“Oh, really?” I say, forcing a smirk.
“Mhmm.” She nods, giving me a sly grin of her own. “About two guys who hook up and fall in love, and have to hide their relationship from the public and their families.”
I raise an eyebrow at her as I open my pint of salted caramel chocolate chip, tossing the lid. I won’t need it.
“This is supposed to make me feel better?” I raise an eyebrow.
She smiles at me. “Just watch the movie, Uncle Aaron.”
I sigh as she presses play.
Halfway through the movie, she’s out like a light. I stop the movie, pick her up, and carry her down the hall to her room. The house is quiet, but not in the peaceful kind of way.
It feels empty because he’s not here.
Jacob makes everything feel warm and full.
I make my way back to my bedroom to get her laptop, when I look at the frozen frame. The way the actors are frozen as they gaze into each other’s eyes…
It reminds me of the way Jacob was looking at me, when he was singing about me seeing him in my wildest dreams.
So, I press play. I keep watching.
I watch as they sneak away, watch as they kiss. Have sex—sort of, considering it’s all shot in a way that you don’t see much, but you know what’s going on—as they fight because theprincewon’t cross a line and tell everyone the truth.
And I can’t help but think about Jacob. How even though he knew it would destroy my chance at getting what I wanted… he told the truth.
Knowing it might destroy more than just my chance at taking over my father’s company.
But he did it anyway, because he didn’t want to lie anymore. But at the first chance of telling the truth, at beingdeservingofourtruth, I crumbled.
Like Daisy, I couldn’t leave the confines of the role I’d been cast in.
Like Henry, I couldn’t cross the line.
I got scared that I was going to lose what I’d worked so hard for. I thought I was going to lose the only thing I’d ever wanted.
And I did. Lose the only thing I’d ever wanted.
It just… wasn’t the job, like I thought it was. It wasn’t a chance to finally prove my worth to my parents. No, I lost something so much greater than that.
I lost the only man I’ve ever really loved.
I cry as Alex cries, begging Henry to take a chance. To put their love first.
And just when I think it’s going to fall apart, when I think Henry’s going to curl in on himself and shut everyone out…
He rises to the occasion. He finds a way to make it right. He finds a way to be the man Alex knows he is, the man he wants to be.
I look at Jacob’s empty space, setting my empty pint on the nightstand as I get underneath the covers. I lay my head on his pillow.
It still smells like him. Sweet, spicy, and comforting.
And it dawns on me, that even in the darkest moments, lovecanprevail.
Like a light beaming over the water, or a gesture of faith. Because love is something that never truly loses. It doesn’t die or fade. It’s evermore.
And if I stay here, like Henry in his gilded castle, afraid of the unknown, afraid of thetruth, I’m never going to win.
