Beloved (Toni Morrison Trilogy #1)(59)

“Why?”

“Because I thought you were like all the other guys I’ve met—cocky and looking for one thing.” I shrug and smile. “Not to be a bitch, but you were so intense. I’d never felt anything like that before. Then you turned out to be my client. You keep breaking my rules.” It’s true. Each time I tell myself I’m not going to do this or that, he finds a loophole and I no longer care about my rules anymore.

We fall into a comfortable silence as we let the words settle around us. There are a lot of truths yet to be told. I don’t know how to tell him about what Neil did, or that one of his trusted consultants is a part of my past. There’s no way to know for sure if he heard what she said that day in the conference room. I don’t even know if Piper’s still working with Raven. Regardless, it’s going to come to light at some point.

Throughout dinner we talk and laugh. He tells me more about some of the antics he and his sister, Reagan, got into as kids. We talk about my mother a little and how I haven’t spoken to her since the phone call in Virginia. Jackson makes me nearly fall out of my chair laughing when he tells me the story about Mark and Aaron when they first became SEALs and some of the prank wars they had.

“Okay. So you seriously glued ketchup packets to the toilet seat?” Insane. They’re all insane.

“Fuck yeah, we did. And when Mark sat down, you would’ve thought a bomb went off in the head. There was ketchup everywhere.” His eyes are filled with humor.

“And what did he do back? I can’t see him being like, ‘Good one,’ and letting it go.”

“Oh hell no, there’s no backing down. Mark has one thing I don’t.”

“Which is?” I ask.

“Patience. So he waited until my guard was slightly down. My truck is my baby—you don’t f*ck with my F150. Mark, being the prick he is, decided I needed to really suffer. So he took my license plates and flipped them upside down, but then he somehow got into the cab.” I smile and roll my eyes at the talk of his precious truck. As he remembers whatever his friend did to repay him for the bathroom casualty, his smile fades. “It was December and cold as shit. The motherf*cker took pepper spray and soaked my floor mats and my air vents. Every time I turned the heat on I couldn’t see because my eyes watered so bad.”

Laughter erupts from my chest and there’s no chance of stopping it. My hands fly over my mouth, trying to contain it as I imagine Jackson crying every time he got into his truck. Tears are running down my cheeks, and the look on his face only makes me laugh harder. “I can’t breathe.”

“No, baby, I couldn’t breathe. I had to ride around in the freezing f*cking cold with my windows down so I could see. It was hell. But payback’s a bitch and Twilight learned that shit quick.” He smiles again, laughing at the memories as I swipe the tears from my face.

“Oh God! What did you do?”

He steeples his fingers and his devilish grin grows. “It was a multilayered attack. Phase one was all about making him think it was coming. So there were small, subtle hints. I had the gate guards search his car every time he arrived on base, which takes about twenty minutes out of your day. Not a big deal, but he was late a few times and he got his ass chewed.” I’m starting to see how much he must have enjoyed this. His eyes glimmer and he’s lost to the memory. “Phase two was a little more … difficult.”

“Difficult how?”

“I had to make sure it would work perfectly. I needed other people’s help, but they didn’t want to be the next casualty of our war. After watching some of the shit we did, no one wanted to play. We didn’t fight fair. I plotted very carefully and also had to be ready in case I was on the other end of his attack. Plus, if he f*cked with my truck again, he’d be on the missing persons list.”

“I’m seeing that this truck is worth more than friendship.” I laugh and sit back in my chair, wondering how their war finally ended.

“You don’t mess with a man’s truck.”

“Okay, I get it. Please continue.”

His eyes are excited as he gets back to his story. “Mark had done a few small things, but nothing really epic. We all had lockers that we kept our gear in, so I had the supply guys open his for me.” He lets out a small laugh. “I rigged it so when he opened it, a glitter bomb exploded. It went everywhere! Him, all his gear—everything covered with glitter!”

“Holy shit!” I gasp. Glitter gets everywhere. I can’t even imagine the mess that made.

“But wait!” He leans in and smiles ear to ear. “I didn’t stop there. Fuck with me and there is no limit to the lengths I’ll go for payback.”

“Seriously, I’m a little worried.”

“We were leaving for a training mission the next day, so Twilight literally had to scrub his shit before he could go. Hours it took him and it still didn’t come out. But while some would think that was enough retribution, I didn’t agree. When we were out on the mission, I put glitter in his shampoo and body wash.”

“Oh Jesus.” My eyes widen as he sits back, arms crossed over his chest. I make a mental note never to get into a war with him because I’ll lose—epically. “I would say you won, huh?”

I’m so engrossed in the story I don’t notice the waitress standing at our table.