Page 61 of Love You Like This

The inner battle she wages plays out on every micro expression of her face as she eventually continues to my side. Her jasmine and pomegranate scent surrounds me when she sits down. I refuse to admit how many times I buried my face in the pillow she used just to inhale as much of her as I could when I came back home to an empty house.

“It’s been so long since I’ve heard ‘Somewhere Only We Know.’” Her voice holds a note of nostalgia. “You sang it beautifully.”

“Thank you.” I scratch the stubble shadowing my jaw. “Stone would probably make it sound better.”

“No.” She looks over at me with still wet eyes. “He wouldn’t.”

I reach up slowly, scared to spook her in what feels like a sacred moment, and wipe away a bit of her smudged eyeliner. Her lip quivers in an effort to stuff everything she’s feeling back inside, to keep her feelings safe from me. It fucking kills me.

“I’m sorry.” I don’t drop my hand. Instead, I slide my fingers into her hair.

“For what?”

“Every fucking thing. For being stupid and not telling you as soon as I found out that I was leaving. For not hunting you down when you blocked me. For every second of hurt I caused you. It was never my intention.”

She melts into my touch. I’m not sure if she knows she’s doing it, but I’ll sit here like this forever if it means I can keep touching her. There’s nothing I want more than permission to mess up her perfectly applied red lipstick.

“Forgiven,” she whispers quietly.

One word. It hits me like a sledgehammer made of hope, straight to the chest. When I lean forward she doesn’t retreat, instead she mirrors the motion. At the first brush of her lips against mine, I feel my broken universe explode and come back together, each jagged piece melting back into place.

She parts her lips for me when I wrap my arm around her back and drag her as close to my body as I can. I tilt her head to give myself better access and pour every single second of fifteen years of longing and need into her. I barely notice my dick roaring to life and straining against my jeans as she kisses me back with as much need as I feel.

Each stroke of her tongue against mine feels like coming home. She arches into me, both our bodies remembering how perfectly they fit together. Two pieces of a puzzle long forgotten back together.

“Xan—” The sound of Darren’s voice shatters the moment.

Jade slips out of my hold and stands on unsteady feet. Her eyes widen as she looks from me to Darren and then bolts. I watch her flee, but instead of the panic I should feel, there’s nothing but certainty. There’s no question about us anymore. As far as I’m concerned, she’s mine now. She can run, but wherever she goes, I’ll follow.

I turn my attention from her retreating form back to Darren. His mouth is comically agape, brows nearly touching his hairline. My lips twitch at the sight of the unflappable Darren Brown standing frozen in shock.

“I’ve never seen you speechless before.” I pull the lid down over the piano keys and stand.

He looks from me then over his shoulder and back. “I never thought I’d walk in on that.” He shakes his head trying to clear the surprise. “When did that start?”

It never stopped for me. “What do you need?” I ask instead of answering him. My relationship with Jade is too fragile to speak about to anyone other than her or Stone at this point.

“I fucking forgot. Holy shit.” He runs a hand through his hair. “I think you just hit my reset button.”

I chuckle, fully amused that the guy who has quite literally seen me balls deep in multiple people and not missed a step is now shook by seeing me kiss the love of my life. He walks off without saying another word. Trust that jackass would ruin the moment and then not say what he came to say.

I poke my head into the green room and find Tobias sitting alone staring at a line of coke sitting on the table in front of him. My mood instantly drops from amusement to concern. His eyes are hollow and haunted as they stay locked on the drugs.

Pulling out the chair across from him doesn’t break his trance.

“What’s up?” I ask, tapping the table to get his attention.

He lifts his eyes, the blue clouded with the pain he keeps locked inside. “Nothing.”

“Gonna hit this line?”

“Was thinking about it.”

“What’s holding you back?”

He looks up surprised that I’m not outright telling him no. “Dunno.”

“If you’re thinking this hard, maybe now isn’t the time to do it?” I keep my voice gentle and tone non-judgmental. Fuck knows the three of us have performed countless shows high. It’s not that we can’t, it’s that we’re getting smarter.