“You look happy, brother.”
Jace nodded at Cody, who stood behind the bar with Eastern beside him, while Kayden sat on a stool beside Jace. It felt good to be with family. It was only over the last few days that he’d started feeling like himself again, but being here, surrounded by the people he loved, helped a lot.
“I am,” he finally said. “There are moments every day where I think back to seeing Elle’s crashed car in the driveway, not knowing where she was or whether she was okay. I remember that fear, and it drives me crazy for a second. But it also drives me to love her harder and reminds me to never let her go.”
Not that he needed reminding. Every time he looked at her—hell,thoughtabout her—he knew there was no way in hell he couldnotbe with her. He’d done that already. For years he hadn’t even been close to her, and those years had been the hardest of his life.
Kayden clenched his shoulder. “I know that feeling. When I almost lost Tilly, I thought I’d lose my mind.”
“It’s a hell no one should have to live,” Eastern said quietly.
Jace’s gaze returned to the women. To Elle. Focusing on the way she lit up when she smiled. The warmth on her face when she laughed.
“I knew you two would end up together,” Cody said as Jace turned back. “I think I even made a bet with one of you. It’s time to pay up.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Kayden said. “Iwas the one who made that bet. If anyone’s paying up, it’s you.”
“Hell no, it was me,” Eastern interrupted. “I said it the first time I heard her sneak through his bedroom window.”
Thefirsttime? “You knew she snuck in?”
Cody laughed. “We all knew. Even Dad.”
“Just like we knew you’d end up together,” Kayden added.
Jace shook his head. “It seems everyone knew but me.”
“A part of youdidknow, though, didn’t you?” Cody asked.
Had he? “Iwantedto be with her. I loved her for so long that I forgot whatnotloving her was like, but there was this block. This voice telling me I couldn’t have her. That I had other shit to do first.”
“I’m glad you came out the other side of that,” Eastern said.
“Me too.”
Over the next hour, they pulled tables together, ordered pizza, drank beer and cocktails—mocktails for Avery—and talked and laughed. He slipped an arm around Elle’s shoulder and pressed a kiss to her cheek.
She sighed. “This is nice.”
“This is everything.”
She turned to look at him, a soft smile on her lips. “Thank you, Jace.”
“For what?”
“Coming home to me.”
He leaned in and hovered his lips over hers. “Something tells me it was always going to end this way.”
“Thank God.”
He kissed her, and the second his lips touched hers, he felt that thing he’d spent years chasing. The high. The adrenaline. The pumping of his blood.
He vaguely heard theclickas the door to the bar opened, but it wasn’t until he heard a few loud gasps that he lifted his head and turned to find thelastperson he expected to see—their last remaining brother.
Lock.
CHAPTER 32
