“Shelby, dad, and Janette just landed. They’ll be at the game, so they can meet your family too. Maybe Shelby can help me get on their good side,” Jackson ran his hand through his hair.
“Good, but my parents are here…let’s go get them. Remember, be yourself, okay?” I reminded him before giving him a quick kiss.
Jackson didn’t have much time before he had to go back to the stadium for batting practice, but I wanted him to be there when they got here. We held hands and walked down to the parking lot. When my parents saw me, they had wide smiles on their faces which dropped to polite smiles when they saw that Jackson was with me. He gave my hand a nervous squeeze and I squeezed back to tell him that it was alright.
“Hey mom, hey dad…how was the drive?” I asked, releasing Jackson’s hand and hugging them each in turn.
“Long and scenic but we are just happy that we don’t have to sit in the car anymore,” my dad responded as he gave me a tight squeeze.
“That’s good,” I took a step back to Jackson who looked as stiff as a board, “Guys, this is Jackson…Jackson, this is my mom, Dee and my father, Charlie.”
Jackson extended his hand out and shook my father’s hand then my mother’s, “It is very nice to meet you both. Madeline has told me quite a lot about you.”
“Yes, Maddie has told us some things about you as well,” my mother said matter-of-factly.
Actually, anything negative, I never told my parents. All I had told them about Jackson was how he was a baseball player from Texas and some other details. I never brought up Josie or how he had been divorced or even told them that his mother passed away when he was younger. I tried to keep it all to positive things because when they would meet I wanted them to see him how I saw him, as someone who made me outrageously happy.
“All good things though, right mom?” I narrowed my eyes at her as I took Jackson’s hand again.
“Of course, Madeline only sees the good in people.”
I rolled my eyes. Leave it to her to make this awkward. My parents grabbed their bags from the car and we went back up to my apartment. After some more awkward conversations, Jackson had to leave for batting practice. I went into the hallway with him and laced my arms around his neck.
“I told you that they hate me,” Jackson pouted, and I knew it wasn’t his usual playful pout.
“They will come around, baby…trust me. I love you more than anything in the world. For now, I hope that is enough.”
His eyes went wide, “Madeline, of course your love is enough. It is more than enough. I don’t ever want you thinkin’ that it isn’t, because it is.”
I gave him a small smile, “There’s my fiancé. Just checking to make sure he was still in there somewhere.”
“He’s never far away, you know that,” he tugged me closer and kissed me passionately.
We said our I love you’s and I watched him walk down the hallway before returning to my parents. They seemed happier now that Jackson was gone, and I didn’t like that one bit. I sat down on the couch next to my mother.
“You guys can’t seriously hate Jackson, right?” I asked.
“Sweetheart, we don’t even know the guy,” my dad answered.
“I know and yet you guys are already judging him because of what you read online.”
“It is kind of difficult to hide your secrets when you are in the public eye,” my mother rolled her eyes.
“Exactly. What did you read online that is so incriminating against him?”
“He was married and divorced in less than a year,” my mother pointed out.
“That was because his ex-wife cheated on him and ended up pregnant with another man’s baby. They were on and off again for two years and when he thought she changed, he proposed to her. Trust me, Jackson is the sweetest guy who knows how to treat a woman. He is a southern gentleman.”
“And what about his fights at the beginning of his career that he got into?”
Fights? What was she talking about? The only fights I knew about were the ones that he got into growing up. Jackson had a temper, but he had never had a temper against me. Sometimes it was just a jealous one that was easy to calm.
“Oh, so he has been keeping a secret from you,” my mother raised an eyebrow, “His first year after being drafted he had started at least three fights with members of the other teams. Men with tempers are never good, Madeline. You know this.”
I had dated a guy with a terrible temper years ago. He controlled my every move, and if I ‘stepped out of line’ according to him, he would hit me. It was an occasional slap or hard shove into something, but he had made me believe that I deserved it. Finally, I snapped out of it and saw that he was abusing me both physically and emotionally and so I left him. It was one of the major reasons why I moved away from Iowa, to get a fresh start.
