her go-to plan, the one that she always had to resort to when her mother was about to freak out on her. "Mom, I think Ryan's having unprotected sex!"
"WHAT?!"
Of course, Virginia was the first person to call Goldie back. Unfortunately, it was the next morning.
"Took you long enough!" Goldie yelled, frantic.
"My grandmother hid my phone charger, okay? She said I was too much of a teenager and made me cook macaroni and cheese for a whole day."
"Ew..."
"You're telling me? I never want to be in the presence of pasta, or cheese, ever again. Unless, of course, the pasta and cheese is located on a hot male specimen. Speaking of, is that what this is about? That delicious guy you are now infatuated with?"
Goldie had to give it to her, the girl's mind worked fast. "Yeah," Goldie sighed wistfully. "He gave me his number last night! When should I call him?"
"Right now. Call him now, declare you're lust for him, and do him. Do him, over the phone, in person, it doesn't matter! Just do him."
"Virginia," Goldie whined.
"You've done a pretty good job of making yourself very, very known in his life. I think you've got this one covered," Virginia said, assuring.
"But-but-but-"
"But nothing! It won't matter when you call him; he's obviously crazy about you, whore!"
"Fine, Mom," Goldie snapped.
Virginia laughed, "Baby, you know I'm nothing like your momma."
Goldie sobered. "Thank God for that."
"Yeah?"
Goldie hung up.
And then realization dawned.
"WHY THE FUCK DID I JUST HANG UP ON HIM?!"
Now, not only did Goldie have to call again, but she had to explain to Jackson why she hung up the first time!
For God's sake, she was nineteen! In college! She was class president! She was... She was...
An idiot.
So, she sucked it up and called him again, and this time when he was all "Hello?" Goldie responded with an answer that, hopefully, a nineteen year old college class president would make.
"Hey, Jackson?"
"Goldie," his warm voice greeted her.
"Sorry," (nervous laughter), "I dropped my phone the first time. You busy?" Goldie couldn't help but smile, even though she was beyond nervous. Just ask the comforter on her bed that she was currently picking apart.
"Not at all."
EEK! "Cool. Meet me at the park?"
"Now?"
"Mhm!"
"Be there in ten," he said before hanging up.
Goldie's exact thoughts as she bolted to her car: FOT&OWLNB *!)%(ZAEF*HO$&#OUEJ (*HFIYGUH)Q#( *WDFHJIUNRG
"A shark eating a bird..." Jackson mumbled, tilting his head.
"Um, no," Goldie scoffed before- "Wait! I see it, I see it!"
Jackson smiled. "That one's..."
"A girl with curly hair!" Goldie giggled a little bit.
"Hm," Jackson said, turning his head to look at her. "I guess it is."
Goldie laughed and kept her own eyes on the clouds above them.
Yes, they were cloud-watching. Or playing the cloud guessing game, or whatever it's called when you make shapes out of the clouds.
And yes, Goldie was extremely aware at how lame and cheesy the game was, but she really, really couldn't bring herself to care.
Goldie and Jackson were lying on the grass, their heads right beside each other.
Goldie was loving every minute of it, and Jackson didn't seem to mind either, what with his hand constantly grazing hers and eyes sliding over to watch her every other moment.
Though, she'll admit her eyes were wandering quite a bit themselves...
Hello? How could her eyes not wander? Hot piece of intelligent meat basically on top of her!
They'd been out there maybe an hour already, first just walking and talking, and then she tripped, sprawling onto the ground, and when she didn't get up right away, he lay down with her.
And then cloud watching was initiated.
"I'm really sorry about attacking you..." Goldie said at one point.
"Are you going to apologize about that forever?" Jackson asked her, raising a, very attractive, eyebrow.
"It was a really, really bad first impression!" Goldie defended herself indignantly.
"Yeah, well," Jackson turned away. "You made up for it."
Goldie beamed a little.
And then, later, after Goldie had vehemently declared that a certain cloud was, in fact, shaped exactly like a penis sticking out of the side of a sail boat: "Goldie?"
