Hello from Belgium,

As I promised, here's another chapter of The Songs of You and Me. If you missed a previous chapter, go back to your inbox and search in the promotions tab or junk folder...

If you're new to my newsletter, here's a little recap. Every week, I've been sending out one chapter of my book The Songs of You and Me. If you would like to read it from the beginning, it's available on Amazon and free in kindle unlimited.

This is the first chapter we get to read in Jackson’s POV. I loved diving into an 18-year-old guy’s mind. I hope you enjoy.

Happy Reading!

PART 2

Fifteen years earlier...

JACKSON

“Tell me all about this dork, Brian Anderson.” I was eager to hear Jane’s story, but my mouth watered as I looked at the huge pile of chocolate ice cream smothered in syrup and cream sitting in front of me.

“I’ve had a crush on him for a few weeks now. He’s popular and on the football team.”

My stomach clenched. Brian Anderson was a punk. He made it a sport of dating the hottest chicks in school and then taking what he wanted before dumping them. I couldn’t believe a smart girl like Jane would fall for that player. Her tears earlier had me on edge. I wondered if I was going to have to go over there later tonight and teach that bonehead how to treat a lady.

Jane took a small taste of her dessert and smiled, calming my nerves.

That smile that set me at ease distracted me now. I always liked Jane. What was not to like? She was Sarah’s best friend. Always loyal, a quality I admired. And she was easy on the eyes. Even though she was a few years younger, I was still a guy, and we guys noticed these things. Like her hair, it was a deep shade of brown with natural highlights and waves that ran down her back. I was a sucker for long hair. But what stood out the most were her green eyes. They were a deep emerald I’d never seen on anyone but her. They were typically Jane.

She also had a sharp mind. Some girls that were hot, like Jane, came up blank. And I meant completely blank. Beyond makeup, the amount of calories in the salad dressing, or who was sleeping with whom, there wasn’t much else going on in their brains. This girl knew stuff. She always impressed me with her sharp wit.

Before I drooled all over my sundae, I cleared my throat. “Brian Anderson, how’d you pull that one with the folks?”

I remembered Jane’s parents’ rule: No dating until she turned sixteen. Being an only child made them crazy overprotective.

“You know my parents want me to focus on my studies. No dating will help me reach my goals.” She did a pretty good imitation of her dad. Jane was in Honors English, dedicated to her education. I could appreciate that.

“Technically, I was tutoring Brian. He asked me to help him with his English paper.” She tilted her head to the side, lifting her shoulders as if it were all good. I bet her dad hadn’t met Brian and didn’t know about the setup. No way would that fly. I really hated that tool. He was bad news. Before saying something stupid, I dug into my sundae with a vengeance.

“Tonight was our study date. He made it seem special. He even said the whole ‘It’s a date’ line.”

I heard her voice pick up on that last line. I checked her eyes for tears. I didn’t do tears.

“Okay.” I dragged out each letter. “What went wrong?”

Jane had barely touched her sundae.

“When I got to his house, he sat me down, gave me a drink, showed me his homework assignment, and then the doorbell rang.”

I shoved another spoonful of ice cream in my mouth and fought back a brain freeze.

“In walks Mindy Foster, his date for the night.”

I couldn’t help myself. I snorted. Not in the cool guy kind of way. Some of the cold cream shot up my nose, making me cringe. I had to give it to the jerk, he was a real butthead. He might have gotten away with his plan with any other girl, but not Jane.

“I know, right? He expected me to do his homework while he went out with Mindy. Can you believe it?”

Her indignation was cute. Her brow bunched up, and the frustrated pout begged me to claim those lips and kiss that frustration away. What the heck? Where did that thought come from? This was Jane.

“Wow!” is all I said. She was looking at me like I totally got her outrage, but really I was fantasizing about what Jane’s lips would taste like. Would they taste like the coconut smell I picked up off her earlier in the car, or would her lips be as sweet as the chocolate sundae?

Jackson, dude, snap out of it. I chastised myself.

“How did he think you would react?” I couldn’t believe he didn’t try to make a move on her himself.

“He knew about the no-dating rule.” She huffed. Honestly, she had no idea how lucky she was that rule scared the players off like it did. No one messed with Mr. Pierce. He was a great guy, don’t get me wrong. Heck, I’d known him my whole life, our family being tight like we were. But even I knew not to get on the wrong side of him.

“But wait for it. He was going to drive me home after his date with Mindy, so he couldn’t understand why I was upset about it. That punk.”

“What did you do?” I tried my best to wipe the smile off of my face, still distracted imagining those lips on mine.

“I did the only thing any self-respecting girl in my position would do,” she exclaimed. “I took the glass of water he gave me and dumped the whole thing right over him.”

I stared for a moment, and then burst out laughing. Her animated relaying and my reaction to it were causing a stir.

“I wish I could have seen his face.” I shook my head, forcing my mind back to the conversation and away from those tempting thoughts. “And Mindy’s,” I added, back on topic now.

“Well…I think I might have gotten Mindy sort of…kind of wet in the process of teaching Brian a well-deserved lesson.” Jane seemed to relax.

“You have quite a mean streak, Jane Pierce. I’ll give you that. No guy on the team will ever mess with you, that’s for sure.” I awarded Jane with one of my winning smiles and noticed her blush as she tucked her hair behind her ear.

This night had certainly taken a turn with Jane pounding on my door. Sitting here with her, I was really happy her date hadn’t worked out and that she was here with me instead.

Stay tuned for Chapter 3 next week...

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M

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Mylissa's Books

The Rules Series

Rules are made to be Broken (Book 1)

Rules are made to be Ignored (Book 2)

The Rules Novella Series

Rules Don't Apply

Playing by the Rules

The Songs Series

The Songs of You and Me (Book 1)

The Songs That Brought Me Back (Book 2)