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I face in his direction, but I don’t look right at him.
It feels weird saying I couldn’t care less about the performance tomorrow, but I’m gutted by the fact that we have to leave our perfect little bubble. I know I’ll be with him, and that’s comforting, but I never thought I’d come here and never want to leave.
“Just nervous, I guess,” I lie.
His hand moves to my lap, and I watch as his thumb brushes in slow circles on my skin. Since the night after the club, things have shifted, and Jett has been different. Still by my side, and making me feel like no one ever has, but there’s a looming unspoken confession between us that won’t stop trickling into our everyday life.
He wants more, but he won’t push. I want more, but I’m too scared. And now we’re at the end and have yet to talk about what all of this means.
“You’re going to be incredible. You’ve worked your ass off.”
I smile at his praise, remembering how through every step of this journey, he’s been right there by my side.
“I couldn’t have done it without you,” I choke out, feeling a hiccup of emotion crawl up my throat before I’m able to stop it.
Pulling into Duke’s driveway, we stop just before the house comes into view. Jett puts the car in park, angling his body to me.
“Look at me, Sofia baby.”
The name I once hated now hurts to hear the more I wonder if this will be the final time I hear it. I look at him, trying to hide the mist covering my eyes, but I’m failing so poorly.
“I know this is a lot. You have a lot going on, we have a lot going on, but with me or not, you can do anything you set your mind to, baby. Spending this time with you, getting to know you, getting to lo—” he stops, holding his lips tight before his face slackens, his eyes drooping just slightly. Please say it. All of this has been the most worthwhile thing I’ve experienced in a long time. You found forever in me, Fia. As a friend, as a partner, as a confidant. I told you that you were it for me, and I meant that. I’ll make myself better until I’m the fucking best for you, and no matter where you are, you will always have me right behind you, understand?”
One singular tear trickles down my cheek, and I can’t help but grab his hand between mine in a last-ditch effort to prolong the inescapable.
“I don’t want this to end.” I hardly hear my voice as I try my best to get the words out through my tears.
“Is that why you’re so upset?” A smile crosses Jett’s face, and I want to fall right into it.
I nod, looking down at our connected hands.
“The second I asked you to really be mine, I wasn’t letting you go. Sofia baby, forever has no end.”
CHAPTER 56
JETT
There was once a time when I wanted to be as far away as I could from a family dinner. It was nothing but a reminder of what I couldn’t have, a glance at a life that was never going to be mine, but the moment I saw her, every vision changed.
Watching Fia across the room, I can’t help as my eyes magnetically attach themselves to her every move. Against all odds, all obstacles that tried to pull us apart, she’s mine.
“I’m never believing you again when you tell me you’ve got something under control?” Ivan mutters beside me, handing me a crystal tumbler of something brown.
“I never had it under control,” I admit.
“I know,” he snickers under his breath.
“Are you going to ask her to be your girl?” he asks, as if it’s not as complicated as a five-thousand-piece puzzle.
“She already is my girl.”
“That simple, huh?” he presses, wanting to know as much as I’m willing to tell him.
I keep my eyes on her, reflecting. It’s been the opposite of simple. I’ve waited, hoped, dreamed, done everything I could to get to this moment. The fact of the matter is, Fia and I have never been simple; we’re complex, but together, we’re perfect.
“I don’t think the word simple has ever been used to describe commitment.”
As much as I am proud of the relationship that Fia and I have built, there’s still one worry that lingers in the back of my head. One that presses into every changed part of me as a reminder that I can run but I can’t hide. The elephant in the room that stomps on all the progress I’ve made.
