Forever Love: A Novella Collection, page 20
Aria smiled and patted me on the shoulder. “Of course she will. I have to say, it’s truly touching that you’re always more concerned about her than you are yourself. She’s very lucky to have you.”
The thing was, she had me but she didn’t have me, because she wouldn’t let me in. If stepping back for two years would change that, I had no choice but to keep my mouth shut.
2
Chloe, Two years later
It was as if I’d never left. Granted I’d only been away from Bliss for two years—and had only gone three hundred miles away at that—but it had felt like longer. After my conversation with Aria I’d chosen to earn my bachelor’s degree in New York. Since I’d rented an off-campus apartment year round, I’d only come home twice during the previous two years—both times for Christmas. New York City rent was no joke—even with three roommates—so I’d gotten a part-time job the first week I got into town.
At first, being away felt like an adventure, but within two months I’d begun to develop a wicked case of homesickness. Madam Aria’s dire warning and the fact that my waitressing job didn’t approve frequent days off were the only things that kept me from coming home as often as possible.
I wasn’t certain Aria’s advice would mean anything in my life long term, but I had to admit that living in New York City had changed me for the better. That being said, I was more than ready to be back in my hometown. Lately, the yearning I had to be back had morphed into a physical ache. I’d tried to see the beauty in the city that my mother had—she’d basically left me for it, after all—but while I liked New York, I never felt the die-hard love. Not the way I did for Bliss.
I chuckled to myself as I recalled how vociferously I’d fought against leaving the only home I’d ever had before Dad and I moved to Bliss. Then again, that had mostly been down to my anger and confusion about the fact that my mother had left us. I was sure if we stayed in the exact house we’d been in when she packed up and left, she’d know just where to return to.
I shook off thoughts of my long-gone mother as I pulled into the driveway of the pale blue Cape Cod house Dad bought when we’d moved to Bliss. I smiled when I saw him sitting on the front porch waiting for me. He grinned as he hurried toward my car while I parked and got out.
“You’re finally home!” he said as he pulled me into one of his bear hugs.
I was ninety minutes later than anticipated because I’d gotten stuck in two separate gaper delays on the highway due to accidents. Thus, I was road weary and feeling pretty grungy. When we finished hugging he told me to take my suitcase inside and leave the rest to him while I got ready for dinner. I’d normally have helped him unload the car but he was right—I was meeting Caroline, my best friend since kindergarten, at Olive Garden. If I didn’t hustle into the shower I’d never be ready in time. After I grabbed my rolling suitcase I dropped a kiss on his cheek and hurried into the house.
Aside from the fact that my room had been dusted and vacuumed, everything was just as I’d left it five months prior when I’d been home for Christmas. My pale aqua walls and white furniture were a welcome sight. New York City apartments were the size of mousetraps, so other than my two Christmas trips home I’d spent the previous twenty-one months sleeping on a twin-sized mattress. Sleeping on such a tiny bed had given me a new appreciation for the full-sized mattress in my home bedroom.
I made quick work of getting my suitcase open so I could take out a bra, underwear, and my purple chenille robe before I headed across the hall to the bathroom. After sharing one teeny-tiny bathroom with three other girls I was ecstatic to be home where I had my very own. Since I was running late there was no time to spare, so I hurried through my shower at high speed.
Back in my room I hurriedly dried my hair. I ignored the nervous feeling in my stomach as I thought about the fact that it was more likely than not that I’d be running across Jackson Howell sooner or later. Bliss was a small town and our families were so closely aligned that there was no way to avoid it. I winced as I brushed my hair a bit too aggressively as thoughts of too-hot-for-his-own-good Jackson went through my head.
