Before And After the Divorce - 17. The Confrontation

After finishing up with Dad and Dominic, I called Jackson and asked if he was free the next night. He was. I told him I'd drop by around seven and we needed to talk.

Tuesday

Zach brought a copy of his dental bill. I had all the evidence I needed to confront Jackson properly. I liked Jackson a lot, so it was difficult to decide what to say. I decided to keep it simple. After dinner with Dad and Dom, I arrived at Jackson's a couple of minutes before seven o'clock.

Jackson’s smile was warm as he opened the door. "Come on in, Dylan. How are you doing?"

"Pretty well, thank you, yourself?" I hoped he couldn’t detect the tightness I felt.

"Just wonderful. Care for a drink?"

”No, thanks.”

"Must be a serious talk. Do you mind if I pour something for myself?"

”Feel free.”

Jackson prepared his drink while I sat down at the dining room table. While I waited, I took out my phone, pulled up Zach's picture, and placed the phone upside-down on the table. Jackson sat down across from me.

I bit my lower lip. "I'm not really sure how to go about this, but I figured since a picture is worth a thousand words, I'd start there."
I flipped over my phone and pushed toward Jackson.

"Can you explain this?"

Twin lines furrowed his forehead as he scrutinized the photo. "No. Who is it?"

I felt the heat rise to my face as my anger went from zero to sixty instantly.
"You know damn well who it is. That's Zach, and that's what you did to him."

Jackson threw his hands up defensively. "Whoa, hold on there! I don't have a clue who that is. The Zach Washington I know is white. I've never seen this guy before in my life."

My eyes went wide. "Come on. You expect me to believe two different Jackson Trevons had fights with two different Zach Washingtons? I may not be as smart as you, but I'm not stupid either."

"Damn. Wait, I have a picture of us."

Jackson took out his phone, scrolled through the photos, and showed me a picture of him and some other guy. It could have been anybody.

"That could be the King of Sweden for all I know. I was hoping you'd be honest, but that was too much to ask. Have a nice life. Oh, and Dominic won't be there anymore on Thursdays. Yelling at him because he doesn't understand something is a pretty rotten thing to do to a small child."

"Dylan, wait! Please don't go. I can show you something else that proves the guy in my photo is Zach."

I huffed. "OK. I'll give you one chance, but you better make it good. Where's the proof?"

Jackson held up one finger. "Stay right there. I have to get my laptop. Please, don't leave."

"I'll wait."

When Jackson returned with his laptop, he opened his Facebook page, scrolled down to friends, and expanded the list. Well, color me pink. There was the Zach Washington on his phone.

I slumped in my seat. "What? I can't understand this. How can you both be telling the truth?"

"Let me ask you something. Did you ever say my whole name to 'your' Zach?" He included the air quotes.

"I don't... let me think. No, I'm pretty sure I didn't."

"I'll admit it's a hell of a coincidence, but I've never seen that Zach in my life."

I shook my head. "Shit. I'm sorry I didn't believe you, but Zach, my Zach, was so serious. I could tell he wasn't lying."

"He wasn't, and neither was I. I don't have any photographic evidence, but, this," pointing at his laptop, "Zach Washington really did smack me around. And I forgive you. Anyone would have reacted the same way."

"I feel like such a shit right now."

Jackson reached over and put his hand on my arm. "Don't. It's not your fault. If you're willing to listen, I can explain yelling at Dominic."

I nodded. "Let's clear everything up."

"I have an in-school study period at the end of the day on Thursdays for disadvantaged youths. Most of them, even at eleven and twelve, are thugs and ruffians. The past two weeks, they've given me a lot of headaches. I can't go into details because of their ages, but let's just say, there were things said that no one should be subjected to. I walked out of there frustrated and angry. I've already told Mr. Pearson, the principal, I won’t take that study period any longer. I'll apologize to Dominic. Don't take him out of the program. Please? He's probably the brightest student I've ever had."

Well, this whole thing turned into a royal fucking mess.

”I’ll take that drink now if the offer is still on the table.”

"Sure." Jackson grinned as he stood and went over to fix me a JD and water. The drink he brought was strong. I would need to sip slowly.

Licking his lips nervously, Jackson asked, "So, are we good? I hope this misunderstanding wasn't fatal to our relationship."

"I'd be an even bigger shit if I let that happen, Jackson. I just need time to calm down. Ever since lunchtime yesterday, this has been stewing in my brain."

"I get it. Like I said, anybody would have had the same reaction. But, please, when you see Zach tomorrow, ask him what his Jackson's last name is. That should clear everything , and we can put this behind us."

"Yeah. I won't even say hello. That'll be the first thing out of my mouth. I see the proof but still find it hard to believe."

Jackson snorted. "It does ping the 'no fucking way' end of the believability scale. Hopefully, we'll be able to laugh about this later."

"Hopefully. Geez. I’m still blown away by the coincidence. Thank you for forgiving me."

Jackson leaned in and showed me exactly how much he forgave me. It was as deeply an emotional kiss as I've ever had. Needless to say, it led to more. I didn’t resist when he took my hand and led me to his bedroom. We laid down on the bed, kissing, but before long, our clothes were off, and we were fondling each other. Jackson wanted more, and I was powerless to stop him. Or stop myself, for that matter.

"I need more.” He panted. “Can I take you into my mouth?"

"Oh, God, yes."

He spun around until we were in the sixty-nine position. I didn't hesitate to give him what he wanted. I dug my heels into the mattress as his mouth engulfed me., I took him into my mouth. Our mouths mirrored each other as we pleasured each other. It wasn’t long before we sped up and brought each other to an explosive climax.

Jacskson scooted up next to me. "That was amazing, Dylan."

I smiled. "You weren't so bad yourself."

