“I missed you,” he murmurs. “I shouldn’t have bothered with the hook-up. It wasn’t great sex. I should have just stayed at the party.”
I decide not to tell him we only missed each other by about fifteen minutes—according to Deacon, at least. That knowledge won’t make him feel better. “I’ve missed you too.”
We fall quiet and I turn my focus to the TV. I’ve missed most of the episode thanks to the dumb cat distracting me, so I’m a little lost and have no idea how that Audi got wrapped around an electricity pole, but the sight of it makes me want to cry. I know it’s fiction but,that beautiful car…
“Do you think I’m in love with you?” Skyler murmurs.
I jolt in alarm, partly because I thought he’d fallen asleep, but mainly because it’s the last thing I would have ever expected him to ask me.
“Huh?”
His eyes flutter open, and he hits me with a look full of apprehension, mingled with agitation. “Deacon thinks I’m in love with you.”
I blink at him, stunned. “Um. Okay. Doyouthink you’re in love with me?”
His face screws up in a confused frown. “I don’t think so. I’m not attracted to you or anything—no offense.”
I chuckle. “None taken. Why does Deacon think you’re in love with me?”
He lets out a heavy sigh. “Well…he was giving me shit about, you know, settling down and finding a boyfriend and whatever. And he said if I gave it a chance I could find the love of my life. And I told him I already found the love of my life, and that made him think I’m in love with you.”
I nod, unable to keep my lips from twitching. “I wonder how he made that leap.”
“I know, right? Talk about jumping to conclusions.”
I can’t seem to stop the twitch from morphing into a full on grin, which causes Skyler to glower up at me. “Don’t laugh, it’s not funny. If Deacon’s right it’d be horrible.”
I quirk a brow at him. “Being in love with me would be horrible?”
He doesn’t reply, but the confused scowl doesn’t leave his place.
I sigh, offering an indulgent smile. “Skyler, I think you’re getting worked up over nothing. You said yourself you’re not attracted to me,” I remind him. “And if it helps…you’re the love of my life, too.”
He stares up at me, looking awe-struck. “Really?”
I let out a wry breath of laughter. “How could you be surprised by that? I mean, yeah, I probably wouldn’t have used those exact words myself…but it’s true. You’re the single most important part of my world, Sky. The best thing about my life is that you’re in it. And considering I can’t even fathom the possibility of ever meeting someone who could match that, let alone surpass it, then, yeah, I guess that does make you the love of my life,” I finish with a shrug.
He offers a fond smile. “That’s some good logic.”
“So I don’t think you have anything to worry about,” I assure him. “Deacon just…” I sigh, shaking my head. “He’s never had a Skyler or a Jackson so he doesn’t get it.”
“Yeah, I told him the same thing,” Skyler says with a smirk.
ChapterEleven
Skyler
“We should have donethis last week,” I muse, running my fingers over the dark fuzz covering Jackson’s scalp as he sits in front of me on the kitchen chair I dragged into the bathroom.
I actually kind of like his hair like this; it’s so nice and soft. But Jackson prefers an all-over clipper cut—as close as you can get with an electric razor. And we usually shave it weekly, so it’s rare to see it any longer than your standard army issue buzz cut.
We missed last week, though, so now it’s all soft and smooth. And I should probably stop touching it “It’s gotten longer than you like it.”
“You were busy last week,” he reminds me. “And it’s okay like this. It still feels nice.”
“It does feel nice,” I murmur, still dancing my fingers over his hair. “It’s so soft.”
“I meant…” He breaks off, shifting his head around to look up at me. “I can keep it like this if you like it better?”
