Toto and the Boys I: Jackie

Chapter 20

Dean woke Jackie by gently shaking her shoulder.

“Hey, wake up. I think the doors are open now,” he said.

Oh, yeah, Jackie was fully awake. He just didn’t know that. She had been awake for almost the entire night. And so was Dean. After almost an hour outside pacing after that kiss, he came back in and stared at my ceiling. I wish I could have made him see the answer to the questions that were obviously running in his mind. He didn’t move a lot. Maybe he was afraid to wake Jackie up. And Jackie didn’t move an inch as well, thinking it would give her away.

So yeah, they just lay there all night without moving, pretending to be asleep. But the sun had to come up and they had to face reality. They had to go back to their rooms.

Jackie gave a moan. She didn’t pull it off but I think Dean was not at the right state of consciousness to even notice.

“Jackie,” he said, clearing his throat. “The rooms are open. We better get inside.”

“Okay,” she said in a very low voice, still facing the other way. God, her body must be aching by now.

“I’ll get inside first. Hey,” he called when she didn’t give an answer.

“Okay,” she whispered. This time, she turned and faced him. Their eyes met and I was afraid I would witness another lip-locking scene for they stared at each other’s eyes for too long.

Thank goodness Karen’s voice rang out from the balcony of the lodging house.

“Hey!” she called.

Both Jackie and Dean blinked and the magic or whatever was suddenly gone. Dean cleared his throat again and said, “We better get inside.”

“Okay,” Jackie answered and straightened in my seat. They both got out and walked to the lodging house.

  *****

“You locked me out last night,” Jackie said to Karen before her friend could comment on why she and Dean were together inside Toto.

Realization hit Karen and her eyes bulged. “I did?”

“Yes,” Jackie uttered tiredly. She didn’t get enough sleep. She turned her head and found that Dean was right behind her. She consciously brushed her fingers through her hair. And then she tried to fix her shirt.

“You mean you slept inside your car?”

“Yes!” she snapped at her friend.

“With sir Dean?” Her friend looked at Dean.

“Joseph locked me out too,” he answered behind Jackie.

“Oh my God! We’re sorry! I mean, I am sorry. After we left you guys last night, I decided I wanted to sleep so Joseph took me to my room. I didn’t know he locked the door when he got out.”

Jackie arched her eyebrow. “Is it open now? I need to shower.”

“Yes. I’m really sorry, Jackie,” Karen said, leading the way to their room.

Jackie looked over her shoulder to take one last glance at Dean. Their eyes met. The most amazing thing was he gave her a small smile. She returned it shyly and turned her attention back to the direction of their room.

Once inside the shower, Jackie was finally able to understand and absorb last night’s events. She shared one, hot kiss with Dean Gamboa. Shit.

“Shit!” she said aloud. “Shit, shit, shit!”

“Hey! Are you okay in there?” asked Karen from outside the door.

“Yeah! I dropped my uh…soap.”