Page 54 of Jackass

Enjoying the moment alone, I jumped in the shower and took my time. When I finished, I stepped out of the bathroom in my towel to find Jack and Charlie sitting on the bed. Charlie was wearing a lime green T-shirt with a unicorn on it and a dark purple… Wait, was that a tutu?

I giggled.

The two of them had snuggled up against the headboard, watching her tablet together.

Jack’s head snapped up when I walked closer.

“Damn, woman.”

I smiled. Derek never talked to me like that. In the beginning, he was attentive to my physical needs. Getting to know Jack over the last two years made me realize Derek never focused on my emotional needs.

He was a lot like my parents, I guess. Made sure he fed me and clothed me. He told me he loved me, but not like Jack did.

The words might be the same, but the emotion behind them was different.

With Jack, I could hear the truth of what he was saying because he wanted me to hear it. He wanted me to know how he felt. Looking back, I realized Derek had said it back only when I’d said it to him.

I wasn’t sure he ever said it first.

“Hey,” Jack said softly. “You ok?”

“Huh?”

“I lost your smile. Don’t do that, please; it breaks my heart. I never want to lose that smile. It’s one of my favorite things.”

I smiled at him. There was no holding it back, not when he said things like that.

“Just thinking about how different things are now. Thinking about everything Charlie and I have missed out on because of the way I handled things,” I admitted.

“Hey, I told you, you need to forgive yourself. Everything happens for a reason, right? If you hadn’t made the choices you did, we wouldn’t have Charlie. For that reason alone, I would want the last five years to happen exactly like they did.”

“How do you always know just what to say?” I asked.

“It’s a gift.” He winked. “Get dressed. Charlie and I are starving.”

I grabbed my clothes and walked back into the bathroom to get dressed. My family was hungry.

“YOU DID WHAT?”

Jack, Charlie, and I walked into the main room and found Beck glaring at Blade. I didn’t think they’d noticed us walk in. If they had, they might not have continued the conversation they were having.

“Becca, you don’t understand,” Blade pleaded.

“I don’t understand. Please, Micah, then explain it to me. Explain to me how you could vote against your best friend,” Beck demanded.

“She lied to him. She kept his daughter—”

“You voted against her because she lied?” Beck asked quietly.

“Oh shit, he’s fucked now.” King laughed.

Looking around the room, I noticed the other club members watching the couple as well.

“Becca—” Blade started.

She slashed her hand through the air. “No, asshole, you stop right there! YOU fucking lied! Have you forgotten that? FOR TEN FUCKING YEARS! Then, when I was standing right in front of you, you continued to lie.”

“We have dealt with this shit already. I thought I had a good reason…” Blade argued.