I’d grown up a lot over the course of the previous two years—and he probably had, too. It was time to put the over-the-top nature of our relationship behind us. I’d matured enough while I was gone to be able to admit that the core of our issues started with me, but that didn’t mean Jax wasn’t responsible for some of the blame. He’d never thought up a practical joke he didn’t want to carry out, and when it came to him I was often saltier than the Dead Sea. At least I had been. We were both older now, grown up. I was going to do whatever I had to address the feelings I had for him in a calm and even manor. I had to. I’d missed him like he was an extension of me—like a phantom limb. Sometimes the pain of missing him had been so extreme that I’d come close to packing it in to return to Bliss. Only Aria’s insistence that I needed the time away kept me in New York. Now that I was back I was hoping to explore the way I felt about Jax—if he was open to it. Only time would tell.
I nodded decisively at myself in the mirror after I finished applying some brown mascara and a soft peach lip gloss. Finished with my hair and makeup, I went to my bed and pulled a pair of black jeans and a deep red fitted top from my luggage. Satisfied with my appearance I pulled on my black ankle boots with the three-inch heels, which were high enough to look hot but comfortable enough to wear all the time.
After hugging my dad goodbye I made the drive across town to the Olive Garden. I grinned when I saw Caroline standing outside the door waiting for me. We each let out noises of excitement as we ran toward each other, giggling as we collided in a hug.
“I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever, you sexy bitch!”
I threw my head back and laughed as we ended our hug. “Shut up, hooker. You were in New York two months ago. For the record, I haven’t been able to so much as look at vodka since that weekend.”
Caro rolled her eyes. “Fucking lightweight,” she teased.
I fake gagged. “I swear my liver just shuddered. Lemon drop shots are sneaky.”
Sneaky was the only way to describe the way they too me down. It had been so bad, I only had fuzzy memories of the entire night. I was in no rush to repeat that experience.
We stopped talking as we entered the restaurant and approached the hostess station. “Ah, yes,” the hostess said. “You reserved a patio table. Come this way.”
I’d never dined out on the patio, but Caroline swore it was going to make dinner even better. I didn’t care one way or the other as long as I got some food into me sooner rather than later. The outdoor dining area was small but lovely, all done up with twinkle lights and trellises with vines, and the speaker system was playing Frank Sinatra’s Love is Here to Stay. We took our seats and then waved off the menus the hostess offered. Like most people in Bliss, Caro and I had been eating at Olive Garden since it opened on the county line between Bliss and Holmwood, the next town over, a decade before. We didn’t need to consult with menus before we ordered the usual—five-cheese ziti for me, and the tour of Italy for her. With our food order placed we settled in and started talking about what was new in town.
Bliss was small, so it didn’t take long to catch up on everything that was happening with all of our high school friends. I wanted to ask about Jackson, but since Caro didn’t bring him up I didn’t either. We made it through the entire meal without any mention of him. Only after our plates had been taken did she mention him—and unfortunately she did this as I was taking a sip out of my glass of white zin.
“Did I tell you Jax has been dating Melissa Ryerson? I guess it’s really serious since he was spotted at the jewelry store looking at engagement rings last weekend.”
I choked on the smooth-tasting wine, my eyes watering while I coughed and tried to get my breath. My heart galloped in my chest and it felt like all of the air had left the outdoor area. I felt devastated, completely crushed. It felt like I’d just found out he was cheating on me, which was ridiculous since I had no claim on Jackson. I figured he’d laugh himself silly if he knew that I’d secretly carried a torch for him for years. There’d been some lapses in judgment along the way that could’ve revealed that to him, but I’d been sure to be extra bitchy during those times in order to keep him from figuring it out.
“So, I see you’re not into Jax dating or getting engaged,” Caroline said pointedly.
I struggled to formulate a response, but my mind was spinning like Leonardo DiCaprio’s totem in Inception. “I, uh…”
“Good news, Choky McChokerson. I made that shit up, but you reacted pretty much exactly the way I thought you might, with the exception of almost dying, of course. Enough is enough, Chloe. Face it—you wouldn’t almost choke to death over some guy you don’t like. You two have this thing. It makes no sense but it’s there and it isn’t going anywhere. You’ve sat on the sidelines of dating for too long—it’s time to get out there, and Jackson is the only guy who has ever drawn your eye.”
