middle of nowhere • jack avery

xxxi

CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

Jack and Reagan slept in the orchard for hours and Reagan was aware of this when she woke up because the sun was already low and it casted tall, long shadows from the lemon trees.

He was still lazily lying down on their laid out blanket with barely open eyes and an arm behind his head.

He was watching her with hooded eyes and shallow breaths as she cleaned up, collecting the discarded bag of snacks and milkshakes, and by the time the blanket was the only thing left to put away, she scoffed at him teasingly.

"Get up, lazy."

Jack chuckled in response and shut his eyes with a grin. Just as Reagan thought he was planning to fall back asleep to mock her, he hauled himself up into an upright position.

And when he stretched his limbs straight after, his shirt rode up and Reagan didn't even try to hide the fact that she was watching.

"This was probably the best nap I've had my entire life," he declared at the same time a pop sounded out from his shoulder joints. She rolled her eyes as he continued, "You know Redwood would basically be paradise if only it wasn't this hot. The only reason I woke up was because I was melting."

"Aw," she cooed as she watched Jack pick up the rumpled sheet they slept on, "Dramatic as ever."

He scrunched together the blanket and lazily threw it into the backseat and Reagan pursed her lips, "Well, that's one way to fold, I guess."

He then stalked over to where Reagan was sat sideways on the driver's seat, her feet still crossed by the ankles and resting on the soil. When Jack was close enough, he threw one hand over the car's roof and the other, he rested on her right thigh.

"So where are we off to next?" He asked, his eyes twinkling as he looked at her and it took all of Reagan's willpower to force herself to not look away.

"Home?"

Jack scoffed, "Of course not."

Reagan jutted out her bottom lip, "But I'm tired."

"Aw my poor baby," He said mockingly, mimicking the pout on her face before it was slowly replaced by a mischievous grin, "But if you're tired, how 'bout you let me drive."

Reagan snorted, "You know how to drive?"

Jack blinked at her, unimpressed.

She chuckled, "Well even if you could, there's no chance in hell."

That response made Jack look absolutely scandalized.

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want you to!" She replied, just as immaturely, and she felt a small sense of triumph when Jack's fave contorted into a look of defeat for a fraction of a second.

That was until his face was overcome with a shiteating grin and she barely had time to realize what Jack was doing when he grabbed her by the waist and hoisted her up.

Reagan squealed just as Jack picked her up and she tried to flail, forcing him to let her go as he walked around the car's front, but by the time he did, it was because he dropped her unceremoniously onto the passenger seat.

Reagan plopped down with a huff, hair over her face, and Jack chuckling like an asshole.

"Asshole," She said just as much when Jack shifted her legs to fit inside the front seat and shut the door before she could say more.

The smug bastard grinned at her through the windshield while holding up her car keys, just before he situated himself on the driver's seat right next to her.

He slotted it into ignition and by the time the rumbling of Cherry's engine was echoing around the orchard, he turned to look at her with a false tip of his cap.

"Where to, miss?" He asked in faux posh accent but just as Reagan was about to say home, he cut her off and said, "If you say home, I swear to God."

Reagan didn't fight the chuckle it forced out of her.

"Hmmm," She hummed, playing along and strapping on her seatbelt.

"Make this a good one, Wallace," He said as he strapped on his own, "Sunset's pretty near and I want to see it with a good view."

She rolled her eyes, "Well since you keep complaining about how hot it is, why not go for a swim?"

Jack was taken aback, as far as she could tell, and she heard an audible gulp before he spoke, "But I didn't bring a bathing suit."

Reagan shrugged, her voice daring, "Well, neither did I."

Jack looked her dead in the eyes and glanced down at the floral dress she had on. It took just a second's pause before he threw his hand behind Reagan's headrest, started backing out of the clearing, and he shook his head in disbelief, "Don't need to ask me twice."

+

Jack drove with his hand on her thigh, his phone on the dashboard playing A Rocket to the Moon on repeat while Reagan was giving him directions.

She pretended not to notice that his hand was raking up higher every time he had to use the stick shift and placed it back on her thigh afterwards.

The trip was hell. Because Jack was a great driver who looked impossibly good on the driver's seat, his hand was on her lap nearly the whole ride, and she had to spend the entirety of it making small talk while her mind was going haywire.

"This place looks familiar," He said at some point, his eyes narrowing at the sight of the new road Reagan told him to turn to. She grinned.

"I don't think you've been here."

"No," He shook his head, "I'm pretty sure I have."

"Doubt it," Reagan chuckled and told him to take another turn.

It took barely five more minutes before the familiar sight of worn down rocks and separated trees came into view and Jack looked at her with a look of recognition.

"Waterfall?"

She grinned, "Waterfall."

im c r i n g i n g wtf is this
I KNOW MY WRITING'S GETTING SHITTIER I WILL EDIT THIS ENTIRE THING WHEN IT'S OVER PROMISE :(
i also kinda want to make the next chapter smut but i dont want this to me rated mature and WRITING SMUT IS SO UNCOMFORTABLE so eh idk
sorry for the long wait :((( i want to finish this story already sisisksjxno
thank you to those who still read this 💓