“Jackson is nothing like Tony, mom. He has never hit me, he has never gotten angry with me. I know that Jackson has a temper, but it is only provoked when something has been said or done that is against someone he cares about. He protects me, and he loves me.”
“That is exactly what you said about Tony before you finally came clean that he hurt you,” my father stepped in.
“But this time I am telling you the truth! Jackson has never laid a finger on me in any violent fashion. His touches are with love and care, he has stood up for me when I needed him to and that is what is important here.”
“It’s not only that, Madeline. He didn’t ask your father for permission. We didn’t even know him when he proposed to you,” my mother shook her head.
I sighed and put my head in my hands, “We are in an era where that is not exactly required all the time, mom. Sure, it would have been nice, but Jackson and I love each other and I wouldn’t accept his proposal if I didn’t think he was good for me. You have to give him a fair fucking chance to show you the guy that he really is and that means stop intimidating the hell out of him!”
Blowing up on my parents was something I rarely did unless they pushed me to. This was one of those moments. I loved and cared about Jackson and I knew he felt the same. For them to judge him without really getting to know him, without how the media portrayed him, that was unfair. Jackson deserved as good a shot as anybody to try to win my parents over. I excused myself from the room and sat in my room and cried. There was nothing else I could think of to do.
Finally, it was time for us to head to Target Field for the game. We had decided before Jackson had to leave that we would just get dinner from there. After we placed our orders and got our hot dogs and sodas, we took a high-top table and stood around it to eat. Luckily, Alex came to my rescue and talked to my parents as I claimed to have to use the bathroom.
I ran down the multiple stairs that led to the seats between home plate and third base. When I came to the first row, I called out to Jackson who stood near third base talking to one of his teammates as they warmed up. He turned around and jogged over to the very short wall that divided the field and the seats.
“Where are your parents?” He narrowed his eyes.
“They are up eating and talking to Alex. Just because they are here doesn’t mean that I am skipping our routine and not coming to give you a good luck kiss,” I leaned over the wall that divided us and kissed his lips tenderly.
He smiled against my lips and reached over to put his hands on my hips as I wrapped my arms around his neck. I coaxed his lips open for me and our tongues instantly met. Normally, our good luck kisses were quick and simple because other people were around, but I couldn’t help but get carried away. This was exactly what I needed after my blow up on my parents. I needed Jackson to soothe me back to complete happiness. When I felt like I couldn’t breathe from the intensity of our kiss, I pulled back slightly and rested my forehead against his.
“Is everythin’ okay, Mad? Not that I didn’t love that kiss,
but usually you keep it short and sweet,” Jackson said softly as his han
ds ran up and down my sides.
I brought my hands up to his cheeks as I looked into his eyes, “No matter what my parents think about you, Jackson, I am going to marry you.”
I could feel his eyebrows furrow as my forehead laid against his, “What are you talkin’ about? What do they think about me?”
“My mom found some articles about fights that you had during your first year in the league against other teams. She thinks you have a nasty temper and could lash out at me.”
“Baby, I would never lay a hand on you in a violent manner…” He closed his eyes.
My heart broke a little, “I know that, trust me…I know you would never hurt me. I never told you about my ex-boyfriend back in Iowa. He was one of the reasons I took the job so far away from home.”
When his eyes opened, they looked sad but worried at the same time, “What about him?”
“He hit me, Jackson. He was abusive when I didn’t do exactly as he said when he said it. And…I let him…because I thought I deserved it. There weren’t any major injuries caused by any of the violence and I was pretty lucky, but that didn’t mean that my emotions and my mental state weren’t scarred from it. I trust you when you say that you wouldn’t ever lay a hand on me in that way because we’ve been together for three months and you have never even gotten angry at me.”
“There was that one time about the waiter…” Jackson admitted.
