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“What?”
Jax puffed out a laugh, reaching out to grip my hips. My heart did a flip in my chest. “You.”
“Jax, I’m so confused—”
“I love you,” he said, plain and simple.
And for a second, I couldn’t even process it. There was no way he’d be saying that to me. Not now. Not when no one was listening, and no cameras or fans were around us. There was no reason for him to say something like that at all.
Unless.
“If—if you’re fucking with me, I am never going to talk to you again—”
“Not fucking with you,” he said, his gaze unwavering. He squeezed his hands at my waist, his expression going a little dreamy.
“Fuck,” I whispered.
“I love you,” he said again, and this time I knew I’d heard him right. “So much. I already did, before any of this, in a way. And I only love you more each time I see you. You’ve been avoiding me all night, and if you want to call this thing off, I get it. But I had to tell you the truth.”
“Holy shit, I was wrong.”
He cocked his head to one side. “Huh?”
“I thought you were going to end it,” I said. “The fake relationship. I thought Kim had talked to you—”
“Kim? No,” Jax said. “I’ve been trying to get you alone all night because if I didn’t tell you I loved you, I was going to keel over and die, I’m pretty sure.”
“Am I dreaming right now?” I asked, feeling like I’d been shot somewhere far above my body a minute ago, and I was still trying to come back down to Earth.
“You’re right here with me.”
“Well, I think I’m dreaming,” I said. “Which means I can tell you that I love you, too. Goddamn, I love you, and you’re impossible. I’ve never loved someone the way I love you. So easily. I didn’t even know that love could feel like this.”
“Photos! Photos! Come on, people!” I heard Jolene saying from somewhere behind me, but I still felt like I was on a cloud.
“Then you’re mine,” Jax told me, his eyes glittering in the lounge light. “So get used to it, okay?”
His lips were on mine before I had a chance to respond, and it was far too late for me to manage coming back down to Earth. I knew I would be floating somewhere above myself for a long time. But I was starting to get used to that feeling. Because I had spent years hoping, dreaming, and waiting for someone who could really love me.
Now I had to figure out how to get used to having it.
I was dimly aware that we were still very much in a public space, and that fans, family, and plenty of cameras might have been getting a glimpse of our make-out session right here by the bar. Would people be able to tell that this kiss was different? That this one had shattered my whole world?
“I love you, too,” I whispered as we pulled away to catch a breath. I used to say those words to people like they were some desperate plea, but with him they felt more like a revelation. Like I was saying something new, instead of the thing I’d begged for so many times. I had to repeat it, trying out the words like a new outfit, surprised by how perfectly it fit. “I love you. I love you, Jax.”
When he moved forward again this time it was simply to hug me, squeezing me so close it felt like we were merging. When I felt a rapping on the back of my shoulder, I knew exactly who it must be.
Jolene cleared her throat purposefully, trying to get our attention. “You know what I’m going to say, boys.”
“Pictures,” I told her. “We’re right here, Momma Jo.”
She nodded with a raised eyebrow, as if to say damn right, you are. When I walked over with Jax to get situated for the group photos, the whole club looked different to me, now. The whole world looked different, as far as I could tell. The raucous group of people hollered and laughed as everyone got into a good place for pictures, and I leaned toward Jax.
“Kim is going to kill us, by the way,” I said low near his ear. “Be prepared for that.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” he asked.
“Alright! First round!” Jolene called out. “Three, two, one, say cheese! Bleu cheese! Cheddar cheese! Stinky stilton cheese!”
The conversation was put on hold as we took a bunch of pictures, and Jax leaned over to kiss me on the cheek for a few of them. With simple things like that, he had the power to make me feel like I was at home, no matter where I was—if I was next to him, and goddamn, when he kissed me, I felt like I was meant to be right there.
