“And now it’s yours, baby.”
“And you fucked it up and then I got stubborn which fucked it up more… and now it all just looks and feels awful.” She looks haunted.
“It wasnotawful, watching you buy all those books, having all that fun.”
Her expression softens.
“Also… sharing corndog sauce with you and having you snuggle into me on that Ferris wheel far from sucked.”
“Says you,” she quips, tears in her eyes. “Stealing isn’t sharing. You stole most of my sauce and scared the daylights out of me.”
“And it really, absolutely, did not suck having you sleep on me last night after finally getting to kiss you, after holding you while you rode me,” I say.
“Twice,” she amends.
“Twice,” I repeat.
Pink tints her cheeks, but her expression drops. “You were able to resist, though.”
“Babe. I came in my jeans.”
“Maybe it would’ve made it easier to just let it happen when I wasn’t so terrified.”
“Terrified?”
“Beyond.”
“You don’t have to be scared. We’re fated mates, Bailey. This is what we’ve both been built for. What do you want? I’ll give you anything.”
She stares at me for a long minute, emotion in her eyes, a tear escaping and trailing down her cheek.
“I want what I’ve always wanted, Jason.You.”
I suddenly feel weightless.
All the old air leaves my lungs and as I pull in a fresh, clean, fortifying breath, I smile wide. “Finally, I feel like I can do what you need then, because I’m yours.” I grab her hands and kiss one, then the other.
“Are you sure you don’t want to ask for a refund?” she asks, more tears trickling out. “Because I’m feeling pretty defective.”
“No way. Not for anything and everything. I want the female who was chosen by the universe to be mine. That’s you, baby.”
Her shoulders shake as she silently cries.
“Don’t cry, Bailey. The more I thought about it, the more sense it made for us to go through this. I had to fight for you to realize how much I want you looking at me the way you used to do. I had to compete and come close to losing to fully appreciate what’s in front of me. What’s been in front of me. I couldn’t pick you before because you’re Grey’s sister. And until a few years ago it would’ve been frowned on with the age gap. And not only Grey but the entire pack would’ve strung me up if they thought I was playing with your feelings. I wasn’t gonna play with Grey’s sister. And I wasn’t gonna play with anyone where feelings might get involved, especially not you. Everyone loves you. And you know what happened to Joel and Susie, but do you know my parents’ backstory?”
“Your mom told me the day we got back.”
“Heard about it my whole life how Pops dumped Mom’s best friend and then they had to pair up regardless of the fact they couldn’t stand one another. Between that and getting a front row seat with Joel and Susie…I wasn’t gonna do more than play the field until it counted. I wasn’t trying to be a man whore. I don’t think I was much worse than Mase or Linc. And like I said, the four ahead of me identified perfect strangers. I figured it was atrend with this council, that it’d be a flight attendant or some barista or hotel maid in Italy or something else would kick off after I got back. I never played where I thought feelings might get involved.”
She says, “I showed up in Rome to save face. I was going to save your ass and walk away with my head held high. And then I was going to do some sightseeing and shopping before coming home, packing up, and going to Alaska, so I could get over you without having to watch you fall in love with someone else.”
“I’m sorry I was such an asshole.”
“I’m sorry I’ve been so stubborn and bitchy, Jase.”
“You shouldn’t be sorry. You woke my shit up.”
“Are we gonna talk about this forever and ever or are we going to actually fix it?” she asks.