If this ended again, Jace wasn’t sure if his heart would survive it, but he didn’t want to let her go. He had already tried a life without her.
“I don’t think I can be casual either.” She squeezed his hand. “We probably should have known that from the start.”
“Maybe we should talk about it. About us.” Her voice was so soft, barely there, but his heart jumped in his chest. Was she ready for a new beginning, or was this the end?
He shifted to his side so he could see her expression. He didn’t want to miss anything.
Selena drew in a long breath. “I know this isn’t the past, but I don’t want us to make the same mistakes again.”
“Me neither.” It felt too soon to bring up their break-up, but he wasn’t going to say no to her. Maybe she needed this conversation to move on. “Where do we start?”
She propped her chin on her hand and smiled a little, but her eyes were full of questions. “Going away to college and leaving you was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I was so in love with you. But in all those months of trying to coax me to stay in Sacred Harbor, you never once offered to come to Boston. You could have, you know.”
Her lips shook as she spoke, and he wrinkled his brow. She had wanted him to come with her, yet she had never said it. If she had asked, would he have said yes, leaving his family and the garage behind? Maybe, but it would have been a painful choice.
“And it’s not like you were at home waiting for me,” she continued. “Mary Jo Whitney made sure I knew about the blow job she gave you on Valentine’s Day that year. How she understood why I had been with you all through high school.”
Jace closed his eyes. “It wasn’t—”
“We weren’t together, Jace,” she said quickly. “I’m just saying that when I called you that spring, things had changed.”
He shook his head. “Not for me.”
“Then why didn’t you say so?” Her voice was tight.
Jace furrowed his brow. “I don’t know. Because you wouldn’t take the ring. Because my dad needed me at the garage.” He closed his eyes. “And maybe because I needed to grow up a little more.”
She let go of his hand and moved closer, resting her cheek on his shoulder. “I needed to grow up, too. Eighteen is too young to get married.”
“Maybe.”
It felt so good to be close to her again, her body touching his. Nine years ago, all he had wanted was for Selena to come back, for everything to be the way it had been. His life was here, his family, his garage, everything that meant something to him. But he had been so scared of losing her, scared that she’d leave him behind for a guy with more money, more education. And in the end, she had.
Now, he was trying to wrap his head around how it felt to be her back then. She had wanted college, and she wasn’t ready for marriage, but she still wanted him. At eighteen, all he could hear was the rejection. Even though he would have said he loved her ambition and drive, he had tried to pressure her to stay back. All because he didn’t want to lose her. A heaviness was settling in his chest.
“I’m so sorry, too, Selena,” he said. “I shouldn’t have made you choose. If I could take it back, I would.”
She nodded. “We’re not eighteen anymore. Maybe we can both do better this time around.”
Jace slipped his other hand to her waist, stroking up and down. “Whatever happens next with us, I promise I’ll do better.”
She turned to him and held his face in her hands. Slowly, she guided his mouth to hers. He kissed her softly.
She pulled back a little, blinking up at him. “Do you think this is just the magical fruitcake talking?”
It took a minute to remember what she was talking about.
“You’re kidding, right?” He frowned a little. “I can’t imagine a scenario where I don’t want you.”
Selena took a deep breath, and her eyes softened as she studied him. “But there’s something magical about us meeting again, isn’t there? My car breaking down, you picking me up, me leaving my packages for you to bring back. Though you forgot my suitcase in the trunk.”
“It’s outside in my truck. You distracted me.” Jace laughed as he gazed down at her, smiling. “Maybe it’s not the fruitcake. Maybe we’re making our own magic.”
“Are we giving this a try for real, Jace?”
Her eyes were bright with the same hope that had been brewing inside him since they sat across from each other in the café.
“Yes. For real,” he said, sliding his hand over her collarbone and down her chest. He cupped her breast, and she sighed with pleasure. “Tomorrow is Saturday, which means we can spend the whole day in bed. We can make up for all those years apart. And then you can come with me to Sunday brunch at my parents’ place.”
