Page 25

"How have you been?" they blurted out in unison.

A breathless, watery laugh slipped past Lily’s lips. She shook her head, gesturing toward him with her cup. "You first."

Jason gave a self-deprecating smile, tracing the condensation on his paper cup with a calloused thumb. "I've had better weeks."

The words escaped before she could build a wall to stop them, pulled straight from the deepest part of her soul. "I missed you."

Jason froze. The cup stopped moving.

"I missed you," Lily repeated, her voice dropping to a trembling, vulnerable register. "Every single day. Every hour. Every minute."

She watched his expression shift. The guarded, defensive armor he had worn dissolved in a flash, his eyes opening up into a pool of bare, unfiltered emotion. But just as quickly, she saw the protective walls snap back to life, a mute hesitation pulling him inward as he wrestled with the ghosts separating them.

Jason cleared his throat, his eyes locking onto hers. "What about Ethan?"

Lily frowned, a flash of confusion clouding her features. "What about him?"

"Are you two... back together now?"

"Obviously not," Lily said, her voice brittle with disbelief. "I told you, it was a business lunch."

"I saw you two leaving your building last week," he countered, the unspoken, aching hurt finally slipping past his defenses. "You were wearing that black dress, and it looked exactly like you were heading out on a date."

Lily’s eyes widened in swift comprehension. The pieces clicked into place—it was him that night, the undeniable feeling she had. It was him, her instincts were right. A cold spike of panic hit her chest, and she leaned across the table, her hands pressing flat against the wood, desperate to tear down any misunderstanding.

"Jason, no. Listen to me," she rushed, her words spilling out in an urgent, ragged stream. She told him everything—how she had decided she needed to put a definitive end to the ghost of her past, how Ethan had insisted on a dinner, and how she had agreed simply because she was too exhausted to fight and just wanted the closure. She kept the private medical details of Ethan's confession to herself, but made sure Jason understood the core truth. "We talked about his betrayal. We talked about why everything fell apart. I finally got the answers to questions I didn't even realize were still haunting me."

She reached across the table, sliding her palm over his calloused knuckles, securing him.

"There is nothing left there, Jason. Not anymore. Now more than ever, that chapter is closed, resolved, and entirely finished."

The crushing tension in Jason’s broad shoulders melted away in a heartbeat, a deep, shuddering breath of pure relief escaping his lungs. He turned his hand over, tangling his fingers securely with hers, locking them together. "So... there's no chance of you packing a bag and going back to London with him?"

"Never," Lily breathed, her heart soaring into the open air.

Jason offered a lazy, crooked grin, the old, devastating affection returning to his eyes. "Good. Because trying to fight for you across different countries sounded like a logistical nightmare."

Lily let out a bright, nervous laugh, a bubbling mixture of sheer joy and disbelief. "Fight for me?"

"Obviously," Jason said, his thumb gently stroking the back of her hand, sending shivers up her arm. "When I saw you walking out with him last week, right after spending a few days clearing my thoughts at my parents' house and deciding I needed to be here for you... it was a hard blow. But these past days I realized we still owed each other an honest conversation. I needed to go to you again, even if you just wanted to chew me out and kick me to the curb. I couldn't stay away. I wasn't going to let things end like that."

"I want you, Lily," Jason continued, his voice dropping into a deep, even cadence that made her breath hitch in her throat. "All in. But I need you to be here with me. Entirely."

Lily parted her lips, a confession of her deepest, fiercest love rising in her throat, ready to spill over the edge.

Jason gently raised a free hand, stopping her with a tender look. "Hey. Don't answer right now. Think about it. I don't want to back you into a corner or rush you into the fire." He offered a gentle, reassuring smile. "Let's do this right. Let me pick you up this weekend. We can go to dinner, or do whatever you want. Just... let's take a breath."

A radiant smile broke across her face, overriding any residual hesitation, filling her with a light she hadn't felt in months. "I'd like that. A lot."

Ten minutes later, they walked side by side back toward where his truck was parked down the peaceful street. The late-summer sun cast a golden, amber glow over the pavement, wrapping them in a cocoon of hushed intimacy.

When they reached the driver’s side door, Jason turned to face her, a soft, fond look in his dark eyes. He leaned in, intending to press a polite, cautious goodbye kiss to her cheek.

Instead, Lily stepped forward, wrapping her arms around the back of his neck, and kissed him straight on the lips.

It was only a soft, fleeting peck, but the electric impact of his mouth against hers sent a wave of liquid heat racing through her veins, leaving her entirely dizzy and exhilarated.

She pulled back just an inch, her cheeks flushed, her eyes shining with undeniable happiness.