Goldie turned to him. "Yeah?"
He looked at her, looked away- eyebrows furrowing- and then looked back at her. "Has, uh, your hair ever been gold?"
Goldie chuckled. "Nope. Dad named me. He's kind of insane. Not as insane as Mom, but you get the point. Ryan and I mostly take after him. Thank God."
And that was the last thing they spoke about for a long while.
At one point, Goldie's mother called, telling her to "get her cute butt home for picture time!" and Goldie had to say goodbye. As crazy and unstable as her mom was, she would always respect and love the compassionate woman that carried her for nine "long, tortuous" months.
But, before she got two feet away from him, she whirled around and clutched his outstretched arm that had, for some reason, been reaching for her.
Huh.
But anyway- "Want to go the movies? Tomorrow night? Any movie!"
Jackson walked up to her, his chest against hers, his hands on her upper back, and smiled down at her. "Sure. I'll text you the time?"
"Yeah," Goldie said, a little- a lot- breathlessly.
And then Jackson's lips ran softly over Goldie's cheek. She swore if girls could get boners her penis would resemble a baseball bat.
Okay, ew. But still.
Too soon, though, Jackson pulled back, smiled, and walked off.
"Can you stop smiling? You're freaking me the hell out," Ryan snapped at Goldie as they walked back inside from their mom's evening photo shoot.
Goldie did, in fact, stop smiling at that comment. Idiot brother.
"Can you stop being so fucking ugly? I swear you're the identical twin of... Brian Peppers."
"Who?"
"Just shut up, abomination!" Goldie snapped, before jamming her elbow into his side and stomping off.
It was 8:20 and, to put it bluntly, Goldie was freaking out.
Honestly, she hadn't been on an actual date with a guy since high school. She thought she was over all those uncomfortable bowling and movie and dinner dates! Ugh! There was a reason she'd nixed those awkward interactions as soon as she graduated.
Once she entered college she was pleased to say that the only type of planned hangouts she had with guys consisted of "Movie night, my place, GET HERE!" "Meet me at Walker's pool!" or, her personal favorite, "dtf?"
A joke... That last one was a joke...
But, really, her hands were perspiring, for God's sake.
Her stomach was churning.
She was basically crying over the fact that she'd arrived ten minutes early!
And, okay, she was more excited than she'd been in a long time, but whatever. Maybe she should get back in her car, instead of standing on the sidewalk beside the theatre like a loser...
Maybe she should just feign an injury! Like pneumonia, or the Plague!
...Or maybe-
"Hey, Beautiful," an overly deep voice came from behind her, giving Goldie great cause to scream.
And scream, she did.
Except, when she turned, she wasn't relieved with the presence of the gorgeous guy she was totally infatuated with, but instead...
"Who the hell are you?"
There stood a tall behemoth of a boy, looking down at Goldie with the look a tiger gives it's prey. His grinned, looking her over.
Well, shit.
Shit. Shit!
He'd seen her! Her one true love, her future husband, the father of her future children, had seen her perform what appeared to be an act of promiscuity!
SHIT!
Let's backtrack, okay?
Goldie had totally been on the verge of fainting over a great mixture of nerves and excitement, awaiting Jackson's arrival. That's all she had been thinking about: Jackson, Jackson, Jackson.
And then, of course, it all went wrong.
And it was all thanks to some loser who couldn't get a hint if it punched him in the face. And trust her on this, Goldie did punch him in the face.
He was that persistent freak everyone knows that won't fuck off- and, okay, harsh of her, but Goldie was livid- not even when Goldie got violent on his ass!
Didn't he have someone else to pick on? Shouldn't he have some girlfriend to bother? What a loser.
Goldie, single since the Golden Age: one to talk.
Anyway, she shouldn't have been surprised, but right when the freak got in her personal space, she was.
Surprised, that is.
And Goldie was just about to rip his arms off of her, his mouth off her neck, but it was too late-
She had caught a glimpse over the behemoth's shoulder and spotted a genuinely upset face. Jackson Carter had seen.
