Page 66 of Power Play

She smiled and trailed her fingers along my cheek and jaw. “We know how to talk to each other now. I don’t think either of us were ready at eighteen.”

“Are you ready now?” My heart stopped beating while I waited. I never let myself imagine this moment. It hurt too much knowing it would never happen, but now…

Her finger traced my lips. “Yes.”

She sat up, and I pulled her toward me. Our eyes connected for a moment and a fire light inside me before I leaned in and captured her lips with mine. Home. I was finally coming home. I breathed her in, and my whole body relaxed. I missed everything about her, but the way she made me feel when we kissed was an otherworldly experience.

It was just us. We were all that existed as her tongue slid along the seam of my mouth. I opened to her and ran my hands through her hair. She gripped the front of my shirt, holding us together. This was all I ever wanted. All I needed.

My Taylor was back.

23

Taylor

“Taylor Lynn Klein!” Oh boy. Carrie was going full-blown mom on me.

“Don’t be so dramatic.” I checked that no one was waiting outside the break room. When I texted my sister about last night, I hadn’t expected her to immediately call me, so I ran to the nearest room with a door I could close.

“I can’t believe you’re jumping back into his arms. After all he put you through.”

I sighed. I’d already told her about him opening up to me and how much he’d been hurting. He needed his family back then as much as I did. It wasn’t his fault they were in another country.

“If I’m able to forgive him and move on, then you and Mom and Dad need to also.”

“You know they will. They were always Team Jason. I was the one who had to remind everyone that he broke your heart.”

Maybe my parents saw what I wasn’t able to back then. They had the maturity and experience to know that Jason was taking care of himself the best way he knew how. The rare times they spoke about him in the years since our breakup, they were careful not to speak negatively. Unlike Carrie who took every opportunity to bash him.

It was like they knew there was a chance that one day we might find each other again, and they didn’t want to taint the potential.

“He was heartbroken too. Neither of us handled things correctly, but we’re fortunate enough to get another shot.”

She sighed heavily. “Are you happy?”

“More than I have been in years.”

There was a pause, and I knew she was caving. “Fine. If this is what you really want, I’ll try to be supportive.”

“That’s all I ask.”

“I love you, but I’m your big sister. It’s my job to protect you.”

“I know and you do a great job, but you don’t need to protect me from him.” After last night, I knew we were on the same page. We wanted to try again. We wanted to give us another chance. “Love you.”

We hung up and I slipped out of the break room and hurried back to my desk.

“So, you and Jason?”

I spun around to see Chloe standing behind me with a wicked smile.

“What?”

She handed me Callan and I took him without thinking, propping him up on my knees while I bounced him.

“You can’t lie when you hold a baby.”

I narrowed my eyes. “I’m pretty sure that’s not true.”