Unexpectedly, Mutually Yours

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Two Years Later

Mollie couldn't contain her shock when she received a ticket to the Superbowl.

Now, she wasn't a huge football fan, but when she got the ticket, she knew who'd sent it. Since it was a registered letter, she had to sign for it. And a few minutes later, her phone buzzed in her pocket.

"Tell me you got it."

She'd know the voice anywhere, even if she hadn't seen his name on the caller ID.

"I got it." She said, brightly.

"Good! And I'll be sending you with my folks on the plane if that's ok."

"Of course, I love your parents."

Jackson chuckled over the phone. "Oh, Mollie... it warms my heart to hear that."

"Well, we promised to look out for each other... mutually... and such a bond brings folks closer together."

He chuckled again, the sound of chatter around him... men. From their cursing, she knew it was his teammates. After college, Jackson had been drafted into the RedHawks team as their quarterback and Mollie had cheered him on at every home game... as many away games as she could without missing school... and when she couldn't go to the game, she'd record it to watch later.

While his teammates knew about her, they didn't know what her connection was with Jackson. To be honest, Mollie herself wasn't sure.

Because she was seventeen and he was twenty-four, they couldn't officially "date"... but they sort of had an understanding...

It was confusing as all heck, but even with their friendship, which was a constant thing regardless of any other circumstances- there was an underlying something with them that she dared not name... but strangely, despite the fact that they weren't dating, and definitely weren't exclusive... because of the no dating thing of course... but from what she'd observed, Jackson had never gone on more than one date with anyone he'd ever been seen with in the tabloids.

She never asked... but in her heart of hearts, as stupid as it was; Mollie hoped it was because he had feelings for her.

Mollie was technically still being taken care of by Madison, but essentially, Madison's constant dating and her job kept her out of the house most of the time... and Mollie couldn't be happier with that arrangement. Even though Madison never found out the whole story about why Jackson didn't take the bait- she was fuming mad about it and something told Mollie that the man had dodged a big, bitchy bullet...

Since Madison was so self-absorbed, Mollie once asked Jackson as a friend if he knew anyone older she could talk to in a parent-child way. It was a weird request, she knew. But he didn't back away or judge her. Instead, he brought her to meet his mom.

They hit it off instantly.

And Mrs. Burke seemed to understand the attraction and the complications with the two of them... as well as the things with Madison...

Surprisingly, Jackson's parents told her that any time she needed to talk, or needed a ride to one of Jackson's games, they'd gladly be there for her.

And a friendship was forged.

Mollie realized her thoughts had been elsewhere for a moment when Jackson asked if she was ok.

"Oh yeah... just thinking about your parents and how glad I am that we're close."

He was clearly smiling; she could hear it in his tone. "They adore you."

Something in the way he said adore made her heart flutter. She shouldn't feel this happy about something so trivial...