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He chuckles, pulling me back to lie with him. “I do like winning.”
I settle against his chest, and his arm wraps around my back to pull me close. He’s so warm and solid beneath me, and his heart beats steady against my resting palm.
I snuggle my face deeper into his side and inhale that calming masculine scent that’s so distinctively Jason, until my entire body relaxes. This may be my new favorite spot in the entire world.
“Thank you for sharing that with me,” I say.
“Thank you for letting me be a part of your story.”
“Even if it’s a shitty one where everyone hates me?”
We’ve finally settled into a comfortable position, so when he pulls away, it instantly makes me want to complain about missing him.
“You hear that?” he asks.
I try to focus and listen, but all I hear is the television downstairs, blaring what sounds like a shooting video game underneath Jackson swearing and talking to someone on what I assume is a headset.
“It’s raining,” Jason answers for me.
I glance at the window. It’s dark out, but we still hear the steady, unmistakable stream of rain, none of which spills inside past the mesh screen.
“So? It’s been raining off and on all day.”
Jason pulls off his socks, tossing them to the corner of the room. As he reaches for my borrowed ones and peels them off, I sit up.
“What are you doing?”
He grabs my hand and pulls me off the bed. “You need cheering up, and I know exactly what’ll do the trick.”
“And what’s that?”
“We’re going to dance in the rain,” he declares confidently. “You love that.”
He wants to voluntarily go outside in the pouring rain in the dark in the middle of a suburb and dance to no music with me?
“But you don’t.”
He looks affronted by the statement. “I do so. If it’s with you, watching you smile and laugh and do that little shoulder wiggle while you dance, then it’s the happiest place in the world for me.”
A fluttering sensation fills my chest, leaving me giddy with excitement. He is the sweetest boy imaginable, and I can’t believe I’m standing in his house.
“I’ve always loved dancing in the rain, being barefoot and connected to the Earth, feeling calm and at peace and like all your problems don’t matter. I’ve loved it ever since I was little. But when I got older, I kept doing it because it made me feel connected to my mom.” A sad ache replaces the giddy feeling in my chest. “But apparently, I made that all up. Dancing in the rain wasn’t something I did with my mom. I wanted to hold on to the good memories so badly that I forgot she stopped dancing with me forever ago.”
Jason tilts his head, considering my words. “Does dancing in the rain make you happy?”
“My mom—”
“Forget your mom. Does dancing in the rain make you, seventeen-year-old Siena Amato, happy?”
I think back to the last time we danced in the rain together. Not the times we were caught in a downpour, but the last time Jason and I twirled around and jumped and rolled in the rain together. It was after I ran out of Brandon’s house, feeling the lowest I had in a very long time. But in that moment, dancing in the rain with Jason, I didn’t just feel genuinely happy, I forgot about all my problems. And I’m not naive enough to believe it was solely because of the rain.
I finally answer, “If it’s with you, yes.”
Jason’s smile is freeing and breathtaking. “Then screw your mom. It doesn’t matter if she did or didn’t dance with you. Maybe you created happy memories in your mind, but we’ll replace those with real ones.” He tugs me closer to him, and I melt into his embrace. “It’s going to beourthing, and every time it rains, you won’t think about your mom or feeling out of place. Instead, you’re going to think ofmeand how you’re right where you belong.”
Tilting my head up, I trail an adoring finger along his strong jaw. “How are you real? How are you so perfect?”
Jason’s chuckle is soft and gentle. “I’m not perfect, but you and I together are.”
