“You enjoy talking to me?” I couldn’t help but smile when I asked.
His cheeks grew red. “Yeah, I do.” The floor creaked above us. Jackson’s dark brown eyes flicked to the stairs. “It’s freezing down here.”
I nodded. “It’s awful.” I pulled the blanket tighter around my shoulders. “I knew old houses were drafty, but this is just awful.”
The floorboards creaked again. “I’ll be back,” he said and hurried up the stairs. I retreated to the lumpy mattress on my cot and hoped Jackson didn’t get caught coming down to see me. I missed his company already. I tried to convince myself it was pointless to get to know him. Zane would make sure Jackson and I didn’t have the chance to become friends.
Just a few minutes later, the door opened again.
Jackson emerged from the stairwell holding a ceramic mug. Steam billowed from it and the wonderful smell of hot chocolate filled the basement.#p#分页标题#e#
“Oh my God,” I said when he extended the cup to me. “Oh my God,” I repeated and inhaled the aroma. “Jackson …” I didn’t know just what to say. I wrapped my cold hands around the mug. It was uncomfortably hot, and I knew I should set it down before I burned myself. I used a corner of one of the thin blankets to absorb the heat. “Thank you,” I told him and looked him in the eye, noticing for the first time that a circle of dark brown outlined his pupils. “You shouldn’t have, though. I don’t want to see you get hurt. Again.”
He shrugged. “No one will know as long as I take the mug upstairs before anyone sees it. Do you even like hot chocolate?” he asked shyly.
I nodded and blew on the beverage before taking a small sip. “Love it.”
“Good,” he said and smiled. “It’s nothing special, just a mix.”
“There’s a way to make hot chocolate not from a mix?” I asked and took another sip. Jackson half smiled and nodded. “I didn’t know that,” I admitted. “Though I suppose years ago the little one-cup sized mixes didn’t exist.”
“Yeah,” he agreed with another small smile. “I suppose.”
I put the mug to my lips and sipped the hot liquid. I could feel Jackson watching me. I knew his shyness was genuine, so I pretended like I didn’t notice him staring. There was more to Jackson than was visible on the surface, and I wanted to find out about it.
“It stopped snowing,” he told me. “And it’s supposed to be warmer tomorrow. The snow will probably melt by the weekend.”
“Typical Iowa winter,” I mumbled. “I hope it snows again soon so we can shovel. Not that it was the most fun thing to do, but being outside is better than this,” I admitted. “I hate being locked down here.”
“I hated it too,” Jackson said, surprising me.
“You were locked down here?” I asked, the shock apparent in my voice. Jackson nodded and cast his eyes down. I got the feeling he didn’t want to talk about it. “For how long?” I asked gently.
Jackson shuffled his feet and shrugged. “I don’t really know.”
I cupped my hands around the mug and brought it to my face, letting the steam warm me. I looked at the cot and then at Jackson. “Want to sit?”
“Yes,” he said quietly. His body was stiff and he kept his arms close to himself. It seemed like he was afraid to be close to me. “Is this okay?” he asked and turned his head.
“Yes,” I told him and realized that he was worried about me being afraid of him. I wasn’t, not anymore. Being around Jackson was becoming more familiar and comforting. “So, are you from Iowa?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No. Illinois. You are, right?”
“Yeah. I was born in Pella and lived there for ten years. My parents always wanted to open an art gallery, so we moved closer to Des Moines for business when they finally had the money.”
“And you were going to school?”
I nodded. “University of Iowa.”
“Did you like it?”
My heart sank, and I felt like someone slapped me when I realized that a new semester had recently started. I wondered what classes Lynn was taking and who she had roomed with this year. “Yeah, I loved college,” I told him.
The front door slammed shut, shaking the house. Jackson jumped up. “Zane’s back,” he told me. “I was supposed to get your laundry.” He took the empty mug from me, hurried over to the overflowing hamper, and picked it up. “Night, Adeline,” he said as he sped toward the stairs.#p#分页标题#e#