Spending the entire Saturday evening with cold packs on both my feet, doused in calamine, wasn't how I thought my first date with Jackson would end.

Em thought it was hilarious. Not to speak about the constant chuckles I had to endure from Jackson and Harold.

On Sunday, both my feet were relieved from the itching, but the red dots were a reminder that dating someone like Jackson didn't come without nasty perks.

When he strolled into my room on Sunday, I showed him a time out sign which Harold and Em thought was hilarious.

"Time out, Cass?" Jackson asked with a sly curve tugging at the one side of his smile, standing in front of my bed.

"Jackson, I went through a weekend equal to hell."

His eyes flickered to Harold standing at my door as his lips fanned out into a grin, showcasing his deep dimples.

"No, I need a break."

"You need a break now? I do not want to know what you are going to say after five weeks."

Em screamed her laughter, and I chuckled.

"If there is going to be burning involved I'm going to kill you, I swear."

"I'm not a sadist, Cass. Besides, I patch you up afterwards, don't I?"

Em kept snorting as Harold chuckled. This conversation wasn't about the fire ants and hot sauce anymore.

"You have such a dirty mind, woman," Jackson scolded Em.

"You still speak about the fire ants?" I asked, and more laughter came from Em standing in the hallway.

"Did we have sex yet?"

"No," I said as heat flushed my cheeks. He was so open with sex it scared the living crap out of me.

"Then I'm speaking about fire ants and hot sauce. Get out of bed. I promise not to take you anywhere near critters or things that can burn."

"Fine, just let me get dressed," I mumbled and got out of bed.

He left the room and mocked Em. Their laughter followed them as they walked down the hallway.

I rubbed my face hard. I should've known that today wouldn't be the day to get some distance between us. Jackson was too adamant.

I hopped into the shower and needed a pep talk. One that had to set things right back on par, but my thoughts were all over the place and I only formed a decent one. Don't lose your heart, Cass!

After the shower, I towel dried my hair and pulled on a summer dress with no socks and my white, thick sole, slip on fashionable sneakers.

I squirted on perfume and didn't want to think about four weeks from now.

"Just play the game and don't lose your heart." I spoke to my reflection as I put on my make-up. "Be yourself. Be the best you can be. Don't be someone you are not." I sighed. Who was I kidding? I was myself. Jackson didn't allow me to be anyone else. He was way too smooth and way too real for me to pretend.

Don't admit that you are crazy about him.

My lip gloss was last, and I felt great. Maybe I would only get five weeks with the hot throb. At least he was setting a standard of how a guy should treat a gal.

I hated my thoughts, and how true the information sounded.

One last glance in the mirror was all I needed to start this day.

I grabbed my handbag and closed my bedroom door behind me. Their murmur came from the lounge and I walked faster. It was as if Jackson pulled me toward him. He was my personal human magnet, among the dozen other gals out there.

I found him sitting on the couch, speaking to Em and Harold.

"Ouch, you look stunning, girl."

"This old thing? Thanks, Em." My eyes skidded to Jackson, who kept staring at my dress. "Stop staring and let's go. I swear, one more incident, Jackson, and I'm walking home."

"It's not my fault that you don't watch where you pee or can't speak up, Cass."

"I guess it's the perks of dating you, Jackson," I said with a slant face.

"Haha, I'm a great guy to date. Let's go before I break this contract."

Harold laughed.

"You want to break it?" I stopped walking.

"I'm joking. I never back out from a bet."

"Oh, I see you are one of those."

"Meaning?"

"Guys that refuse to admit that they are wrong, that don't lose."

Harold laughed and Jackson flipped him off without breaking his gaze from mine. "Walk, you are talking a lot of shit again. Bye," Jackson sang and walked out of the door.

"See you later," I sulked, and walked toward the door.

"Plenty of girls would give their left tit to be in your place, Cass," Harold yelled, and I laughed.

I didn't doubt that one bit.

Jackson already held the door open for me, and I slipped past him. His hand smacked hard on my butt cheek and it burned.

"That is it, that was the last burn, Jackson!" I turned around, ready to walk back into the house, but the idiot boxed me in with his giant arms. 

He planted his lips on mine as he chuckled in the kiss while I complained and rubbed my butt. Why would he do that?

"They say it comes in threes, so that is the last of the burns. We can move over to another category."

I couldn't help but laugh. "It better be the last."

I climbed into the car, and he closed the door.

***

Jackson took me to the mall, and we sat down at an acquainted table that had a kerosene lamp and sauces on top of a blue checkered tablecloth inside a Fishmonger.

He grabbed the hot sauce and the lamp and gave it to the waitress that passed. "Please, keep this away from this table. It's an accident waiting to happen, and do you have a bib?"

