Same Time Next Week (Ch 40)
Welcome back to my first serial on Substack, a tantalizing tale of a former pop star and a mysterious, reclusive Afro-Latina.
New here or need to catch up? Drop back to the INDEX and start from the beginning.
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Jackson grapples with a bittersweet dilemma: his music career is soaring, with a reinvigorated band and the promise of touring on the horizon—but his deepening feelings for the enigmatic Shelby have him walking a dangerous tightrope. Rod Phillips' knowledge of their relationship hangs over them like a storm cloud ready to burst, forcing Jackson to decide how to protect both the woman who's captured his heart and the career he's rebuilt.
That was… weird.
Jackson wasn't a nosy person. He didn't care what her background was, what her past was. A girl that didn't demand the girlfriend label after two dates was a breath of fresh air.
Maybe it was the secrecy and the mystery around her. Maybe it the fact that she was sort of unavailable-only sort of because she seemed to only be seeing him. Hell, maybe it was the great sex, but Jackson had every intention of moving this... whatever it was... relationship? Forward. If she would let it happen, that was. His biggest fear was that she wouldn't, based on whatever it was she was hiding.
He could, however, understand her freak-out over Rod finding out about her.