Page 24 of Love You Like This

“It’s okay.” My voice wobbles as I cling to my self-respect.

“Hey,” he crouches down and cups my cheeks. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” A tear slides down my cheek, betraying my emotions.

“Yes, I always cry over nothing in hotel hallways.” He unlocks the door to his suite and pulls me inside. “Sit,” he orders as he walks over to a bottle of red wine and pours a bit into a glass.

I do as he says because I could use a drink in all honesty.

He hands it to me. “Want to talk about it?”

“Not really.”

“Fair enough.” He settles beside me on the couch and starts drumming his tattooed fingers on his knee.

I’m fairly certain he has ADHD or something, but he’s never been diagnosed or at least not said anything to me. His home life growing up was bad. Worse than anything I could ever imagine, and it’s shaped him into an enigma of a man now. But he’s damn loyal to those he cares about, going as far as throwing a paparazzi’s camera against a brick wall when Stone left the hospital after his accident. He had to pay a hefty fine for that, but I know he’d do it again and again for any one of us. Honestly, he’d probably do worse.

There’s something so comforting about being able to sit in silence with someone. A fracture forms in my chest at the thought because at one point, Xander was that person. All the times we’d drive to the beach and watch the sunset over the Pacific, never needing to fill the time with words. Tears leak down my cheeks, unbidden and frustrating.

“Fuck.” Tobias sets down his glass and scoots over to me. He pulls me against his side while I weep quietly. All the pain I’ve held in for so fucking long finally excising itself from my body. “Whose ass am I kicking?” he asks.

I give him a watery laugh. “No one’s. I’m probably about to start my period or something.” I cringe inwardly at the excuse, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

“Right,” he hums disbelievingly. He lets me have my moment though, holding me tight through it until I’m able to let all the tears free.

Ten

JADE

Fifteen years ago

“Do you have all your bags packed?” Mom asks, poking her head into my room.

“Just about.” I scan through the contents of my suitcase folded neatly into piles. Mostly bikinis and sundresses with a few workout sets tossed in for good measure. You don’t need much more when you’re headed to a villa in Mexico.

“Is that all you’re taking?” Mom looks aghast at my singular suitcase. Knowing her, she probably has three suitcases for the week.

“It’s all I need.”

“Okay.” She shakes her head, bemused at how I could be her daughter when we’re so different. “The car will be here to get us in fifteen minutes. Are you excited?”

“Very,” I smile at her. This is my first time leaving the country.

Stephen appears in the doorway behind her; like his son he’s very tall and towers over my mom’s petite frame. He sets his hands on her shoulders and squeezes them gently. “You ladies ready?”

“I am,” I say as I zip the suitcase closed.

“Xander, grab Jade’s bag for her,” he directs.

“I can do it,” I say.

“Nah, I’ve got it.” Xander only has a duffel bag slung across his body and a guitar strapped to his back as he steps past our parents. “This it?” he asks me as he lifts the bag off the bed.

“Yeah.”

“Light packer.”

“Not as light of a packer as you it seems.”