Tae pats me on the arm. “Ah, that’s cute that you think those girls were looking at me. They were most definitely drooling over you. You’re Jackson freaking Wilson, after all.” She leans her head against the headrest and turns to face me with a dopey look on her face. “Makes me feel nostalgic thinking back to all the times girls would try to throw themselves at you while we were together.”
I quirk my brow at her. “And how did that turn out for them?”
She smirks before trying to hide her reaction by biting the inside of her cheek. “Hey, I never told you to damn near stiff arm them.” Shaking her head, she throws it back and braces her hands against her lower stomach. “Oh my god, do you remember that time you yelped and nearly fell off your deck when Rosie Phillips tried to hug you at your beginning of summer party?”
I guffaw at that. “I didnotyelp.”
“Oh, you yelped, Bear. But let’s drop it and go inside before I rip a stitch from laughing.”
“I’ll take the small wins where I can get them.” I smile at her and then get out and quickly round the truck so I can help her down.
I’ve got to give it to her, Tae does a pretty good job of keeping a low profile for the most part while we go through the first few grocery aisles.
“Do you think they have your latest album on vinyl here?” I ask her, tossing a package of Double Stuf Oreos into the cart. Then, thinking better of it, I grab three more packages and toss them in too.
Looking up, I see Taevin shake her head at me. “I see you haven’t gotten over your addiction.”
“Why give up a good thing? Oreos have always been there for me.”
“You’re something else, you know that?” she mutters as she slowly turns the corner.
“Hey, you never answered my question. Do you think they have it here?”
Instead of answering me, she walks toward an end cap a few aisles down that’s filled with the exact thing I’m looking for. Grabbing one of the special edition vinyls in my hand, I turn it over and marvel at the black and white portrait of her. She’s got her head turned slightly to the side with a black cowgirl hat lowered over her eyes and her long, raven hair is windblown across her face. I swallow past the emotion clogging my throat and breathe, “Tae, this is so fucking cool. Seeing you like this—knowing you got to live out your wildest dreams—it’s surreal.”
Biting my quivering lip, I try to compose myself so no one sees me losing it in the middle of Target. Turning to her, I pull her in my arms and kiss the top of the ball cap she’s wearing. “I know you’ve probably heard this a million times from everyone around you, but I’m so fucking proud of you. God, you really did it. Everything we talked about all those years ago.”
In spite of everything she put me through so she could get where she is today, I like to think I’m still one of her biggest cheerleaders. She admitted she came to several of my games over the years, and someday I’ll tell her how I went to as many of her concerts and performances as I could, hoping like hell she’d somehow see me in the crowds that grew unbelievable in size each time I’d go to see her.
Watching her live out her dreams while I was going through the motions—paralyzed by the loss of her—was bittersweet in the worst way. I mean, yeah, I worked hard to become aprofessional hockey player, but if I’m honest, I’ve been a shell of the man I was when I was hers.
With Tae’s arms wrapped around my waist, I feel anchored in a way I haven’t been in years. She was my stabilizing force back then and now it’s my turn to step up and be hers.
Patting my chest, she pulls away and starts walking toward the registers. I place her record in the cart and follow after her, nearly running into her when I don’t realize she’s stopped short.
“T?” I question, looking around to make sure no one’s recognized her. When I don’t find a reason for her abrupt stop, I realize we’re in front of the baby section just before I watch Tae’s shoulders shudder. She brings her hand to her mouth to muffle the sob that escapes while tears stream down her cheeks.
Fuck.I need to get her out of here.
Leaving the cart right where it is, I put my arm around her shoulder and hold her against my chest as I guide her out of the store.
Once I’ve got her securely in my truck and I’ve started it, I run back into the store to grab our cart and check out. Rushing to get back to her, I nearly run straight into Alexa in the parking lot.
“Woah, sorry!” she apologizes before looking up and realizing it’s me. “Hey, stranger. How’s it going?”
Some of the panic that was squeezing my chest subsides from seeing one of my friends. And that’s exactly what Alexa is to me. In fact, over the past year, she’s become one of my closest friends that isn’t one of my teammates.
“Hey, Lex. It’s going.” I nod over to where my truck is parked, and say, “Sorry I nearly ran you over. I was just hurrying to get back to Tae.”
“Ah, I see. How is she?”
“She’s had a long morning already so she’s waiting in the truck for me. I think she may have overdone it a bit.”
Sympathy floods her face, and Lex reaches out to give me a reassuring squeeze on my arm. “That’s too bad. Well, I won’t keep you. Get your girl home so she can rest up.”
Warmth fills my chest and I can’t help but smile from her words. My girl. Home.
I give Alexa a quick hug and as she steps away, she does what she does best, she shows how big her heart is. “Please let me know if there’s anything you or Tae need. Anything at all, any time of day or night—I mean it. You’ve got a village, Jackson, and now that Taevin’s back where she belongs, we’re her village too.”