I quietly giggled, “I wouldn’t exactly call that you getting angry with me. You were jealous, and you had a good reason to be skeptical about the person you cared about because of your past with Josie. But, you trusted me and remember what happened after we fixed it?”
His lips turned up into a sly smile, “Yeah, I made a mess in an airport bathroom.”
“Exactly, then you helped me make a mess in my office’s bathroom. We fixed it by talking through it and then we made up. My ex, Tony, he never talked about anything to fix it. He would yell and scream and hurt me. That’s what makes you so different, baby. You talk to me, you care…and you love me.”
“God damn how I do love you,” Jackson groaned before he kissed me again.
“And I love you. Now, I don’t care why you got into those fights with those other players five years ago. I care about who you are now. And who you are now is my Jackson, the sweetest and most protective guy I have ever met,” I grinned as I tangled my hands in the back of his hair.
“And you are my Madeline, the most carin’ and compassionate girl who shows me that she loves me every minute of every day,” he smiled wide.
I nodded, “Yes, I am. Have a good game, sweetheart. I’ll be cheering my loudest for you. I should probably go introduce our parents now…wish me luck.”
Jackson ran his nose along mine, “You don’t need it.”
Giving him one last kiss and a hug, I turned around and ran back up the stairs. Alex gave me a wink as she kept my parents talking while I ate the rest of my food in a hurry. When we were all done, I led my parents to the section where our seats were and not to my surprise, where Jackson’s sister, father, and stepmother were sitting as well. I called out when I saw Shelby, who had become like a sister to me ever since I met her. We hugged tightly before I gave Jackson’s father and stepmother hugs too. They were ecstatic when Jackson told them he was going to propose to me and when they watched it on television live.
“I’m so happy you all could make it up here this weekend for Jackson’s games!” I said excitedly.
“We wouldn’t miss the end of his season for anythin’,” his father laughed as he looked behind me at my parents.
I turned to my mom and dad and smiled, “Mom, dad, this is Jackson’s sister, Shelby, his father Chase, and his stepmother, Janette.” I introduced everybody.
“Is Jackson’s mother going to make it?” My mother asked.
Oh, shit. Maybe I should have told her the news…
“She actually passed away when Jackson was sixteen,” Chase said as Janette squeezed his hand.
“Oh, I’m very sorry,” my mother mumbled.
Letting the parents sit by each other, I sat next to Shelby. As the game took off, so did the conversations between mine and Jackson’s parents. They were laughing and joking as though they were old friends. Maybe this was a good sign. A few times when Jackson was up to bat he made some good hits and made it onto base, even scoring a few runs for his team. Shelby and I became Jackson’s official cheerleaders as our parents talked. The game came to an end, the Twins winning by a few runs and I cheered as the teams left the field. When I turned to mine and Jackson’s parents, my parents had large smiles on their faces.
“Madeline, would you mind if Chase and Janette took us out for some drinks?” My father asked.
I shook my head excitedly, “No, of course not! Here, take my keys, Jackson has my spare and I can always just have him take me home.”
“How sweet of you dear,” Janette smiled as she hugged me.
“It’s the least I can do,” I smiled before saying softly to her, “I really owe you two, my parents have not warmed up to Jackson as I had hoped.”
Janette winked, “We will get them on his side in no time.”
We said our goodbyes and Shelby and I wasted some time in her rental car before she left, and I stood with my back against Jackson’s truck. Five minutes later, he was walking towards me with his bag slung over his shoulder and his head down.
“Hey there, would you mind giving a lonely lady a ride home?” I said seductively.
Jackson’s head shot up and his large grin made my heart skip a beat, “What are you doin’ here?”
“Your parents took my parents out for drinks and they are borrowing my car. I figured that you and I could get some…alone time…if you catch my drift.”
He walked up to me slowly, dropping his bag by our feet and pinning me against his truck, “Are you tryin’ to pick me up?”
I smirked and raised an eyebrow, “Do I need to even try to pick up my fiancé?”
