invasion ↠ jackson avery ✓

34

[BELLA LEDFORD]
Seattle, Washington

˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚

The weekend came and gone like a sudden gust of wind calming the scorching warmth of the summer sun. Bella thought back to it fondly because she happened to have a free weekend, where the only thing she deemed to be of importance was annoying her best friend.

They spent most of it on his couch, sprawled out like they were on a beach, sunbathing. Neither of them had anything important to get done so Jackson found this to be a perfect opportunity to force Bella to watch football. She had never been much of a fan of the game, not when she lived back home, not once she moved out here. She could barely grasp the concept of it, nevermind finding any sort of joy in the matter.

Still, Jackson made it his personal goal to get Bella interested. It was Saturday evening when he offered to get some food for the upcoming match, after they wasted their entire morning. The trap in this statement was the requirement of Bella needing to watch the game with him. She fussed and groaned and threw a tantrum but gave in. The same thing went down on Sunday, but perhaps a little easier. Bella only pretended to be against the idea. She noticed from the day before that Jackson got too invested in the game, so he failed to pay attention to anything else. This meant Bella could just play on her phone for the entire game, humming along here and there when he explained what each player was doing. Or something along those lines.

When they weren't engulfed in the world of football, they kissed. The concept remained untouched between them, meaning they still didn't put labels on what they were or the things they were doing. They shared a bed at night to cuddle and fall asleep, they were on the edge of becoming more intimate, but something stopped them.

Fear, maybe.

Going even just a little bit further than kissing would mean entering unknown territory. Bella wasn't blind, and she certainly wasn't without needs. Her imagination was very healthy, often times a little too vivid but it served her right, though for how long, she couldn't be sure. Especially not when she had someone like Jackson Avery to take the trouble off of her hands.

That weekend, they almost crossed the line. It started out as nothing more than a kiss. One that Jackson stole from her as he sat down beside her. The next thing Bella knew, she was on top of him, her legs on either side of his waist, and his fingers holding onto her beneath the shirt she wore. Days later, she still felt the burning sensation over her skin and she couldn't help but grin every time.

In that moment, though, when her feelings heightened, and her need for him had grown to unimaginable desire, she was teared from the last step over the line. The vicious reminder of what they were about to enter clung to her like Jackson's hand against her neck. Bella panted, lungs begging for air, as she sat on his lap.

She couldn't explain how she felt. There were too many emotions that swirled through her heart, and translated into her eyes, completely overtaking the hunger she felt. The clouds that blocked her from seeing clear, the very same ones that hooded over Jackson's stare, were whisked away and plucked like thorns from around a rose. The pull was painful enough to leave a pang in Bella's chest, and certainly enough to send waves of embarrassment through her.