When I reached the lake house, the place was also dark. But when I saw his black Charger parked out front, I knew my intuition had guided me to the right place.
Steeling my nerves, I stepped out into the still of the night. The only sound trumping that of my heartbeat was the gravel crunching beneath my feet until I jumped with fright when I spotted Jaxon leaning against a cedar pillar with his gaze fixed squarely on me.
We hadn’t seen each other since the night at Arizona and Jameson’s, so for me to show up out of the blue made me feel slightly anxious.
“Beautiful night for stargazing,” I said, hoping to break the awkward silence.
He looked amused by my arrival but also pensive. Unsure of himself, which wasn’t a quality I was used to from him.
I hated that I had that effect on him.
“If I’m intruding on your alone time, I can leave.” I hooked my thumb over my shoulder.
“You’re not.”
Two words. Simple and to the point.
“I was hoping we could talk. I know I owe you answers.”
“Is that the only reason you’re here?”
I nibbled on the inside of my lip. “No,” I said quietly,stepping closer to the stairs that would lead me to where Jaxon was standing. “That’s not the only reason.” I missed you, I wanted to say, but the words caught in my throat.
He held his hand out to me as I climbed the stairs, only lit by the moonlight above.
“The truth is, I can’t stay away from you. I don’t want to anymore.” I rested my hands on the center of his chest. “It killed me leaving, and I—I need to explain to you what happened. I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but I’d like to tell you my side of the story if you’ll hear it.”
“Lily, all I want is you. The life we once dreamed of.” He placed his hands over mine as he spoke and squeezed. “I know that’s a lot to ask of you when so much has changed.”
Jaxon had the purest, kindest soul of anyone I’d ever known. The sincerity of his truth, unfiltered and straight from the heart with no false pretenses, made my emotions bubble to the surface as his words resonated deep within my chest.
“I want that too, but I can’t move forward until we talk about the past, and then if you still?—”
“Nothing you tell me will ever change how I feel about you.”
“You say that now, but nothing in life is a sure thing.”
“Trust me when I say my love for you is.” He cupped my cheeks affectionately. “Can I hug you? Please tell me I can hold you in my arms again.”
I nodded, wanting nothing more than to feel his embrace, and stepped into him, drawn by a need so intense I couldn’t deny either of us a second longer. The moment his arms wrapped around me in return, something inside me broke open. Not from pain, but from the overwhelming flood of everything I’d kept buried: the nights I cried missing his smile, his laugh, the warmth of his touch, and the comfort of his love. I clung to himlike a safety net, afraid the floor beneath me would give out and he’d disappear.
I wasn’t sure how long we’d stood there until Jaxon eventually guided me over to the large porch swing and sat beside me. Just having him close again made it feel like I could finally breathe for the first time in years.
“Do you remember the time we borrowed the telescope from Ms. Abbott’s classroom so we could look at the stars properly in your backyard?” he asked.
“I don’t think she saw it that way.” I laughed, remembering back.
“How was I supposed to know of all the days, that particular one was the day she went to school extra early because her husband needed the car?”
“In hindsight, we should have just asked.” I grabbed a pillow from the back of the swing and hugged it against my chest.
“It was expensive equipment. Do you really think she would have let us sign it out?”
“No. But let’s just say we both got lucky it was you who got caught returning it. If it had been me, I would have for sure been in detention.” Jaxon could do no wrong in Ms. Abbott’s eyes.
“Sure, it was you who borrowed it after staying late to help out Ms. Heslop in the cosmetology room, but I wasn’t about to risk you getting in trouble over it.”
“Always my protector,” I teased.