“Let’s see how you do when you try…” He winked.
Biting my lip, I leaned in close to his ear, “I am more than ready for you to take me home, Jackson. I need you in my bed and I need you buried deep in me.”
“Holy fuck,” Jackson whispered.
“You like that?” I asked softly as I began to kiss his neck.
His hand hit the truck behind me as he groaned, “You know what you’re doin’ is my weakness, baby.”
I smiled as my teeth gently nipped at his skin, “That is why I’m doing it…I am trying to drive you crazy enough to fucking take me home already.”
Jackson growled as he pulled away from me, “Get in the fuckin’ truck.”
My heart pounded as I nodded excitedly and ran around to the passenger side. Jackson threw his bag into the back seats of the cabin and got in behind the wheel. It only took me a few minutes to realize he was driving us in the direction of his place and not mine. We were definitely going to be alone at my place because of our parents both being out, but I wasn’t complaining. I wanted to be in Jackson’s bed more than anything in the world at that moment, and that was exactly what I was on my way to be.
Chapter Fifteen
Jackson busted through the door that led from his garage to his kitchen with me in his arms. My legs were hooked tightly around his waist as his hands rested on my ass and I groaned as his tongue massaged mine. Kicking the door shut behind us, Jackson carried me up to his bedroom. I aided in shoving the door closed with a hard swing, my other hand tangled in Jackson’s hair. He laid me down on his bed and wasted no time in tearing his shirt off over his head and throwing it somewhere behind him. I sat up slightly, catching Jackson by surprise as I pressed my lips against his chest.
Jackson stopped what he was doing, allowing me to kiss as much of his chest as I could. It was yet another one of his weaknesses. He didn’t even know it was one of his weaknesses until I did it for him. Up until that point, according to Jackson, no girl had ever taken the time to
just kiss down his chest. I sat up further and slipped off his jersey that I was wearing and tossed it onto the floor before lying back down. His body covered mine once more and he kissed me deeply. As his tongue ran against mine, his hands pushed up my tank top and our kiss stopped as he brought it over my head.
Our next kiss distracted me, and I barely registered how quickly the rest of our clothes came off. Jackson climbed back on the bed after taking his pants and boxers off and I made a beeline for his most sensitive appendage. My hand wrapped around his cock as I started to slowly pump up and down his length. He was already hard for me but teasing him was so much fun sometimes. Jackson moaned as he looked down and watched me.
“That feel good?” I smiled innocently up at him.
“Fuck yeah,” he grunted as he licked his lips.
“You ready to make me scream?” I batted my eyelashes as I moved my hand just a little faster.
“So fuckin’ ready, Maddie.”
Releasing his cock, I laid back and rested my head against the pillows. My legs opened for him and I eyed Jackson as he kept his gaze on me. I felt like I was waiting for an eternity as he kneeled there, his eyes fixed on me.
“Jack…what the fuck are you waiting for?”
He smirked, “Just admirin’ the view, darlin’.”
I sighed, “Well, as much as I appreciate that. Stop admiring and get to fucking.”
Jackson put a hand on his chest, “Since when did my sweet little Madeline get such a dirty mouth?”
“Since her fiancé hasn’t had sex with her in four long days.”
“Has it really been that long?” He raised an eyebrow.
I nodded, “Yes, it has been. Ever since I told you my mother’s reaction to the proposal on Tuesday. Now please, stop making me wait.”
Jackson climbed on top of me and ran the tip of his cock along the apex of my thighs, “Well I am so sorry for makin’ you wait. Let’s change that, shall we?”
He slid into me easily and my eyes closed as I moaned with every inch that pushed into me. It had been the longest four days of my life up until this point apparently. Of course, mine and Jackson’s relationship wasn’t merely based on sex, but damn was it a nice perk. During his baseball season there had been many dry spells of no sex happening between us because he was traveling. But, now I had him home and I was determined to make up for lost time.