Page 31

Thirty-One

Jade

I can’t believe I just told him. I didn’t mean to blurt it out like that.

“I’m not expecting anything,” I say in a rush before he has a chance to respond. I twist around and swing my legs toward the slide to make a quick getaway.

“Don’t,” he says before I can push myself to go down. “Please don’t run.”

I stop but don’t turn around.

“I came here tonight to tell you something, and I want to say it. Afterward, if you want to leave, I won’t fight you.”

I stay facing the ground, feeling as if it’s my best option if things get too hard.

“Turn around, Jade.”

I don’t want to look at him. It’ll only make this more difficult.

“Please.”

I blow out a breath and inhale another big one, then circle back and cross my legs, not meeting his eyes.

“Look at me.”

“You’re being really bossy,” I grumble.

“No. We’re not doing that. We’re not covering this up with humor.”

I lift my gaze and find him on his knees, resting back on his heels. The moonlight only makes him more beautiful, and for a moment, I see all of my Henrys. The shy little boy I guided around as my playmate, speaking for him the majority of the time. The teenager who found himself and took my hand, guiding me through house parties, proudly displaying me as his girlfriend. The new adult in college who gained all the confidence in himself and his decisions, the one who opened his heart and let me become the person he loved the most. Now, he’s all man. A capable man who holds an air that makes other men jealous. A man who isn’t mine.

“I came here tonight because I made the wrong decision eight years ago. I thought you couldn’t find yourself with me in your life. That you had to travel far and wide in order to do it. I’m pretty sure I was wrong because of course you feel that way about your camera. How could you not? It replaced me. You found a love for photography when I wasn’t standing by your side.”

God, he can’t be right, can he?

“Ever since you came back into town, I’ve been racking my brain over how to keep you here. What I could say to get you to stay in Chicago. Stay with me. While at the same time telling myself I couldn’t be that selfish, nor could I try again. I thought I had to be the shield for Bodhi and sacrifice myself for him.”

“That makes sense,” I say, really wanting to get out of here.

“It’s bullshit, Jade. It’s all bullshit.”

I shake my head, and my gaze lands on him again. “But?—”

“I was a shit boyfriend to let you go and tell you that you couldn’t find yourself when we were together. What the hell? I should’ve made sure you did, not pushed you away to do it on your own. I should have made sure I had time in my schedule to show you how amazing you are. To go on those trips during my off season. To pick up the snacks and drive you somewhere to see an amazing sunset. To stand behind you as you pointed that camera and told you how brilliant you are.”

I shake my head. “I’m not sure it would’ve worked. I think I was never going to put myself out there because I was scared.” I don’t want to get into all the hangups my mom decided to point out.

He inches forward, taking my hands. “Date me.”

I blink several times before my brain can make sense of his words. “What?”

“Date me, Jade. I know we have a lot of shit behind us, but I came here tonight to ask you to date me.”

“You did?” My voice cracks, and my heart just about beats out of my chest. “What if I was leaving again?”

He stares at me for a moment, and I can’t read him. “I don’t know. I just knew I couldn’t sit back and let you walk out of my life again without trying. I want to discover you again. Find out the woman you are today.”

“But Bodhi…”

He nods. “Yeah, that’s a hard one for me, but what I realized today is that he’s already attached. No matter what happens, he already really likes you, and it got me thinking about what kind of dad I want to be for him. Who am I if I don’t show him to go after what he wants? That sure, it might not end up how you want it to, but you don’t know unless you put yourself out there and try. He needs to know that it’s okay to be scared, but you fight through that, hoping like hell it turns out the way you want.”

Henry is such a good man. That hasn’t changed in all the years we’ve been apart. It just makes me love him more.

“So… just date?”

He chuckles, and I close my eyes briefly, listening to the sound. “Yeah. You know, dinners and movies and walks. No pressure.”

Is he kidding? No pressure? How can we go from being everything to each other to nothing to dating? How quickly will it escalate to something more, and he’ll be my entire world again?

“Give me a second.” I swing my legs around and go down the slide.

I hear him follow me. As I stand, he comes up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. I lean back into him, turning my head so my forehead hits his chin, breathing him in. Being here with him, in his arms again, feels right. I can’t deny it.

“Okay, one date. Give me one date,” he whispers.

I laugh at Henry being so eager. Such a drastic difference from all those years ago when he first told me he liked me.

I nod.

“Say it please.” He tightens his arms and presses his lips to my temple.

“Yes,” I answer. “I’ll date you.”

“Jade, you just made my early morning worth it.”

My heart shouldn’t soar, but it floats, ready to take flight right back into Henry’s hands. I tether it back down. We’re not there yet. I still love him, but those words are for another time. We need to see what this can be.

“I’ll have Kyleigh bring Bodhi to the arena. Your ticket will be at Will Call.”

“Wait. What are you talking about?” I circle around to face him, but neither of us inch apart.

That cocky smile creases his beautiful face. “You owe me a game with Bodhi, but that’s not our date. Tuesday night. Sorry it’s midweek, but I’m not waiting until I have a free Friday or Saturday.”

“You work fast, and you’re just assuming I don’t have plans.”

He steps closer, his arms around my waist. “Do you?”

I shake my head.

“Then I’ll see you tomorrow night?”

“This isn’t first date touching.”

He shrugs, and our eyes lock. I wait for him to bend his head, to kiss me under the stars on our old playground. What would those two seven-year-olds think of us now—other than that we’re gross?

