Page 87 of Love You Like This

“I can’t be a dad. I can’t even keep a plant alive.”

“That’s not true. You have a bird of paradise in your living room.”

“It’s fake.”

“Really?” She sits up straight like that’s the most surprising thing she’s heard. “It’s a good one, had me fooled.”

I smile half-heartedly at her attempt to lighten the mood.

“Hey.” She takes my face in both her hands. “It’ll be okay, either way.”

I shake my head and tighten my arms around her. “I’m just getting you back.”

She drags a deep breath in and then leans forward, pressing her forehead to mine. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Promise?”

Her breath feathers over my lips. “Promise.”

This time when she begins to stand, I let her. I watch her gather everything, and she slides her key into her pocket. She takes all the trash with her, so it’s not connected to my room and my business doesn’t end up sold to some tabloid.

When she’s gone, I stand and walk over to the bed. I fall back on it and stare at the ceiling until it’s time for sound check. I don’t need to look to know it’s Tobias knocking on my door. He always pounds on the wood with a beat that’s all his. Probably a drummer thing.

Sure enough, he’s standing there in all his tattooed and pierced glory, his hair up in a knot on his head. “Ready?”

“Always.”

Stone joins us, falling in step on my other side. “You good?”

“Yeah.” I hit the elevator call button. “It just hit me all at once. Having the test in front of me.”

“I get that. It’ll all work out though.” The elevator doors slide open and he steps behind me. “Besides, I’ve always wanted to be an uncle.”

“You are an uncle.” I look at him sideways.

“Yeah, but an uncle to my boys’ kids.” He wraps his arms around both Tobias’s and my neck, pulling us into a group hug. “I love you guys.”

Tobias shakes him off. “Jesus, what did Hazel do to you?” He jokingly shudders.

“Made me into the best version of myself.”

He’s wrong. He was already on the way there, she just shined a spotlight on it.

Thirty-Two

JADE

I watch Xander like a hawk throughout sound check. The haunted, faraway look in his eyes earlier gutted me. I’m used to seeing a sparkle in them, not the dull, lifeless orbs staring off into the distance.

Despite my anger and confusion at our personal relationship, I meant it when I said I believed him. And that I would always be there for him. Even before our conversation a couple days ago, I would have always been there for him. Even the pain of everything left unsaid between us for years couldn’t erase the depth of my feelings for him. The love for him that, if I’m honest with myself, has never stopped existing inside me.

It’s just terrifying to open myself up again and risk being hurt. I don’t know if I’d make it through another Xander-sized crack in my heart. Speaking of my treacherous little heart, it flutters when he looks over at me, playing part of his solo. His fingers fly over the fret board with the same confidence they move over and inside my body.

“I need a cold shower after that,” Hazel says when he turns back to the empty arena. “Holy shit.” She fans herself dramatically.

“What?”

“The way he was looking at you. Like you were his bass and every note was him worshipping you.”