We shared a kiss, tasting the remnants of ourselves on the other’s tongue before I felt it was time to go. We'd made enough progress in our sexual relationship for one night. I didn't want to push it, even though I desperately wanted more.

Wednesday

"Hey, Zach. Good morning."

OK, so I lied about not saying hello first.

"Hi Dylan. You seem to be in a good mood today. All over Jackson from our talk yesterday?"

I sucked in a breath between my teeth. "Yeah, about that. What's Jackson's last name?"

"Burben. “Why? Didn’t you didn't know that?"

"No, because I'm seeing a different Jackson. Jackson Trevon. My Jackson had a problem with a different Zach Washington."

Zach’s face fell. "You're shitting me, right?"

"Nope."

I opened Facebook on my phone and searched Zach Washingtons, found the right one, and showed it to him.

His jaw dropped. "Holy shit. And we each had the opposite problem with our Jackson. That's just way too freaky."

"Yeah, it was so hard to believe. I almost torpedoed the relationship, but we worked things out."

Zach frowned. He apparently was hoping we could get back together.

I tried to let him down easy. "Hey, I can tell you wanted to get back together with me. I’m sorry, but I can't do that."

"Yeah. I understand. I wish you all the luck in the world."

Zach went off to work on his section. He didn't say another word to me the rest of the day. Just like our first quasi-breakup, he simply disappeared from my life and became just another worker on the job. In hindsight, I'm actually kind of glad. It would have hurt way more if we got back together, and then, for no apparent reason, he dropped out of my life again. I half-considered giving him Herb's number, but even I wasn't that mean.

Since I didn't have much time to talk to Dominic this morning, at dinnertime, I let him and Dad know about what happened with Jackson. No, I didn't tell them about THAT!

"So, I got everything straightened out with Jackson, er, Mr. Trevon."

"What do you mean?" Dad asked.

"His old boyfriend isn't the same Zach Washington I work with. It seems he was telling the truth about being hit."

"So, you still like him?" Dominic tilted his head to the side like an inquisitive puppy.

I needed to explain in a way he would understand that Jackson didn’t mean what he said. My son’s disappointment was etched on his face like a stone carving. "Yes, " he gave me a perfectly good reason for yelling at you. You've heard the saying he was having a bad day, right?"

Hesitant but not completely confident yet, Dominic slowly nodded. "Yeah?"

"That's what happened. Another group of kids he works with on Thursdays were giving him a hard time, and he didn’t handle it the way a grown-up should have. We make mistakes, too. Unfortunately, his pent-up anger came out on you."

Dominic’s bottom lip disappeared beneath his upper teeth. "So, he won't yell at me anymore, and he can keep teaching me?"

"That's right."

I watched a bright smile stretch ear-to-ear across my son’s face. "I'm glad! I like him too, and it was just those couple times he yelled that bothered me."

Dad’s fork clinked on his plate as he speared a bit of meat. "So, did you kiss and make up?"

I blushed. Badly.

"Funny, Dad. But yes, we did."

"I’m sorry. I wasn't trying to be mean. It came out the wrong way."

"Uh, huh. Anyway, yeah, we're still together, and I'll need to ask you a favor later."

"Later, why not now?"

"Little pitchers have big ears."

"What's that mean, Daddy?"

"It means it's something I want to ask Grandpa, but you don't need to hear it."

Dominic sighed dramatically and rolled his eyes. "OK. I get it."
He had a big smile on his face. Yeah, I suppose he did. Even though I told him I didn't want to hear anything about sex from him, there's no way I can keep him from thinking it. After Dominic was in bed , I asked Dad the favor.

"Thanks for staying longer. I know you have work in the morning, so I won't keep you long."

"No problem, I live close enough."

"OK. Well, you were right before about kissing and making up."

Dad smirked. "I could tell by your blush."

"Yeah. Can you stay over either Friday or Saturday night?"

"You want to continue making up, I suppose?"

I couldn't tell if that was supposed to be a zinger or not, so I let it slide.

"Yeah. I want to spend the night with Jackson, if he wants to as well, that is. I think he does."

"Sure. I'm fine with either night. Check with him and let me know."

"Thanks, Dad. You're a pain in the ass sometimes, but you're still the best father a guy could have."

"Just making up for your teen years."

"Oh, shit! Am I in trouble."

We had a laugh about that, said goodnight, and he left.

Thursday

Zach ignored me again. I was over him anyway. He's too fickle to waste any energy on him. I texted Jackson that I wanted to talk to him about something later, and it was nothing bad. I didn't feel right about inviting myself to stay over in a text. I called him after dinner.

"Hey Dylan. What's up?"

"Nothing, at the moment. Talk dirty to me, and that might change."

His chuckle was low and sexy. "You pig. Seriously, what's on your mind?"

"Tuesday night was awesome, but I left, well, still wanting more."

"You and me both, brother."

"Yeah. So I was wondering if you weren't busy Friday or Saturday night?"

Jackson tsk’d. "Sorry, Dylan, I'm seeing my boyfriend both those nights."

"Wise ass. So, you're free?"

"Yeah. Like I said before, what's on your mind?"

"I know it's uncool to just invite myself..."

He chuckled. "You want to spend the night. Fucking A. Uh oh. Bad choice of language there."

I wished I could punish him in person. Instead, I laughed. "Yeah."

"Let's do it Friday night. Then if we want to stretch it to a second night, work won't get in the way the next morning."

"You're as horny as I am, aren't you?"

"At least as much as, yeah."

"OK. I'll throw a bag in my truck and come over after work Friday. I'll need to shower, though."

"Hey. mi ducha es su ducha."

I loved his humor. "I'm going to assume that means shower."

"You got it."

"K. See you tomorrow evening. Night."

"Goodnight."


Next up - "The Sleepover(s), and a Long Weekend Trip"