He'd literally taken one look at the 'intimate'- GAG, VOMIT, STAB- embrace, and walked off without a word.
He had thought she was some whore! He saw her with the stupid, stupid caveman and now he was walking away in the parking lot! Stupid, stupid primitive guy who doesn't respect a woman's space!
Not even worrying about the many people near her, Goldie went for the caveman's ew- blonde- ew- hair and ripped him off her. The boy let out a satisfying shriek, and Goldie landed him a good kick in the gut before bolting after the man she was so destined to be with!
Goldie darted after him in the parking lot, vaguely reminded of the last time she'd been running in the movie theatre parking lot. Except this time, Jackson's stance wasn't unsuspecting and relaxed, but instead tense. Really tense. Woe is her, his fists were clenched!
So, really, Goldie knew what she had to do.
So, really, without a second's thought, Goldie leaped onto his back and wrapped her limbs around his figure.
And then, of course, she started to yell.
"THAT GUY BACK THERE IS FREAKY AND I HOPE HE INTERNALLY BLEEDS TO DEATH, I SWEAR I DON'T EVEN KNOW HIM; I WAS JUST TOO SHOCKED TO MOVE. I REALLY, REALLY LIKE YOU, AND YOU SMELL AMAZING, AND BEFORE YOU I'D NEVER BEEN THIS INTO A GUY-"
He suddenly stopped his nearly successful attempts at untangling her vise-like grip from around his neck and just stood there. "Jackson, Jackson please…" She lowered her voice considerably and, uncharacteristically soft, Goldie said an emotional, "I'm crazy about you."
And then, maybe it was the fact that she was wrapped around him, but Goldie really just couldn't help herself. Her lips connected with the closest piece of visible skin: his neck.
And the only thing she got to think was that he honestly tasted a hundred times better than he smelled.
Oh, God.
But then Jackson pried her off of him, and she prepared for the worst. He was probably going to call her a freak like Ryan said he would and reject her completely from his life. She braced herself as he stood her in front of him, looking up into his intense gaze, already feeling the beginnings of a mixture of a heart attack and heartbreak.
But all the worry really wasn't necessary, it seems, because his eyes softened considerably and his lips were instantly molded with hers, and her heart would just have to hold on for a few more moments.
Goldie wished she could have paused the moment to take in every little detail so that she could relive this precious moment over and over, but honestly the second they made that intimate contact, her mind just, y'know, stopped.
It wasn't just the softness of his lips, or the fact that his huge hands were spread out against her back, gripping her, but just the fact that it was him, his lips, his skin, his breath, his teeth, all coming together with hers. It was magical, and Goldie hadn't felt anything like it.
He lifted her up, and their lips moved together almost aggressively then, tongues entwined and hearts beating faster, and then Goldie was lowered onto a car- whose car?- and was that his hand under her shirt? Wait... was that both of her hands under his shirt?
But, like she said, it didn't matter, because the kiss was better than any kiss Goldie ever hoped to experience and, Hell, she was pretty sure Jackson Carter had believed her about the caveman.
Especially when he pulled away to mumble something about her tasting good, and she had to laugh (breathlessly, duh) a laugh that was quickly captured by Jackson's super sexy mouth, and while his long fingers moved across the skin of her back, his other hand got lost in her curly hair.
And who even knows how much longer later, when Jackson pulled away to say, "I think we owe Ryan one," she just couldn't bring herself to be angered at the mention of her idiot brother's name, and the act of locking her in a men's restroom he performed not too long ago.
Goldie gasped as his fingers moved over her stomach. "How about I promise not to kill him until after he gets to experience college for a little bit?" She suggested breathlessly, her lips grazing his (they were that close, EEK!)
"Perfect," Jackson smiled a big smile and their lips reconnected.
To say the least, they didn't end up seeing that movie, but Goldie did actually end up thanking Ryan…
Right before she locked him in the women's restroom, of course.