I turn to face him.
He moves closer, wrapping his arms around my waist.
“You built my music room,” I say, my voice catching, the enormity of what he did sinking in.
“I did. The house would have been missing something if I hadn’t.”
“You built our house,” I whisper. “Why?”
He drops a kiss on my nose.
“There was never another home I could have wanted,” he admits.
“But—” confusion hits.
He built a house, including features I wanted when we weren’t together. When I was horrible to him. Hated him for what I thought he’d done.
He drops his forehead to mine, our gazes locked.
“I can hear your brain whirring again.”
“It does that a lot around you,” I say, biting my lip. His thumb comes up and frees it from my teeth. “When did you build this house, Jax?”
He closes his eyes for a moment before reopening them.
“Eight years ago.”
I suck in a breath.
“Eight years ago,” I repeat.
I was still with Zach then.
He smiles.
“I had faith we would somehow find our way back to one another,” he says. “And if we hadn’t. There’s no one else for me, Kat. I hope you realise that.”
My hand covers my mouth as I suck in air, trying to fill my lungs, the enormity of his words hitting me.
Jax moves back, cupping my face in his hands.
“I love you, Kathryn Frazer. I’ve loved you since I first walked in and saw you lost in the music. I loved you even more when you pulled Pen from the pool and tore us all apart for being idiots. When…”
Jax’s voice catches, and I move quickly, cupping his cheeks, before slamming my tear-coated lips against his. He opens for me, our tongues tangling.
“I can’t seem to stop crying around you,” I admit. “Probably because I love you too,” I say, finally pulling my mouth away, tilting my head, and looking up at him. “More than I ever thought possible. I don’t think I ever stopped. To think?—”
I can’t bring myself to say how close we were to losing all this.
He drops another kiss on my lips, wiping my tears with his thumbs, his eyes glistening.
When we finally come up for air.
“No one is going to come between us again,” Jax states. “Not your family, or mine, friend or foe. We stand united.”
“A promise I’m happy to make,” I say, snuggling into his chest, my arms tight around his waist.
When did I become a snuggler? A crier… emotional!
