Page 128 of The Sniper
JAYDEN
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Ipark my car in thedriveway and let myself into the house.Our house.
Deciding to rent out my house and move in with Tiffany was an enormous step but over the past few months, I’ve been working with a therapist, and during those sessions, I’ve also touched on the stereotypes of men and women in relationships.
It’s opened my eyes.
She said it's normal for a man to want to provide, as it’s what we did for survival until recently, meaning modern human times.Men are physically stronger and we’re programmed to protect, or at least some of us.
I know I am.
But the world has changed and a relationship only needed to be what two people required.For Tiffany, feeling protected and safe was important given her life in the public eye and then recently the threats to her life and home.
I filled that need for her.
I wanted to fill that need.
In the same breath, she had a need to be financially independent and prove to her father she could make it on her own.So, some rich dude didn’t appeal at all.
Lucky me.
Things I never thought I’d say.
We work.I wake up happy, I go to bed happy.Both usually involve sinking deep into the woman I love.
And I did ask her father if I could marry her.Steven is a good guy and far more family-focused than he appears on the big screen.He told me to ask Tiffany, that she was her own woman and had impressed him to no end by repaying her trust.
“She’s stubborn.”He shook his head.“I know you’ll understand this, Jayden.I wanted to provide for her.”
“Yeah.”I snaked a hand through my hair.“That part is hard to get my head around.But she loves me.”
“No one questions that.It's written all over her face.”Steven glanced at me.“Hard for a dad to see, but son, you already killed for her, so I can’t think of a better man for her.”
That was a moment.
We’d told her mom and dad about the day at the launch and asked them to keep it confidential for obvious reasons.If I were marrying into the family, they had to know who I was.
“I’d do it again in a heartbeat,” I replied honestly.
“Which is why you have my blessing.”He slapped my back.
Thing is, I was never sure when the right time was.She’d asked me to wait, but I didn’t want to.
She was stubborn.
I was impatient.
But I wanted to talk to someone in a similar, or so I thought, position to me, so I spoke to Ryder.We went for a beer, and I asked how he felt being with a woman who is so vastly wealthy.
Turns out the fucker had a lot of money when they met, which I didn’t inquire how, but his advice was wise, anyway.
“Savannah is one of the top-earning movie stars in the world.”Ryder sipped his beer.“It’s insane how much she earns.”
“How does that feel?Even with what you brought into the relationship?”
“I’ve never cared about money, and I still don’t.A privilege, I know.I could have let it be more of a thing, but we barely discussed it,” Ryder admitted.“Savannah went through hell with her family who tried to use her, and then her best friend who tried to kill her.”
