Page 136 of Jonas

“Right. Sorry. I shouldn’t’ve asked. Not my business.”

“You said he looked like someone you knew,” Derrika reminded her. “But you didn’t say who that was.”

“My…um…someone I knew but he died a long time ago. Anyway, I should go help Kira.”

With that, Penny scuttled away.

“That was weird, right?”

“Yeah, baby, weird.”

She was definitely hiding something. And whatever that was didn’t matter as long as she stayed away from Cash.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

“That feels good,” I groaned as Jonas tenderly massaged my shoulders with soapy hands.

“Not too hard?”

“Perfect.”

More than perfect, actually; it felt like heaven. He was carefully working the knots out, and in doing so, lessening the ache from when my shoulder had been wrenched out of its socket then shoved back into place.

Shockingly, Keith hadn’t done much damage to my ankles. There were just two thin slices that thankfully weren’t deep, but they’d hurt like a bitch when he’d sliced them along with the ties.

“Do you want to talk about what happened?” he gently inquired.

“No. But we should talk about what you’re feeling.”

He kept the pressure steady and continued to knead down my back.

“You were right. I blame myself. I feel guilt for sitting outside while you were taken⁠—”

“Jonas—”

“Let me finish, baby. If you put yourself in my shoes, you’d feel the same. That’s not going to ever change. I won’t ever stop thinking about everything I should’ve done differently. But I also won’t ever forget what you said to me before you got out of the car. You were right, we have memories to make, more kisses to share, nights making love, morning showers, swims in the creek, falling in love to do, and loads of other stuff. That’s what I’m going to concentrate on. I’m going to be grateful you’re here, standing in this tiny-ass shower with me. And tonight, when you fall asleep in my arms, I’m gonna thank the universe for not taking you away from me.”

I was thankful I was facing away from him so he couldn’t see my tears.

He remembered what I said, I think almost verbatim, and if not exactly what I’d said, he hadn’t left anything out.

“Can I tell you a secret?”

“You can tell me anything.”

“I jumped ahead and already started the falling in love part.”

“That’s good, Dee Dee, seeing as this afternoon I realized the falling part is over for me, which means I’m here to catch you when you’re ready.”

Did he say…

Does that mean…

“You love me?” I whispered.

Jonas carefully turned me. Not only because he was being excruciatingly gentle with me, but also because the shower stall was so small we were squished in like packed sardines.

“It’s you, Dee Dee. From the very beginning, it was always going to be you. There’s no one else, never could be. I don’t need months or years to know. I don’t need time for my head to catch up with my heart and soul. When it’s right, it’s right. And baby, this…what we have is the definition of right.”