Page 72 of Playing With Temptation

Girlfriends marry boyfriends.

Marry us.

Marry.

I wasn’t sure if I was going to cry or laugh or pass out.

“It’s not one or the other, Juni. Lucas can be your best friend and your brother. You’re friends with Cole, aren’t you?”

“Sometimes. When he’s not being bossy.”

“I’m not bossy,” Colson shot back.

“You totally are,” Juni rebuffed.

I couldn’t know for sure, but since Colson was all Jason, my money was on Juni telling the truth.

“Dinner,” Jase cut into the bickering. “Boys, finish setting the table. Juni, finish up what you were doing but don’t get near the stove.”

The kids scrambled.

I stayed rooted in place.

Jase didn’t. He made his way across the living room and stopped just shy of touching me.

“You still love me?”

Oh, shit.

“Um…”

“Rae, right now I need you to be brave. I need you to remember I’m here, right here, and I will never let you fall. You’re safe with me and you always will be.”

I was safe with Jase.

He’d never let me fall and he never would.

“Yes, I still love you,” I whispered.

“Did you ever stop?”

“No.”

I saw the pain chased by relief slash across his features.

I understood the pain; the years I’d stolen from us.

The relief I saw was a balm to my soul.

“I never stopped loving you either, Rainy. I wanted to give us this time, go slow, ease the kids into what’s happening between us. But it would seem Barb had other plans and I can’t say I’m not grateful. Because the week I was taking⁠—”

“A week? That’s not slow, that’s warp speed.”

He dropped his forehead to mine. “Baby, I’ve waited sixteen years to come home to you. A week was gonna be pure torture.”

Those words seared through me, leaving a warm, sweet glow in their wake.

And because Jason had always made me feel safe and he was open and honest with me always, I thought he deserved the same from me.