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ALLIE
Kai: You in?
I stared down at the text message from Kai and gnawed on the inside of my cheek. It had only been a week since everything had gone down, and I hadn’t found the energy to get back to my internship. Mom being in a coma weighed so heavily upon my shoulders, but this morning, I’d woken up and reminded myself that she was there because a rich Redwood man had gotten away with murder.
This town was so damn corrupt. I couldn’t sit around and do nothing.
Me: We’ll meet you at your place. Twenty minutes.
Jace sat up on the hospital waiting room chair and rested his head on my shoulder. “I’ve been thinking,” Jace started. “As nice as our lives could be, I don’t want any of that dirtbag’s money. I’ll save enough to put us both through college and for your mother’s hospital bills, but I’m going to use the rest for charity.”
I glanced over at him, butterflies in my stomach. “Really?”
Jace paused, brows furrowing. “Do you think that’s a bad idea? I can—”
“Not at all!” I reassured. “Who are you going to donate it to?”
“I wanted to start my own foundation to help women who are being abused, give them a secure place to stay, food, and necessities while they get back on their feet and until they feel safe again to live on their own.”
My heart swelled, pride rushing through me. “Jace, that’s wonderful.”
Blushing, Jace looked over at me. “You think?”
“Yes!”
“Will you help me? I can’t do it alone.”
“Of course I’ll help you.” I turned around to face him and swallowed. “There’s actually something I wanted to talk to you about too. I’m going to stay in Redwood until Mom wakes up,” I said, nails digging into my palms.
It broke my heart. It really fucking did, but I couldn’t leave Mom. Not only was she the only family that I had left, but also, if she didn’t wake up and the doctors decided to take her off life support … then these would be the last few months that I had with her.
“I’m going to stay even if she hasn’t woken up by the time college rolls around. I got accepted to a college an hour north. I’ll commute every day.”
“I’ll stay with you,” Jace said, slowly unclenching my fists and drawing me closer.
I gave him the best smile I could muster and shook my head. “No. I won’t let you. You have dreams of going into the NFL, and going to Michigan is the only way that you’re going to get there. It’s one of the best and biggest football schools. I won’t let you throw away your dreams.”
Jace curled his fingers into my hips. “I’m not giving up my dreams. You’re the only fucking thing that matters, Allie. I want to finally be with you without all this shit going on. I want to be able to love you without worry anymore.”
“We can still love each other. We’ll just be a couple hundred miles apart.”
“A couple hundred miles would be fine; I could come back to see you every day. But Michigan is nearly a thousand. I’ll barely see you for who knows how long, Allie. I need you. I fucking need you.”
I grasped his face, drawing my fingers down his cheeks and holding back a sob. I needed this man, too, but I also needed him to enjoy the freedom he finally had. He had already sacrificed so much for me, and football was his life. I wouldn’t let him choose.
“Go to Michigan. Play football. Get into the NFL. Set up a good life for us and for … the babies that I know you so desperately want to have. Okay, Jace? Make a life for us there, and I’ll come once my mom heals from her wounds. I promise that I’ll transfer there when I can, so we can finally be together. No more holding each other back. We’re going to thrive, Jace.”
Cursing under his breath, Jace looked at me through teary brown eyes. “I fucking love you, Allie. I don’t want to go.”
“Don’t cry, Jace,” I whispered, knowing that once he did, I would start. “I love you too.” I rested my forehead against his and kissed his lips. “We’ll make us and this work. We always do.”
