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“What was I thinking?” she exclaims, eyes shining with joy.
“That you’re so stupidly in love with me, you can’t be away from me for one second?”
“Not even half a second. Did you hear them? They loved you!”
“They loved you too.”
Laurel shakes her head. “You turned our song into something magnificent with your friends.”
I raise an eyebrow and give her a meaningful look. “I had help.”
She shrugs in that well-yeah kind of way.
A stagehand breezes past us, leaving two water bottles at our feet. Laurel grabs one of them and takes deep gulps. She must be still buzzing from our performance. The nerves will wrack her for a while. I get it. My bones are also humming with exhilaration.
I thread my arm through Laurel’s and coax her to sit sideways on my lap.
“Whoa!” She sets her water bottle next to us and holds me in her arms.
“I love you.” I’ll never get tired of saying that. “And no, I won’t be your rebound. I want to be your everything. I want your face to be the last thing I see before falling asleep. I want it to be the first thing I see in the morning. I want to kiss you on the balcony of my villa in Malta—”
“You bought a villa in Malta?”
“Not yet, but when I do…”
Laurel licks her lips, eyes on my mouth, clearly not thinking about any villas or Malta.
Forget it. I cradle the back of her head with my hand, nudging her closer but pausing for a split second to make sure she’s okay with what I’m about to do.
She doesn’t hesitate. Laurel’s hands slide around my shoulders and her fingers dig into me while her eager, sweet mouth surrenders to me for a kiss. My own hands can’t decide whether to caress her face or her arms or settle somewhere else, so I let them roam. Whatever’s igniting us—the absence or the knowledge that we both need each other to survive—this kiss is like no other we’ve ever shared. Laurel makes it extra clear she has missed me as terribly as I’ve missed her. There is no shyness, no caution. There is nothing at all between us anymore. Her lips respond to my every unrestrained move. If I ease up, so does she. If I catch her lip between my teeth, I’m guaranteed a tender bite in return. And if I deepen the kiss, needing to taste every last drop of her, I’d better be ready to drown.
The metal stairs behind me dig into my spine, but the pain only reminds me how much more it hurts to be without Laurel, so I drag her into me and graze the side of her neck.
“Jace,” Laurel breathes out, her voice thick.
“Yes, my love?” I relish her scent, something new and unfamiliar to me, subtle but sweet.
She pulls my hairband off and wrecks my hair, fingers tangling, tugging, and playing. “What happened here? You look… This is all new.” She rakes her nails through my beard.
“A change in style. Brooding overload. Do you like it or hate it?”
Laurel shifts away, scanning my face, her chest rising and falling as she works on catching her breath. “I love it. It suits you.” Within a blink, her mouth finds mine again.
Someone blocks out the light. “All right. That’s enough now. And after this display, I’d better see an engagement ring.”
If it was anyone but Vincent, I’d cuss them out. As it is though, I comb my hair away from my face, put on an innocent expression, and say, “Yessir.”
Laurel hops off my lap. “You.” She points a warning finger at her father. “You have a lot of explaining to do.”
“Are you unhappy?” He looks between us.
“Dad!” Laurel smacks him on the arm. “That’s not the point! You knew we broke up and never said anything. Then you brought Jace in like it wouldn’t wreck me.”
Vincent ignores her embarrassed outburst and continues watching me. I give him a reassuring nod. There will be a proposal. In due time.
A few feet away from us, Rebecca clears her throat and motions for me to come over.
Vincent pats my back as I pass him. “Be strong.”
