“All the above but?—”
“Tomatoes on the top as a garnish.” I hadn’t forgotten.
Chapter Five
Lily
While we had breakfast in bed, Jaxon explained in more detail why his place was almost empty, except for his bedroom furniture and a spare room packed with gym equipment. He and his brother Jameson had been renting the three-bedroom home for the last seven years, and when it came to furnishing the place, they split the rooms and had agreed that whoever bought an item would take it with them if and when they moved out.
Turns out, the Fisher twins were still close with their childhood best friend, Boden, one of the guys I’d also grown up with, and he had taken up buying fixer-uppers and flipping them in his downtime from working at the police station. For him, what started as a one-off long-term rental agreement with an out-of-towner in a property he decided not to sell turned into an epic love story: Boden fell in love with said renter, Lakelyn, proposed, and moved her into his place.
Since Jaxon planned to move out within the next six months, Jameson jumped at the chance and bought Lakelyn’s formerhome from Boden, as he had never really wanted to be a landlord. As a result, Jaxon didn’t see the point in wasting time re-furnishing the main living space, as it was drastically different from the one in his future abode.
I knew Jameson had moved out since Arizona had mentioned it in passing before the two of them got together, but what I didn’t know, because she didn’t volunteer the information and I didn’t ask, was what Jaxon’s plans had been.
As he continued to fill me in, I could tell he was choosing his words carefully, fully cognizant of the fact that he’d gone and done what we had once dreamed of doing one day together before I abruptly left.
Build a forever home on the lake.
The same lake we used to sneak off to when we were teenagers to be alone.
The same lake where we shared our first kiss.
As small and beautiful as Sutton River was, there was something almost sacred about being out on the lake. The tranquility, the privacy, the stillness that hung in the air like a secret, made it feel like another world. It wasn’t just serene; it was something more profound. It was the kind of life we used to talk about when the nights were too hot to sleep, and the future felt like a blank page just waiting to be written with our story.
All of it was bittersweet because he’d gone and done it on his own.
Staring down at my phone, I reread the same text message from my landlord until the words began to blur. I should have felt like I could finally exhale. The cloud of panic that drove me here in the first place had passed, but truth be told, my nerves were already frayed beyond repair. The uncertainty, thememories, the sense that my world was shifting beneath my feet, and I had no control—it was all too much.
I tried to focus on my breathing, but the relief didn’t quite settle into any real sense of calm. While I could easily blame the pure exhaustion ravaging my bones after a grueling three days of twelve-hour shifts at the hospital, it was the guilt I felt eating me alive. I didn’t deserve an iota of the kindness Jaxon had shown me since he’d laid eyes on me.
I never imagined I’d be hightailing it back here on New Year’s Eve of all nights. But then again, I certainly didn’t expect to come home from work and find my apartment door wide open either.
“Lily.” Jaxon’s voice pulled me from my thoughts. “You okay?”
“Yes,” I shifted on the edge of the bed and turned to face him. “Apparently the shower in my place has been leaking, and it’s caused damage to the condo below, so my landlord needed access to my place last night. That was why—” My voice faltered and fell quiet.
“You’re more than welcome to stay here.”
“Jaxon.”
“Lily,” he deadpanned.
“Arizona offered me her place.”
“No need. You’re staying here.”
“You know that’s not realistic.”
Emotions washed over him, and I felt his pain from across the bedroom. Mirroring my own internal struggle at the thought of putting space between us physically hurt.
Jaxon and I always had a unique bond, like our souls knew we were destined to be together long before we were old enough to understand the full scope.
I watched as his lips parted with a comeback on the cusp before he turned and abruptly left.
My heart had longed for only one person, and when I chose to leave with my parents all those years ago, I left broken and hadn’t felt whole since. I tried moving on, but I always held back a part of myself because I never wanted my memories to fade.
Something I suspected my ex, Aiden, knew as well.
