Jack And Jill: Dawn Of Forever Part 27

"I am."

Lara laughed. "Why?"

"Because it matches the argyle nipple pasties and matching Jonesing for Lukey panties that I'm wearing."

The men choked on their food or tongues as the woman laughed.

"Bedroom. Now!" Luke didn't stop on his way to the bedroom, but his demand silenced the peanut gallery.

Jessica stood, grabbing her plate of food. "My master calls."

Soft chuckling danced in the kitchen behind her as she traipsed down the hall. Lake and Jones met her at the bedroom door.

"We've been evicted," Lake mumbled.

"Sorry, his back hurts from-"

"Jessica!" Luke's voice brought a smile to Lake's sleepy face.

"Yeah, anyway ... go get some breakfast." Jessica smiled back and kissed Jones on the head before closing the bedroom door behind her.

"No food in the bedroom," Luke called from the bathroom.

"You can't even see me. How did you know I brought food in here?" Jessica sat on the bed, leaning against the headboard, legs out, plate of waffles on her lap.

"So did you have fun last night? On a scale of one to ten how hungover are you?"

He appeared in the bathroom doorway, toothbrush in his mouth. "My hangover is a five. What part of last night are you referring to?" Luke mumbled with a mouthful of toothpaste foam.

"Your bachelor party. The stripper."

A few seconds later he returned to the bedroom. She loved him in jeans, no s.h.i.+rt-all Luke, no Dr. Jones.

"The party was fine. The stripper was ... a stripper. Why? Are you jealous?"

"Do you want me to be jealous?"

He lifted her legs and sat on the edge of the bed, resting them on his lap. "Yes. I do. It's such a rare side to you, and I love it when you get possessive of me."

"That's Luke talking. Dr. Jones would never condone jealousy."

He rubbed her feet. "They're not cold."

"I never have cold feet. You know that."

"You're going to marry me."

She grinned over the strawberry she shoved in her mouth. "I am."

"You're going to have as many babies as I want to give you."

Jessica gulped her food down. "You were eavesdropping." She narrowed her eyes.

"I have good hearing, that's all." He smirked.

She rolled her eyes. "You know, I'll cut you off at the knees if you get too c.o.c.ky."

"I want at least four." He slid his hands up her legs.

She shooed them away. "Three. One just got deducted for your eavesdropping."

One hundred. She knew he saw it in her eyes, even if her words said otherwise. Jessica would have one hundred of Luke's babies. Her dreams were coming true. She loved that man and his whole family.

"Luke?"

"Hmm?"

She set her plate on the nightstand then straddled his lap. "Thank you."

He nodded and it could have been her imagination, but she swore his eyes teared up before he hugged her to him and whispered into her hair, "My G.o.d ... I love this woman."

Chapter Twenty-Six.

Knight Jillian stared at Knox. His story tore her heart apart. It allowed doubt to creep into her conscience, causing mayhem with the memories of her past. Knox didn't deserve that story. He didn't deserve the young innocence of her mother, not when he stole hers so brutally.

"Why?" she whispered.

The trip down memory lane left him equally somber. The hardened man she knew softened before her. Sunny did that. She knew a different Knox McGraw, the ginger-haired boy who loved strawberry pigtails and red Mary Janes.

"Why what?" he whispered.

Jillian recognized something in his voice. Hers had it too. Grief.

"Why am I here?"

"Because Irene wants revenge."

"That's not what I mean."

He inched his gaze up to meet hers, confusion knitted along his brow.

"Why do I exist? Why did Sunny marry Grant?" In the bigger picture, the one she had yet to understand, they no longer felt like her parents. They were nothing more than a tragic mistake that eventually destroyed everything in its path.

"I didn't realize nothing lasts forever. I took her for granted, and then I lost her."

"She loved my father. I know she did. I've felt that love." Jillian swallowed back the pain. "I've had it twice. I know when it's real."

Knox's eyes glazed over as he stared at the floor between them. He nodded slowly. "She did love him. Sunny would never marry someone she didn't love."

"You were mad at her for choosing him. That's why you became such an a.s.shole-a monster."

"And the plot thickens," Irene announced as she threw open the door and pounded her way down the stairs, still wearing combat boots. "My sources tell me your brother is looking for Knox. Seems there's been a breach. Hmm ... let me guess ... I'm guessing that breach would be a certain shrink from San Francisco. He took a flight to Chicago and a car to Omaha. The guy's not exactly James Bond, but I gotta hand it to you ... you've managed to surround yourself with men who would die for you. It's quite romantic-tragic, but nonetheless romantic."

Jillian closed her eyes. She didn't want Luke riding in on his gallant steed. Irene would pierce his heart with an arrow and let his horse run off a cliff. Jillian wanted Luke to forget about her, marry that completely-put-together girl she knew he deserved, and have the four beautiful children he dreamed of having.

She would die. She'd do it to save Luke, she'd do it for Jackson, and she'd do it to take away the pain of losing AJ.

"Don't worry, Knox. Since you're a bit tied up, I'll have someone reply to Jackson on your behalf." She cackled like an evil witch. "I think we can have him here in say..." she twisted her lips and rolled her eyes to the ceiling "...forty-eight hours."

"He won't come." Jillian coughed, her throat dry and raw.

