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Arella choked out a laugh, shooting me a teasing glare. “He does tend to keep it stuck pretty far up there, doesn’t he?”
“Sadly, he’s just like his father when it comes to things like this.” My mom shook her head in mock despair. “But fortunately for us, they eventually realize their mistakes and work hard to fix them.”
The two most important women in my life stood there, arms still around each other, and I’d never seen a sight that had warmed my heart so completely in my entire life. I didn’t even care that they were making fun of me. It was well deserved, and I would happily let them continue for the rest of my life if only I got endless moments like this one.
“Ladies, if you are done being disappointed in my son and me,” Dad muttered, his eyes seeming just as transfixed on the sight of them together as I was. “Maybe we could sit and have our first family dinner?”
Eighteen
Arella
; “Love of my life.”
Those four words kept replaying in my head throughout dinner, making me so damn thankful that I was such a good actress because I was able to pretend like I was paying attention to at least half of the things Alexis Moreitti said to me. But, fuck, it was hard when her son had rocked my world repeatedly that evening.
The whole “my future wife and the mother of your grandchildren” didn’t really even register for me. I’d heard it, but my brain hadn’t fully computed it because all I could think about was that Jordan had just said I was the love of his life.
Pop-Pop had always told my siblings and me that the way a man introduced a woman to his mother was how he truly thought of her. That was why I’d always been kind of hung up on not sleeping with a guy until I met his mother. If he didn’t at least introduce me as his girlfriend, then I didn’t mean enough to him to give him my body.
I’d broken that rule for Jordan, but he’d more than made up for it with the way he’d introduced me to his mom.
One of my many fantasies had come true with how Alexis had welcomed me with open arms. After everything that had happened since my eighteenth birthday, I’d never thought it would happen. Hell, I’d thought she didn’t even really like me. So many times, I’d caught her frowning at me. I’d always thought she was sizing me up and finding me lacking. That she didn’t want me to be with her only son, but she was just too nice to tell me to stay away from him.
“I’ve never been one to spank my child,” Alexis commented over dessert as she finished her glass of wine. Her eyes kept going from me to Jordan, and she shook her head as a small smile teased at her lips. “But over the past few years, there were times I seriously contemplated beating some sense into him. I mean, I could see how he felt about you.” Reaching across the table, she took my hand, giving it a loving squeeze. “And I could see that you cared just as strongly. But Jordan was doing nothing but making mistake after mistake. I wanted to shake him and tell him to open his eyes, to stop breaking your heart, but I’d promised myself when he was younger that I would never interfere with his life.”
Everything fell into place so suddenly, I almost laughed. “I honestly thought you hated me and didn’t want me to be with him. That maybe you wanted…better for him.”
I felt everyone at the table tense, but I wasn’t brave enough to look at anyone but Alexis.
“Better?” she got out in a strangled voice. “Arella, sweetheart, do you not think you’re good enough for Jordan? Because to me, there is no one better than you, sweet girl. From the first time Jordan mentioned your name when you were only sixteen, I knew you already held my son’s heart in the palm of your hand. I always knew it was you who was going to be my daughter-in-law. Always.”
My chin started to tremble, and I quickly bit my bottom lip to stop it. Shifting my gaze, I picked up my water glass and took a small sip, willing my tears not to spill over.
A rasped curse came from beside me. In the next moment, Jordan was on his feet and I was lifted into his arms. “Mom, I’ll call you tomorrow,” he said. “I have a few things to clear up before I lose my mind.”
The sensation of eyes on me had me burying my face in Jordan’s neck. Hidden away, the threat of tears only heightened, and I felt the embarrassing wetness on my cheeks. Vaguely, I heard his parents replying and then felt Jordan walking away.
I could picture people with their phones out taking pictures of us as we left, and I figured we would be all over entertainment news within the hour.
The chilly night air caused me to shiver as he stepped outside and walked toward his parked car. I felt his lips against my ear, and I tightened my arms around his shoulders. “Baby,” he groaned as if he were in agony. “Please don’t cry. I have so many things to tell you. Just hold on until we get home, and then I’ll make it all better. I promise.”
“I-I’m s-sorry I ruined d-dinner,” I sobbed.
“Shh, baby, shh. No. You didn’t ruin anything.” He kept kissing my temple, my cheek, my hair. “I should have told you how much you mean to me—how much I fucking love you—years ago. But I was scared…” His exhale sounded pained, and I lifted my head to see tears glittering in his eyes.
Feeling as if I were in a dream, I touched my fingertips to his eyelashes. The dampness made me realize this was, in fact, reality. “I’m so sorry, Arella. Baby, please forgive me.”
“Forgive you for what?” I asked, confused.
He’d reached his car. Carefully, he shifted me so he could open the door, then set me in the passenger seat. Once I was settled, he pulled the seat belt across me and snapped it into place before taking hold of both of my hands and bringing them to his mouth.
“I’m going to tell you everything as soon as we get home,” he promised, kissing my palms. “But right now, I need you to know that what my mother just said is one hundred percent the truth. There is no one better for me than you. No other girl could ever touch my heart the way you do. No one could possibly give my life more meaning, more joy, more love than you. Even when you were sixteen and I was trying to tell myself and everyone else that we were just friends, I knew it was the biggest lie I’d ever spoken in my life. You are the other half of my soul. I’ve loved you for so long, I honestly can’t remember a time when I didn’t love you.”
“Jordan.” I couldn’t blink my eyes fast enough to keep the tears at bay. As they spilled over, he cursed savagely and released my hand so he could gently wipe them away. “I-I love you too. I always have.”
His hands on my face, there was no mistaking the way his entire body quaked at my words. “Babe, I’ve ached to hear you say that to me.”
