TIT FOR TAT

THE TRUTH/CHAPTER 4

The Truth

Jackson/May 30, 2017

Jackson, barefoot and dressed in only jeans, cringed as he looked at the litter left from the Memorial Day indoor picnic and was rubbing a shaky hand over the top of his pounding head when Carmen's laughter startled him.

"Whoa there, killer, I haven't seen a white man jump like that in a long time. You went pretty heavy on the juice last night. You okay?" she asked in a serious tone, her brows scrunching together, eyes narrowing as she tilted her head to the side and crossed her arms.

He turned away from her penetrating gaze, plopped down on the couch and stared at the mess spread out all through the living room. Empty beer, wine and booze bottles, filthy plastic cups and plates, paper towels, napkins, ashtrays overflowing with cigarette butts, stogies and blunts. He put his hands to the back of his head, closed his eyes and leaned back when something jabbed him in the side. "Shit," he yelled, pulling a red stiletto from behind him and his eyes met Carmen's.

"Humph, don't give me the WTF look. I was in tennis shoes. Maybe you need to go check out what happened in that playroom of yours last night, cause I sure never made it in there."

"Well, there's the problem...I don't know what happened last night. And where the hell's Cliff? Fuck, I wouldn't blame him if he quit."

Carmen smiled and sat gently down next to her longtime friend. "First off, nothing happened last night, except Cliff helping Emily and me practically carry you to bed then we left you two alone and took care of Baker. He wasn't as difficult, thank goodness, at least he could walk on his own."

The memory of Em this morning, telling him that she'd been at Carmen's guesthouse for sex, thumped through his head like a battering ram. "Something went on with you all last night, didn't it?" he asked accusingly, turning his head to glare at her.

Leaning back against the soft cushions, she gave a cocky grin. "Who...Cliff and me?"

"You know damn good and well I'm talking about Emily. You know, the sexy little redhead that went alone with you to your guesthouse. What the fuck happened, Carmen? You've never played outside of the rules before."

She sat up straight and met his glare. "First off, fucker, let me explain something to you. This is no game! We're talking about love coming into the middle of things. I think you both might be in love with the other one and too damn stupid and stubborn to acknowledge it to yourselves, much less each other. So, yes, I did a little experiment. I kissed her. I wanted to see how she'd respond without you being there, expecting a reaction from her. Oh, she kissed me back and it was good, but there was a hesitation there...it wasn't the same as if she were doing it knowing it was pleasing you at the same time.

"And look at you all bent out of shape and jealous acting. What do you think that's all about, Jackson? Like you two haven't even screwed and you were going to go through with a ménage à trois? Or Emily? The only reason she'd do something like that at this point in your all's non-relationship is because of you wanting it."

Carmen stopped as tears pooled in her eyes. She brought a hand up, swiped at her nose then shook her head. "I know. Do you understand I know because that's the way I was with Rafe. It's called love and you and Em need to figure this thing out. You all are so past it all now...the raw sex, her being your sub. Your emotions are too deep...both of yours. You've been too close as friends and know too much about each other."

Now tears trickled down her cheeks and Jackson came to his senses, grabbed a dirty napkin from the coffee table, handed it to her then put his arms around her and let her cry. After a few minutes, she raised her head and stared at him.