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I scoot back into his arms and we lie there, watching Game of Thrones. Every now and then he tilts my head up, so he can tenderly brush his lips over mine.
“I look forward to those,” I whisper.
Someone knocks on the door. I laugh, while Liam curses and angrily climbs off the bed.
“Can we change rooms and not tell anyone?” he mutters, walking over to the door to yank it open again.
Jake stands there, looking sheepish. Liam glances at me.
“I should go down and check—”
“If that’s for my benefit, don’t. I have something to say to both of you.”
Liam nods and sits down on the bed, next to me, while Jake sits on the arm of the chair opposite us. He bows his head and takes a moment, like he’s psyching himself up.
“I owe you both an explanation.”
“You don’t,” I begin, but he puts his hand up to stop me.
“Just let me do this, Becs. Please.” He pauses and sits back. “I loved you for such a long time. I struggled for so long with how to deal with that. So many times I tried to build up the nerve to tell you, but something always stopped me.”
He smiles at me, thinking about the memories.
“Remember prom night, when I gave you that necklace?” he asks.
I nod. I still had it. I’d wanted a necklace I’d seen in the store so bad, but it was way out of my price range. Jake found a replica of that same one. The similarities were incredible, right down to the placement of the stones.
“Remember how I told you that it was a cheap knock off of the one you wanted?”
“You got me a real gold and diamond necklace?” I squeak. “That necklace was worth thousands.”
He nods. “Trust me, I know. I’d been planning on telling you that night how I felt, but then I saw you dancing with Jed Perkins and I…” Jake laughs. “Fuck, this is embarrassing.”
He walks over to the window and stares out.
“I thought I wasn’t good enough for you. When I met Brooke, I was at rock bottom with you. I needed to do something, and I figured she’d be a good a distraction. And she was, but then she became more than that. And then eventually, I fell in love with her.
“This letter,” I say thoughtfully. “When did you write it?”
He presses his lips together in a thin, straight line.
“Brooke and I had been dating for about six weeks. That’s bad, huh?”
“Well, it’s not good,” I admit with a grimace.
“That’s why she doesn’t believe me, because it’s my words, on paper, saying that she could never measure up to you, that I could never love her, the way I love you. But the thing is, I was hurting so bad then.”
He stares at the floor, his mind a million miles away.
“I just wanted to move on, but I couldn’t see that happening. And then I started noticing things about her. I started looking forward to seeing her and my heart would race at the sound of her voice. Until one day, I realized something. It wasn’t you I was in love with, anymore. It was her.”
“Go over there and make her understand,” I urge him. “Tell her exactly what you just told us.”
“I have, but she’s pissed off. She said she can never marry me, because she can’t trust me.” He shakes his head, defeated. “I don’t know what to do.” He looks up and meets my eyes. “If I lose her, I lose everything.”
I frown. I wish I could help, I really do, but I have nothing. He’s been through so much, with losing his dad, and I was right there, helping him through it—I frown, shocked that I’m even considering this. I bite my lip. It could make things worse. And it would definitely ruin my friendship with Jake. I get up, grab a room key and walk over to the door.
“Where are you going?” Jake asks.
“To grab some food, so we can figure this all out,” I say. “I’ll be right back.”The longer I stand out in front of Brooke’s room, the more convinced I am that this is a terrible idea. After a visit to the hotel printer I made my way here. I glance at the letters that I’m clutching in my hands and I feel sick. Is it terrible, though? Sure, I might ruin things for good for Jake and me, but if there’s the tiniest chance that this might help him work things out with Brooke, I have to try it, don’t I?
I bang on the door before I can change my mind. It cracks open and Brooke’s sister appears. She frowns at me, her disapproving stare making it clear she doesn’t like me, but I already knew that from the two times I’d met her previously.
