Johnson

Fifteen

Probably last author's note before the end of book. I thought this story was going to be v. short, but according to my plan it's actually going to be a chapter or two longer than 'Artificial Insemination' and 'It Started with a Scent'. Who would have thought? Anyways, enjoy the chapter.

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Jack woke with a start.

It took him a moment, after blinking open his eyes, to recognise where he was- sprawled out on top of his couch with drool running out the side of his mouth.

He blinked again and sat up, wiping his face and trying to place what had jolted him out of sleep.

If he was honest with himself, he didn't remember falling asleep in the first place. The day had passed uneventfully and he had sat down to watch some more mind-numbingly dumb television before conking out like a light.

His neck hurt from being in an awkward position so he rolled his head in a circle, pressing into the ache until it dulled down to a more unnoticeable level.

"Jack, I know you're in there." The words were muffled, preceded by three booming thumps against his front door. "Open up."

The sound kick started him into action and he pushed off the couch to open the front door, wondering who could be visiting him.

He swung it open and deflated, berating himself for being hopeful. "What are you doing here?" He grumbled.

His sister leveled him with an unimpressed look and placed her hands on her hips. "Am I not allowed to visit you now?"

Then her eyes narrowed, head tilting to the side as she peered past Jack's body and into his house. Something akin to bewilderment flashed across her face as she looked beyond him to some invisible monster.

"Oh my gosh, Jack. Your house smells horrible."

"What are you talking about?" Jack still felt a little disoriented from being torn out of his nap and it took him a minute to catch on to the fact that May had weaseled her way past the threshold of his doorstep. 

"You could kill someone with how bad it smells in here." She exclaimed, strolling into his living room and gazing around like she was searching for something. "Was that your plan?"

He followed after her, put out by her canny ability to intrude on his self-imposed solitude. He didn't have the energy to deal with her prying ways, especially when it meant having to divulge his own indiscretions in the process.

"For goodness sake, May." He sighed. "You could have warned me you were coming over."

Ignoring him, she reached over to his windows and opened them up in an attempt to air out the space. Immediately, the room felt an iota less stuffy.

"Did you break up with your omega or something?" She wrinkled her nose, "because it sure smells like it."

Yes, that was it.

"Her name was Ally." He corrected, shrugging his shoulders and avoiding eye contact. "And yeah, we broke up."

Breaking things off with Ally had been upsetting, but Jack was more ashamed about subjecting the woman to such pain than he was sad about ending things with her. 

Either way, blaming his poor mood on Ally was easier than explaining the catastrophe of a situation that had occurred between Summer and his job. He would rather die than tell his sister that he'd slept with his boss' teenage daughter multiple times and gotten fired because of it.