I gaped at her, equal parts relieved and annoyed. “You made it up?” I croaked.
Caroline nodded as she took a sip of her chianti. “Sure did. The night of the lemon drop shots was more illuminating than you remember. I got you to admit you’ve been carrying a heart-shaped torch for Jackson Howell for years and you came clean about a two hour make out session between the two of you that you never said a word about before. You might not remember that conversation but I do—and that night you vowed to stop running from it. I figured blasting you out of your comfort zone with a little white lie might wake your ass up. Did it work?”
My wine glass wobbled a bit as I lifted it to my lips for a sip of liquid courage. “I have to admit it shook me up,” I admitted with a self-deprecating snicker.
Caro smiled victoriously. “Yes!” she exclaimed.
I frowned when she didn’t say anything else. This was because she had picked up her cell phone and her thumbs were moving furiously across the small screen.
“Excuse me,” I said sternly, “but I thought we had a no-screen-time rule during meals.”
She shot me a look while she wrapped up what she’d been typing before she set the phone down on the table. “Sorry—I was answering a text from Alec.”
My brows shot up in surprise. “Alec Travers?”
Caro looked at me like I’d lost some of my marbles. “Of course, Travers,” she said, like I was crazy for asking. “He’s the only Alec in Bliss, babe.”
It was true. There were a bunch of Alexes in town, but only one Alec—and he happened to be Jackson’s best friend.
There had only been one hundred and eleven kids in our graduating class, so it wasn’t as if Alec was a stranger. Still, the fact that he was Jax’s best friend generally meant that we didn’t interact on anything other than a surface level. That Caroline was texting with him was news.
“Is something going on between you two?” I asked.
She blushed and shook her head as she lifted her wine glass. “I don’t look like a Victoria’s Secret model, so no.”
I narrowed my eyes and pinned her with a glare. “What the hell does that mean?”
“It means that since I just polished off seventy percent of the tour of Italy plate along with two breadsticks and some salad while the girls Alec goes out with don’t eat that much in a week, when he looks at me he undoubtedly sees a heffer.”
Caroline was five foot ten with green eyes, glossy auburn hair, and a body that stopped traffic. I’d always been envious of her curves and ample cleavage. That she was using the word heffer in association with herself set my teeth on edge.
“Cut that out,” I snapped. “You’re a size freaking eight and you’re hot as hell. If Alec doesn’t see that, he can go pound.”
She shrugged like it didn’t matter, but the fact that she’d said what she had meant something. “I didn’t mean it in a bad way—I was just saying he and I are never going to happen.”
I opened my mouth to say something but stopped when I realized the classic music Olive Garden normally favored was being drowned out by something completely different. I looked across the table and saw Caroline biting her lip to hold in her laughter.
“Who is blasting Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up?” I asked.
Whoever was doing it was Rick-rolling the entire patio. I knew the song would be stuck in my head for days. I grimaced as it got louder. Across the table, Caroline was laughing out loud.
“What the hell?” I mouthed.
Instead of answering, she doubled over and laughed harder. I started to ask her what was so funny but was interrupted by a tap on my shoulder. I gasped when I turned and found myself looking up into Jackson Howell’s dark blue eyes. My jaw stayed open when I realized he was holding an inflatable microphone and singing along to Rick Astley.
Holy crap—Jackson was Rick-rolling me. What’s more, he was really going for it. He bopped along and executed a white guy shuffle like he’d been studying Rick Astley’s moves for an uncomfortably long time. I was vaguely aware that Alec was standing behind him holding up a small Bluetooth speaker, but I was too focused on Jax to give Alec more than a cursory glance.
I’d just started breathing again when Jackson crouched down and sang the chorus directly to me. My cheeks heated at the way he looked at me, like he was seriously trying to get my attention, and not in his usual I’m-about-to-do-something-that-will-piss-you-off way.
