Read Online True for You by Marquita Valentine - Free Book Online

I
want to be here.
    No
matter what Violet, what Everett, or what anyone else says about the
man I married, I think there’s more to Jackson Morgan, the man,
and not Jaxon Hunter, the performer.
    Violet probably
glimpsed that part of him, and I think he still loves her, for what
she reminds him of—I think he equates her with happier times,
without his dad’s interference.
    As for his dad, I
know for a fact Everett used Jackson as a shield, but why Jackson
went with it…? I have no clue. And as strong willed as Jackson
is, I never dreamed he’d be the fall guy for his dad’s
affairs with young girls, to let himself be accused of cheating on
Violet, the woman that not even last week he was trying to get back.
    What
would that be like, to be wanted so fiercely that nothing would stand
in the way of us being together? Only Jackson had given her up, and
I’m pretty sure he helped Cole.
    The
lights go out suddenly, and I jump, reaching for what, I’m not
sure.
    One thing for sure:
I hate the dark—what I can’t see and not knowing what I’m
touching. The dark is when all sorts of things happen to girls on the
street. Honest to God, I don’t know how I wasn’t one of
those girls.
    Dejar
angeles te cuide . My mami would
whisper that to me, right before she and my dad would kiss me good
night.
    That’s
the worst thing about being homeless, the memories of a warm house, a
full belly, laughter, love, and the safety of my parents’
embrace.
    Foster
care certainly hadn’t helped. Being shuffled from home to home
every couple of months because I wasn’t … enough has shot my self-worth all to pieces. But I’m not naïve
enough to think that I’ll find my worth in Jackson or any other
man.
    Still,
to be wanted like that…
    “Generators
will kick on after ten minutes,” he says as he strums a song on
his guitar. My eyes adjust to the firelight in the room.
    I
nod. “That’s good.”
    Jackson
starts singing one of his songs, a slow one talking about love lost
and then found in the person he never expected. I love listening to
him sing, especially this one. In the most secret part of my heart, I
wish it were me he was singing to, but I know it’ll never
happen.
    Because
I’ll never be enough for him.

    *** *** ***

    Jackson
    The
generators finally kick on, and with it, the few lamps I’d
turned on when we’d settled in the living room.
    Bliss
jumps—again—then settles back down in the large club
chair in the corner.
    I’ve
never seen her so anxious. Well, except for the time Violet caught us
on lying on the sofa with my hand down Bliss’ pants. Another
minute or two longer, and I’m pretty sure that beautiful girl
would have exploded in my arms.
    But
we didn’t get that, and Bliss thought for sure she would be
fired. That hadn’t happened, and not only because of me taking
responsibility for my actions. Violet refused to let Bliss leave.
    “Any
requests?” I ask Bliss.
    She
licks her lips, and then shakes her head, curly hair falling out of
her loose bun. “No.”
    “Do
you want me to stop?” I hadn’t thought to ask her if she
minded if I played. Having a guitar in my hand settles me, gives
strength to my soul, and grounds me in ways that I can’t get
from any other thing… or person. “There are a ton of
books to read in the cabinet under the television.”
    “I’m
not a g—big reader.”
    “Too
bad. My housekeeper and her daughters love to read romance, so I
usually order a bunch and have them delivered before they stay here
in August.” Yeah, the quieter Bliss becomes, the chattier I
get. Maybe I should start emulating her.
    “Your
housekeeper lives here?” She glances around, like Donna will
appear at any moment with a mop and bucket.
    “For
two weeks in August she does, before school starts for her youngest.
He’s five. I buy him new toys for the beach each year. David is
hell on buckets and shovels.”
    Her
gaze fixes on me. “You buy books for her and her daughters? And
toys for