“Tell me yes.”

“I already did,” I whisper.

“No.” He shakes his head, his blue eyes glowing under the moon. “Put me out of my misery.”

“I like this begging thing.”

“Jade,” he says with the last ounce of his willpower.

I nod, and his head bends down, his lips meeting mine, and oh shit, my body melts. They feel so warm, so perfect. He wastes no time, licking the seam of my mouth until I open. Then he slides his tongue through my parted lips, and I moan.

His arm tightens around my back, one hand gliding up and cupping the back of my head. I lose myself in the kiss, my stomach fluttering, my body heating even in the cool air. Everything about it is familiar but not at the same time.

How have I not experienced this… him, in three years.

His lips travel to cast kisses along my jaw, and I miss them on mine immediately.

“We should stop. Tell me to stop,” he says softly, not stopping at all, and I’m not about to tell him to. “I shouldn’t have tempted myself.”

His lips remain on me, and one hand moves under the back of my sweatshirt, his cool fingers sliding along my flesh. He runs his hand up my back then down, his fingers tracing the edge of my flannel pajama pants. Capturing my lips again, he thrusts his tongue inside with more urgency now. My fingers grip the back of his sweatshirt, just wanting to feel his skin against mine.

Just as I think we might actually end up dropping to the ground and rolling around on the playground, a light shines on us, and we pull apart.

“Shit,” Henry says. His lips are swollen and pink, and I love that it was me who made him so desperate.

“What are you two doing? This is private property.”

The cops. Of course it’s the cops.

“Sorry,” I mumble as we walk over, my face on fire.

One cop chuckles when he gets a better look at us, probably because he realizes we’re not teenagers.

“Sorry, officer,” Henry says when we approach the fence.

We have no choice but to climb up and over it, and I feel self-conscious that my ass is in both officers’ faces before I jump down onto the sidewalk.

“Henry Hensley,” the one says when he joins me.

“Who?” the other one asks.

“Jesus, the Falcons. Turn on a sports channel once in a while.”

I wait patiently, my fingers on my lips and still in shock that I just kissed Henry again.

“Sorry, guys, we went to school here and were just going down memory lane.” Henry grabs my hand, tugging me behind him. “It won’t happen again.”

It feels nice to be his girl again. In a way. Oh, this is going to be so confusing.

“The neighbors across the street called.” The cop nods behind him. “Then we pulled up, and the other house told us to leave you guys alone.” He nods toward the brown house I find myself looking at from my classroom quite often.

The other officer laughs, and I sneak a peek to where he’s pointing with his head. Two women are in the window, watching the interaction. For some reason, that warms my heart. Does true love recognize true love?

“Good luck tomorrow,” the one says.

“Thanks.” Henry shakes both of their hands.

We walk home, and I don’t skip the cracks this time because I don’t want our time together to go by faster. I want tonight to last forever. I wish we weren’t adults, and I could sneak him into my basement for a few hours—or preferably, all night. But he needs to get back to Bodhi.

“I guess I leave you here,” he says, stopping in front of my house.

“I guess so.”

“Do you think we could keep this between us for a while? I don’t want the outside pressure to influence our second shot.” He runs his hands down my arms then links our hands together.

“That’s a good thought. I don’t want all the questions right now either.”

He smiles and leans forward, placing his lips on mine again, but draws back quickly at the sound of footsteps on the sidewalk.

“You idiot. How did you forget the key?”

I turn to my left. “Owen? Waylon?”

They stop and stare at us, then look at each other and back at us.

“What are you guys doing?” Waylon asks.

“Looks like you’re getting all hot and bothered on the steps,” Owen chimes in.

I groan.

“Boys, it’s late,” Henry says.

I want to chuckle at his dad voice.

“We’d rather talk about why you were kissing our sister,” Waylon says with a smirk.

There’s no way they saw us kissing. They’re baiting us.

“We weren’t kissing,” I lie, and Henry raises his eyebrows at me.

“Then why are both of your lips so swollen?” Owen asks.

I point at the stairs. “Just go in the house. And here.” I reach into my pocket, and shit, I forgot a key too. “Damn it.” I look at Henry, cringing.

Waylon throws his hands in the air. “We can’t get caught. Mom will kill us.”

“Mom? What about Dad?” Owen says.

I gotta admit I’m not so sure I want my mom to find me with Henry either.

“Relax, everyone.” Henry digs into his pocket and pulls out a key ring, then jogs up the stairs, inserts the key, and slowly turns the knob to open the door.

“You have a key to my house?” I ask him.

He turns around and nods.

“Thank God. See ya.” Waylon runs up the stairs, but Henry stops him with his hand on his chest.

“This stays here. We don’t say anything about you guys being out, and you don’t tattle on us. Got it?”

Oh, I like this new Henry.

Waylon looks at Owen, and they both nod and say in unison, “Okay.” Then they tiptoe into the house and leave the door open a crack for me.

Henry walks back down the stairs, meeting me at the bottom. “I should go. I’ll see you tomorrow. Come with Kyleigh after the game to get to me.”

I nod, and he places a chaste kiss on my lips, probably scared we’ll get carried away again.

“Good night, Jade.”

“Good night, Henry.”

I walk up the stairs when I really want to follow him. When the door shuts behind me, I wonder what it will feel like to date the love of my life all over again.