I was sure I was having an out-of-body experience until the song ended and the other diners started applauding. Startled, I looked around and realized the other people on the patio were laughing and smiling, and several had their cell phones out to video it.
The sound of the laughter around us along with the cautious yet hopeful expression on Jax’s face clued me into something I hadn’t noticed before. It was clear he was prepared for me to freak out, but the truth was that I found the Rick-roll funny. Granted before my two years away from Bliss I’d have flounced out of the restaurant in high dudgeon, pissed as hell at Jackson for drawing unwanted attention my way, however, I wasn’t that insecure girl anymore and I felt more comfortable in my own skin. Therefore, I was able to see the humor in it.
It took a few seconds for me to realize that the song was over. Knowing that I needed to do something to show I was okay with being Rick-rolled, I applauded for a few seconds. Jackson smiled with what looked like surprised relief as he pulled out the chair next to me and sat down.
“I thought you went to school for communications,” I joked.
His sensual lips quirked up at either end. “I’m a man of many talents. I majored in communication and minored in smooth moves.”
“Very minor,” I deadpanned.
He tilted his head to the side and studied me for several seconds. “You’re not trying to maim me and you don’t look like you’re about to explode, either. You seem… happy,” he said finally. “Content.”
The way he looked me over made me feel prickly and warm all over.
“I’m happy,” I confirmed, “although I’m a little worried about you. Do you often show up at restaurants to serenade diners?”
“Normally only on the first and third Thursdays of each month,” Alec interjected.
I’d been so tuned in on Jax that I’d forgotten that Alec and Caroline were next to us. When I glanced over at them I noticed that they both looked surprised that he and I were talking without tension. The fact was that Jackson and I knew how to talk without arguing. We’d had no choice but to figure it out since our families were so interconnected. Hell, we took a family vacation together every year through the end of high school. Granted I was a bitch to him whenever our families weren’t around, but I’d surely known how to behave when they were. That said, I’d gone out of my way not to speak to him unless one or all of our parents were watching, so the looks of disbelief on our friends’ faces were understandable.
“Don’t worry,” I directed at them, “there’s not going to be any bloodshed.”
“Well fuck me like you hate me and call me Debbie, I believe we’re witnessing something as important as the change from X-Rated DVD’s to streaming porn,” Alec laughed.
I barked out a laugh of disbelief. “How is this at all relatable to porn?”
Alec grinned and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. “I’m just saying that the transition to streaming was huge, and so is this.”
“Excuse him, he doesn’t get out a lot,” Jax interjected in a wry voice.
“And now we know that’s because he spends too much time locked in his bedroom streaming porn,” Caroline snickered.
We were still laughing about that as the waitress arrived at our table with the bill. When Jax reached out to take it, I smacked his hand. “Don’t even think about it, buddy.”
He held his hands up in surrender and sat back while Caro and I each chipped in for our portion of the bill as well as a generous tip. No sooner had we closed the leather folio and set it back on the table did Jax speak up.
“What’re you ladies doing for the rest of the night?”
Before I could answer, Caroline did. “Getting shitfaced and running nude up and down Main Street,” she said in a matter-of-fact voice.
Obviously she was joking. I actually had plans, but she probably hadn’t retained where I needed to go. Even as I rolled my eyes and laughed, I didn’t miss the way Alec’s hungry eyes swept over Caroline. I fought back the victorious grin that wanted to spread across my cheeks.
“As fun as that sounds, how about you come out with us for the night?” Jackson offered.
My stomach fluttered with excitement at the offer. I wasn’t even sure why, really. Jax had asked me to go places with him dozens, or probably hundreds, of times. The difference was that this time I was going to flip the script—if he could accommodate the one commitment I had for the night.
“I have somewhere I need to be at eight o’clock,” I began. As I spoke, Jackson’s expression fell.
“But,” I continued, “you guys can tag along or meet up with us after.”
