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He made a face. I could only shrug.
“Okay fine, I might’ve looked into it again.”
“Jenna—”
“I was just pricing it out,” I said truthfully. “It’s not like I was thinking of going back.”
Jay folded his arms over his chest and leaned back into the counter. In his jeans and work boots he looked what I called ‘gorgeous casual’. Like a male model contemplating something distant and mysterious.
“Alright fine,” I sighed finally. “The truth is I would like to go back, but I can’t afford it.”
“Well that’s not an excuse,” Jay reprimanded me. “The three of us have talked about this and we told you we’d pitch in. Our help is non-negotiable.”
“But itisnegotiable,” I countered quickly. “Right now things are in flux. Luca’s still in limbo as far as getting the renovation restarted, and with the restaurant closed Tyler’s been losing money hand over fist.”
“The restaurant just reopened,” he countered. “And as far as Luca, we’ll get things back on track.”
“Even so, this ismygoal,” I shot back. “My dream. And if anyone’s going to pay the cost of that dream—”
“You wanted this as much as we did, right?” interjected Jay. “For the four of us to be together?”
“Yes,” I agreed immediately, “Of course.”
“Well it comes with the territory, helping each other out.”
“But—”
“Didn’t you pour tons of time and effort into saving Aegean?”
I shrugged slowly and sheepishly. Eventually I nodded.
“And Tyler and I have been working on Luca’s place since before he got home. He was still waiting on his discharge papers while we were over there, hammers in hand, getting his house ready for him.”
I could see what he was saying, of course. And it made sense as far as Tyler and Luca. With my own situation though, it just felt different for some reason.
“I understand all that,” I told him. “But this isn’t time or effort, it’s money.”
“Time is money,” Jay argued. "Effort is money, too. And besides, has money ever meant anything between us?”
He had a point there. “No,” I agreed.
“So then sending you to school to finish your PT degree is nothing less than an investment.”
He pulled me closer, and his eyes softened. His hands moved possessively to my waist.
“An investment in our future.”
He kissed me now, and the rest of the world melted away. My knees buckled. Jay’s tongue slipped past my teeth, and I whimpered helplessly into his mouth as his lips rolled softlyagainst mine.
“We’re four people, but we’re also one,” Jay whispered. “You understand that, right? That seemed pretty clear to us the other night, when you told us — and showed us — how much you really cared.”
His eyes found mine. We both smiled. The other night had been legendary and we all knew it.
"So you’re in, right?" Jay asked, matter-of-factly. “No more nonsense about us not helping you?”
I thought about going back to school, even part time, and eventually getting my degree, The idea opened all new avenues for me. New lights at the end of all new tunnels.
And not just for me, but for all of us.