"Stop it," I said through a huge grin and shook my head at the waitress.

She smiled and wanted to put the lamp and hot sauce back. "No, I was serious about that. Just put it on that table. That table looks like it needs two lamps." His tone was gentle, and the girl laughed.

I kept staring at him, and he winked. For fuck' sakes. It's just a game, Cassy. Don't lose your heart.

He laughed, probably noticing the effect of the heat wave that crept into my cheeks.

"You are so funny on Sundays. Is this like your day? Did you eat a clown for breakfast or something?"

He chuckled. "No, I just don't want that three to turn into four. I'm not pushing it. You do not mess with the natural order, Cass."

"Yep, karma can be a real bitch if she wants to be. Just wish I knew what I did to deserve the hot sauce. I don't wish that on my worst enemy."

It was so easy to be myself with Jackson and he found my humor funny, probably because our humor was similar.

The menus came, and I went with calamari steak and a salad. I endured a lot of crappy days and tears to gain the body I had now. I would not mess it up with greasy food.

"Do you have any idea how to get rid of a body?"

My gaze flickered to Jackson. "Excuse me?"

His lips curved. "Humor me."

"You killed someone, Jackson?"

"No, I just want to know how you would get rid of a body."

"Why would I want to get rid of a body?"

"Humor me."

I sighed. It was the weirdest question everyone asked me. "Phoning you, as the body would be way too heavy for me to drag."

He laughed. "Oh, so you trust me at least to help you get rid of a body."

"Yeah, Em would not live with her conscience. How would you get rid of a body?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because if I saw you doing similar crap, I'll know to phone the police." My lips curved. "What sort of question is that?"

"It's a random one. I know how all my friends will get rid of bodies. They are not very original if you ask me. Most of them just said they will bury them."

"Do I want to know how you will get rid of a body?"

He smiled. "No, that is sacred shit."

"Okay, moving on then."

"Here is another one. If you can go back in time, which time will it be?"

"Oh, so now you have a time machine?"

He chuckled.

"I know. You can put the body in the time machine and send that back in time. Nobody will catch you."

"Best answer ever." He lifted his hand for me to slap and when mine touched his palm, he curled his fingers around my fingers, making my stomach flipped. "But I'm serious. Which time?"

"I always have a thing about the renaissance area. 'Let Them Eat Cake', or 'Off with Their Heads' sounds like something I would've been great at saying. You?"

"The sixties. Everything seems so effortless then."

"The sixties?"

"Yeah, they have great music. I mean rock-and-roll just got born. Elvis was in that era, the Beatles. Definitely the sixties."

"Okay, these questions are fun. What is the next one?"

Jackson's lips curved. "What animal do you think you would reincarnate as?"

"That one is easy, a fire ant."

Jackson snorted and covered his mouth as his body shook with silent laughter.

Our drinks came as Jackson was still struggling to stop laughing.

"Thank you," I said and chuckled at Jackson, who was red in his face.

He took a deep breath. "You are hilarious, you know that, right?"

"I have a clown for breakfast."

He smiled.

"What animal will you be, Jackson?"

He grinned. "Not a fire ant. Something like a bear or a lion."

"You got the build for one. I can see you as a lion or a bear. What is next?"

"How would you describe your favorite color without using the words?"

"Did you get these questions off some app?"

He laughed again and nodded. "They are fun, I swear. Great for laughs, just answer."

"My favorite color without using words." My gaze landed on the checkered tablecloths and the kerosene lamps before they flickered back to Jackson. His eyes were one of my favorite colors. "Easy, look in the mirror."

He grinned. "So cheesy."

"What, I love blue, and your eyes are the exact shade of blue."

"Blue, blue wasn't yesterday at the picnic."

"So?"

"You said all your favorite colors surrounded you."

"Oh, it's going to snow. You heard what came out of my mouth yesterday?"

"Yes, photographic memory, remember."

"I thought that only worked with textbooks."

"Oh, no, it works with everything. Accept closing a fucking door."

Laughter escaped my lips as I remembered his cat story of yesterday. Jackson chuckled, too.

"The water was blue, and there was a rainbow that had a bit of blue in it, surrounded by all my favorite colors."

"The pond was black."

"Whatever. What is your favorite color, without using color words?"

"Summer."

"Yellow?"

"Yes, well done."

"You love yellow?"

"I love yellow," he said in a sultry tone and thank heavens our food came. He was so weird today, but I had to admit, I was crazy about this part of him too.

It's a bit of a weird chapter. Let me know your thoughts. Thanks for reading. I appreciate it so much. Please don't forget to vote and to leave your comments.