23

23

“He jests at scars, that never felt a wound.”
William Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet. II.ii.2
Adrienne spread a thick layer of peanut butter across the piece of bread. She wiped the extra peanut butter off the knife with her index finger and ate it. “He’s not going to eat that, you know. Especially when he finds out that you’d rather suck on peanut butter,” Jackson breathed on the back of her neck. She stiffened, aware of him behind her. “Besides,” he began, encircling her waist and picking up the spoon next to the plate, “you don’t make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with a knife. You spread the jelly and peanut butter with a spoon,” he finished, pressing himself into her as he spread the grape jelly with the spoon. She could feel his heart beating against her spine. “What makes you think this is for Deshawn?” she asked defensively. Jackson put the lid on the jelly. He lowered his head so that his twists brushed against the side of her face. She tried to ignore him by putting the two pieces of bread together. “You don’t like grape jelly,” he answered, running his hand against hers. He pressed his lips against the side of her face and tugged on her oversized Emory T-shirt. “So, you got anything on under this?” he questioned, making Adrienne suddenly aware of the fact that all she had on besides the t-shirt was socks. She turned around to face him and pushed his hand away. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” Jackson moved away from her face and crossed his arms. “How much you want to bet he doesn’t know you don’t like grape jelly?” Adrienne rolled her eyes and started out of the kitchen, sandwich in hand. He grabbed her by the wrist. “Does he know what else you don’t like?” Adrienne fought to maintain her composure. “I don’t want to have this discussion, Jay,” she breathed, accidentally calling him by a name she hadn’t used in years. “Look at me, Adrienne,” he said softly. She looked up from the floor at his deep brown irises. “He needs to know, Adrienne. You have to tell him; otherwise he’ll expect it to happen eventually. It’s not fair to freak out on him when he doesn’t know.” Adrienne pulled her hand away. “Shut the fuck up and leave me alone.”