Irene held up her phone and snapped a picture of Jillian. "Shoot, I think you blinked. Don't worry, I don't actually think I'll have to use it, but it's a nice backup to have. He'll come. I guarantee it." She wrinkled her nose. "I'd love to stay, but it smells like s.h.i.+t down here. Can I get either one of you anything?"

Knox stared at the bowl of dirty water next to him. Jillian had watched him drink from it like a dog then nearly throw his shoulder out of socket to get back up to a sitting position.

The IV kept her alive, but it did nothing for her mouth and throat.

"Very well then. I'll let you two get back to story time. Mickey and Sunny. It's quite touching isn't it?" She glared at Knox before giving Jillian a bitter smile.

He was right. She had eyes and ears everywhere.

As soon as the door shut, Jillian looked at Knox.

"Keep going. Take it full circle. Make me love my mom again and hate you. That's the only happy ending."

Sunny Sunny and Mickey gave each other their virginities. They promised to be each other's first and last. They loved hard and fought even harder. Mickey felt like Sunny deliberately applied to the colleges with the worst sports teams just to postpone marrying him until after college. The difference between them was she cared about her parents' opinions. He did not.

"I can't wait any longer, Sunny. I've been offered scholars.h.i.+ps to six different colleges and I need to decide. You need to decide."

She sat up in bed and slipped on his T-s.h.i.+rt as he scooted back against the wall. Sunny's closet was bigger than his bedroom, with a squeaky twin bed and an old metal trunk. He had three s.h.i.+rts he deemed worthy of having on hangers, which hung from his curtain rod because he didn't have an actual closet: his basketball jersey, football jersey, and the only dress s.h.i.+rt he owned.

"I'm not deciding on your future, Mickey. That's not fair of you to even ask."

"My future? Are you kidding? You are my future. Four years. College is four years of my f.u.c.king life. It's nothing. Football is nothing. You..." he gathered her long auburn hair in his hand, exposing her neck to his lips "...are everything. I love you, Sunny."

She pulled away. "Love won't pay rent. It won't get you a job. It won't buy you a car that you don't have to jump start every morning. It won't get you out of Oakland. You need to play football to pay for college. I need to not p.i.s.s my parents off so they'll pay for college. They like you Mickey, but they'll hate you if you propose to me the minute we cross the stage. Then they'll disown me for saying yes. We'll be broke, homeless, and what? In love?"

"What did you say?" He grabbed her arm.

Sunny tried to pull away, a scowl stealing her perfect features.

"I said we'll be broke and homeless."

"No, before that." His strength was no match for hers. He pulled her into his arms, pouty lip and all.

"What?"

"You said your parents would disown you for saying yes."

"They would."

"But would you?"

She sighed. "Would I what?"

"Say yes?"

With a single finger he lifted her chin, waiting for her to look at him. When she did, he knew the answer.

"Yes, Mickey. Of course I'd say yes. My heart will always be tethered to yours. I choose you today. I choose you always."

He grinned.

She pinched his cheeks together until it hurt. "Don't you dare smile. Just because I'm hopelessly-stupidly-in love with you, doesn't mean I'm not still mad as h.e.l.l that you're being such a selfish jerk. If four years is anothing,' then I don't see the big deal in waiting until we're done with school, and if you love me the way I love you, it won't matter if we're at the same college."

She broke free of his hold and searched for her clothes. "Would it kill you to pick up your room? Your dad is going to go apes.h.i.+t if he sees this mess."

"So let me just be clear on this ... you will say yes no matter when I ask you to marry me?"

"Dammit, Knox! Your dad will be home any minute, and I don't want to be naked when he gets here."

Knox meant business. Sunny rarely called him by his given name, except for when she was ready to explode at him. She'd give him one warning. Saying it twice meant a week or more of jacking off in the shower-no s.e.x, no kisses, rarely even a phone call.

"Here are your clothes." He lifted his pillow. They were wadded under it. "See, I'm much more organized than you give me credit for." His grin just begged to be wiped off his face.

Sunny grabbed her clothes, pulling them on with fire-drill speed. "I'm going home and picking the college with the worst football team ever, you big stubborn a.s.s."

Knox chuckled. "Good idea. They probably need me the most."

She rifled through the clothes and school books covering his floor, searching for her shoes. He could hear her mind cursing at him for being so d.a.m.n messy and herself for falling in love with a walking disaster. The thought made his smile double because she did-Sunny loved him and it was a miracle.

"I can't live like this, Mickey. I'll divorce you within a month of marrying you if you don't pick up your c.r.a.p." She tugged on her boots, hopping from one foot to the other. Her nose scrunched as she pulled off her right boot "Mickey! Yuck!"

With frighteningly-accurate precision, she whipped the boot at his head. He ducked and it thunked against the wall.

"What?" He grabbed it off the bed. "Oh." His life depended on him not grinning; he nearly lost it. "Sorry, Sun." Biting his lips together, he retrieved the used condom from the inside of her boot. "I just tossed it."

"That's my point. Who just tosses used condoms on their bedroom floor? I don't toss my tampons on the bathroom floor. It's disgusting." Sunny s.n.a.t.c.hed her boot from him and stomped out of the room without putting it on.