That’s when he notices me, his gaze coming to me confused, then turning back to Jaxon.
“That her?” he asks.
“Yes.”
Me, who? Did he tell his dad about me? He said they don’t talk… how would his dad know about me? And what does he know?
His father nods. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry and that it won’t happen again. I know it shouldn’t have taken all of this for me to trust you, but you know how she is…was. And if you never forgive me, I’ll understand that too.”
Again, Jaxon says nothing. His father gives him an awkward smile, then turns and leaves. Jaxon closes the door and gives me a confused look before coming back to sit on the couch.
“What was that all about?” I ask.
Shaking his head, it takes him a moment to explain.
“I’d gone to him to ask for help with looking for my mother when I had no other option. He wouldn’t help me.”
I take his hand. “I’m sorry. That all of that happened, but also that you have shitty parents. You don’t deserve that.”
He shrugs and pulls me onto his lap. “It’s okay. I have you now. I don’t need parents.”
I laugh it off, but there’s a pang or hurt in my chest. What would my parents think about Jaxon? As a person, I think they’d like him. Jaxon was raised with manners, and he’s charismatic. The rest of the stuff? Well, they wouldn’t need to know any of that, so it wouldn’t matter.
“I wish mine could have met you. They were good people.”
He nods, nuzzling his face in my neck.
“What did he mean when he asked if it was me?” I ask after a long moment of silence.
Jaxon smirks, looking up at me. “I may have threatened him to approve your homeschooling.”
“Youwhat?”
“It’s no big deal.”
“Jaxon!” I scold. “Wait—how did he make that happen? I don’t understand.”
Grinning, he says, “Did I never tell you that he’s the Dean of the school?”
I gasp. “No, you did not!!”
“Oops?”
With an annoyed sound, I snuggle into him, eventually sliding off so my butt is on the couch but my legs are still over him. He covers us with the throw blanket and puts the movie backon. The popcorn is stale now, but I’ll still eat it. I love popcorn, and I don’t want it to go to waste. We get to Saw V before I’m nodding off. I wake faintly to the motion of being carried into another room, then placed onto a bed that smells just like Jaxon. It smells so good that it eases me back into sleep.
The low rumble of thunder lulls me back to sleep after I wake. I do this a few times before I finally peel my eyes open. Jaxon is asleep, his body curled around mine like I’m his teddy bear. I run my fingers through his hair that’s longer than it was when we were together before, and I lean down to kiss his forehead. I don’t want to wake him yet, so I stay where I am and just let myself be content and think about all we’ve been through.
To think all this started about a year ago is crazy. We’ve been through so much and so little at the same time. As a person, I’ve grown, and I don’t know if he can say the same, but something tells me he’s been confident in who he is. It’s one of the things that attracted me to him in the first place—his confidence and charisma. He knows who he wants to be and what he wants—and it’s clear he isn’t afraid to take it.
I wish I had his confidence, and maybe after being around him for so long, some of it will rub off. I kiss his forehead, then settle against him. I have no idea what time it is when I wake up again, but this time, I find him awake and watching me.
“Morning, beautiful,” Jaxon says, his voice raspy with sleep.
My stomach does a little flip at him calling me beautiful. I can’t help but smile. This is all so unbelievable… that we’re togetheragain, and this time in his apartment. I hadn’t thought things would get so serious with him when this all started. In fact, at the very beginning, I was sure I hated him for stealing my journal.
“Morning.” With a sigh, I lean in closer, pressing my cheek to his chest to listen to his heartbeat. Strong and steady.
“Can I ask you something?” I ask.
