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“Good.” She grabbed my hand again and led me to the door of the restaurant.
I knew it wasn’t fair; me expecting her to talk when I wouldn’t. But I couldn’t tell her everything. Not yet. Maybe never. I wanted to. God, I wanted to. I wanted her to help me heal. I wanted her to save me much like I did for her.
“Wait.” I tugged on her hand, spinning her around and crashing her into me. I wrapped my body around hers, needing to let her know without saying so many words how I felt. I told her that I loved her but even I knew that sometimes words weren’t enough.
I wasn’t proud of what I had done. My temper got the best of me and I took a life. Even though Brody deserved it, it still wasn’t right. But what scared me most of all was that I didn’t regret it. Not one bit. What Ididregret was having to go to jail and leaving Piper to fend for herself and our daughter.
“Does your dad know?” Piper asked softly. “What you went through in jail?”
“He knows some.” I pushed my nose against hers. “I didn’t give him a lot of information because I know he tells my mom everything. I didn’t want her worrying.” But I knew she did anyway.
“I get that.” Piper’s hand dropped to my hip. “We should go before we miss our reservation.”
I nodded, staring at her.
The air suddenly became thick between us, the tension almost suffocating.
“Let’s go.” I released her, took a step back and held out my hand.
She chewed her bottom lip, tentatively placing her hand in mine. “Jaron,” she said, before I could lead us to the restaurant.
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
I cupped her face and crushed my mouth to hers.
“I love you too,” I whispered against her lips. Clearing my throat, I pulled away again but kept her hand tight in mine.
“How did you find out about this place?” Piper asked, following along beside me.
“Zach’s taken Luna here a few times.” I didn’t talk to my cousin as often as I would have liked but we did text back and forth a bit. I reached out to him earlier today over where I should take Piper, and this was his first choice. “He said it’s a little expensive, but the food and atmosphere are worth it.”
When we entered the building, Piper gasped. “Wow, this place is beautiful.”
We walked through a second set of doors and was greeted by a female hostess. She looked up from the podium she was standing behind and gave us a wide smile.
“Hi there. Welcome. Do you have a reservation?”
“We do. It’s under Mercer,” I told her.
She looked down at her tablet. “Perfect.”
Another woman approached us. “Welcome. I’ll take you to your table.”
Piper and I followed behind her, entering farther into the large restaurant. The looks on the outside were deceiving because you would never know just how far back the restaurant went until you were inside it.
“Here’s your table.” The hostess placed two menus on top of it and stepped out of the way so we could slide into the booth that was shaped like a half-circle. I was thankful for that because then I could be close to Piper.
“Your server will be with you in just a moment.” The hostess looked between us, her eyes lingering on me a little too long if you asked me, before she turned on her heel and headed back toward the front of the restaurant.
When we were finally alone, I turned to Piper and grabbed her hand. Brushing my thumb back and forth over the scar on her palm, I thought back to the day she got it. She said she had been trying to impress us boys. But she didn’t need to impress me. Ever.
“How did you find out you were pregnant?” I was sure it was in one of the journals, but I hadn’t gone through all of them yet and I needed her voice. I needed to hear her as she told me how she found out she was pregnant withmybaby.
“I…I took a sip of beer and threw up after,” Piper said softly.
I looked up; being met by the most beautiful eyes I had ever looked into. Eyes that hid so much love for me.
