“I think this means there isn’t an us at all,” he said quietly.
“Don’t say that. Nothing is set in stone yet.”
“I just got you back, Jess,” he said, finally looking at her. “And now you expect me to let you go? Again? I don’t…I don’t think I can do that. At least not three or four months from now when you inevitably leave.”
His words punched her in the gut, and Jessica struggled to catch her breath.
After New Year’s Eve, when they returned to her parents’ house, and she officially introduced him to her dad—though her parents made them sleep in separate rooms—there had been an unspoken agreement that they were together. But there’d beenno formal conversation, and now, it seemed there might never be.
“What’re you saying to me right now?” she asked, hands shaking as fear coursed through her veins.
“I don’t know!” Jack stood abruptly, pulling his hand free from hers. “I’ve spent every day of the last three and a half years missing you. And I get you back only to lose you like that?” he asked, snapping his fingers. “I can’t…I have dreams, too, Jess. You know? Dreams like playing in the NHL.”
“I know,” she said softly, rising to stand in front of him. She placed her hands on his chest, his heart thumping wildly under her touch. “I’m not saying we have to decide anything right now. I only wanted to make you aware of my plans. If I hear back from any of these jobs, or you have scouts reach out to your agent about post-graduation signing opportunities…we’ll cross those bridges when we come to them. But right now…”
“Right now?”
“I spent every day of the last three and a half years missing you, too. Even though I was with Silas. When we broke up, I realized I’d never truly given him my heart.” She looked up at Jack and smiled, tears pooling in her eyes as an overwhelming rush of love for this man raced through her. “See, there was this boy in Mexico. And he gave me the best week of my life. But like the stupid kids we were, we walked away. Every day since then, every moment of that time apart had just been bringing us back together. Andtogetheris exactly where we belong. The rest we can figure out as we go.”
“We make the most of the time we do have,” he said, echoing the same sentiment that had informed their last day in Mexico.
“Yes,” she breathed, curling her fingers into his shirt. “I want this, Jack. Us. More than anything.”
“Me, too, sunshine,” he breathed, bending down to plant a quick kiss on her lips. “Me, too.”
Then he kissed her again, deeper this time, more insistent. Branding himself on the very marrow of her bones. There had never been anyone like Jack, and there never would be again. She slid her hands up his chest and across his shoulders, settling them around the back of his neck to pull him closer. Within moments, she was off her feet and tossed onto the bed. Jack crawled up next to her, rolling onto his back and pulling her atop him.
Her hair fell into a curtain around them, and her world narrowed to his face, his body beneath hers, their hearts thumping to the same beat. To his hands on her hips, fingertips toying with the sliver of skin exposed where her shirt had ridden up.
To his mouth, his lips, and the words that left them next.
“I love you, you know.”
In a romance novel, this was the moment where Jessica would’ve kicked and squealed like an excited child. The man confessing his love first was always her favorite part of the love stories she read.
But this wasn’t fiction. This was real life,herlife, and she wasted no time echoing the sentiment.
“I love you, too.”
NOW: January 25, 2024
Jack had just turnedhis phone off airplane mode after touching down in Minneapolis when it rang with an incoming call. The readout showed his agent’s name.
“What’s up, Darren?” Jack asked when he answered, angling his body toward the plane window, hoping to cut down on the background noise from his teammates preparing to deplane.
“Just had an update for you on the signing front. You got a second?”
“Ahh…” Jack said, glancing over his shoulder. “Can I call you back in like an hour? We literally just landed. I haven’t even unbuckled.”
“Oh, sure!” Darren said. “No problem! Call me when you’re settled at the hotel.”
“Thanks, man. Will do.”
“Who was that?” Aiden asked the moment Jack hung up.
“Darren. Apparently, he has an ‘update on the signing front,’” Jack said, using air quotes around his agent’s words.
“That’s exciting!” Aiden said. Finally, the queue ahead of them moved up the aisle, so they both rose and slid out of their seats.
