Free Jack Who? (Silver Strings G Series) by Lisa Gillis Page B

in surprise.
    A husky challenge came next. “Does that mean you liked what you heard? Marissa who doesn’t listen to hard metal?”
    “Some of it.” Her stressed smile was slight, but it remained as that boyish taunt transported her back into time. Back to Jack giving her that first Jackal CD after giving her a firsthand inkling of just how great the X-rated things sung and screamed about in so many of those songs could be.
    Thankfully, as if just remembering what else she had mentioned, Jack abandoned that avenue of conversation. “Drums?” When she nodded, he surmised, “You are a good mom to tolerate a four-year old on drums...”
    “Surprisingly, he can keep a beat.”
    “There’s that ‘surprisingly’ again...,” he joked as if offended.
    Blowing out a breath, she shot back, “Because he’s four!”
    His grin held, gradually fading as he asked, “Do you have pictures? On your phone?”
    Eagerly, she opened the gallery file, passed the device over, and then she watched his face as he took in every pixel. There were easily a hundred pictures on the phone, and he went through each one. He would slow sometimes on any of her with friends, but he only asked questions about any containing Tristan.
    Pausing on one, he smiled at Tristan using Bally as a pillow while watching t.v. and asked that she text the image to his phone.
    Easily, a hundred emotions channeled between them, but she held back her questions. Fatherhood may have petrified him a few weeks ago, but once he saw the inevitable and laid eyes on his son, he was surprisingly quick to adjust. So quickly, it was frightening when the C word would pop into her head.
    Custody.

CHAPTER 14
    JACK STAYED ALL day. When Tristan woke, he waited while she saw him, and she didn’t try to read anything into the decision. It seemed sound. Tristan would only be confused if some strange man were with her.
    Her steps were much lighter after seeing her son alert, even though his eyes were bleary instead of alight with his latest mischief. Bravely, he even smiled upon seeing her, and talked some between Jell-O bites. The oxygen had been removed; the tubes hung discarded over his bed, and she watched in relief as his small chest expanded and contracted beneath the hospital gown. Beneath the covers was a miracle of modern science. She had peaked at the bandages in her last bedside visit while Tristan was sleeping, and although there was no visible change in his tiny legs, she knew there was a big difference. The pain medication caused him to quickly fall asleep after eating, and eventually, a nurse ran her out of the room.
    Jack seemed to hang on every detail, even asking what flavor Jell-O and inquiring if Tristan liked that flavor the best.
    She felt good about their son’s prognosis and eagerly nodded when Jack offered to hunt down the cafeteria and bring some food back.
    While watching him walk away, her eyes honed in on the fit of his jeans, and her fingers unconsciously curled into the gel case of her phone. When he disappeared from her line of vision, she stared at her hands and wondered what exactly was going on between the two of them. Was he feeling this same closeness, as if they were inherently joined by more than one night of sex and a son?
    From her pocket, her phone pounded his ring tone. People all around rubbernecked. Some frowned with disapproval, and some smiled in amusement at the screeching guitar riff and rowdy scream. Quickly fishing it out, she jabbed at the screen and spoke, “Hey, what’s up?”
    Considerately, Jack gave her a rundown of the food choice, and she found it difficult to select while being too engaged by the sound of his voice.
    “Cool,” was his acknowledgment when she finally spoke. Then, “What to drink?”
    “Tea,” she chimed while happily imagining the icy caffeine drink after doing carbonated canned caffeine and hot coffee all day. “Unsweet.”
    “Unsweet?” His exclamation rebounded without pause.
    “Yes, if they