Page 89 of Don't Think

“But now?” His breath catches, then he lets it out in a quick sigh. “Now, when I think of roses, I can’t help but smile. Because they smell likeyou, Al. Anything that reminds me of you, which, honestly, iseverything,makes me smile again.”

His voice lowers. “I don’t think you realize what kind of hole I was in when I first showed up here. I was lost, walking in the shadows of my former self… until you crashed into my life.Literally.”

I can’t help but laugh again. Knowing the two of us are here because of my clumsiness. The most humiliating—and yet, most beautiful—thing I’ve ever done, aside from having my girls.

I quickly leave my seat, rounding the table in a blur, and slide into his lap. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I bury my face into his shoulder and breathe him in.

“I know this won’t be easy,” he murmurs. “It’ll be the exact opposite of that. But something tells me this is worth it. I don’t want to hide what we have anymore, Al. The last three weekshave been hell—hell—not being able to brag to anyone who would listen.”

I lift my head slowly, brushing my fingers down his rough cheek, tracing the outline of his jaw with my thumb. “I don’t want to hide either,” I whisper, shaking my head. “But what are we supposed to do? Travel back and forth? How does this even work without setting ourselves up for failure?”

He cradles my face in his hands, his thumbs brushing over my cheeks before he presses a soft kiss to my lips. “We’ll figure that out,” he says quietly. “Because I want you, Allie. Like I’ve never wanted anything in my life.”

Another tear slips down my cheek, but he quickly catches it with his thumb, wiping it away as if it never existed.

“I want this too,” I admit, my voice barely above a whisper.

“I mean it when I say I love you. I’ll do whatever it takes to make this work and prove to you that it’s worth it.”

He presses his head against the top of mine, holding me like that for several minutes, and all I can do is breathe him in. Just the two of us, wrapped up in this moment at a table he set up for us... to tell me helovesme.

That’s what everyone deserves, isn’t it? To find their person. Someone who goes out of their way to show you how they feel. Not someone who hides behind excuses, pretending you don’t matter so you’re left questioning your worth.

Suddenly, I realize we’re exactly where we belong, and it’s like a fog has lifted around us.

Does it feel too soon to put such a big name to our feelings? Maybe the tiniest part of me would agree. But right now, all I know is how much he makes my heart sing and how empty it feels when we’re apart. I don’t want to return to my life with only these memories of him. I wanteverything.

The scariest part of all this though?

It’s not the travel, or how we’re going to figure everything out, or him meeting Charlotte and Lydia. Because I know it’ll work itself out somehow.

It’s telling our friends the truth. Letting them know we’ve been lying to them for the last three weeks.

Now that? That’s scary.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Jax

It’s been an entire week.

Seven days.

One hundred and sixty-eight hours since I told Allie how I really feel about her.

I was so nervous that night, she told me she thought I was trying to break things off. I felt like a complete piece of shit for acting so fidgety, but the truth? I was just trying to claw my way out of the mess in my head, going over everything I wanted to say. And even then, I barely got half of it out.

After things ended with Emelia, I blamed myself for everything. Over and over, I told myself I just wasn’t worth loving, or that I should have somehowknownI’d find my wife in bed with some random guy. But then Allie came along, and little by little, she’s been putting me back together without evenrealizing it. And I don’t think I could ever thank her enough for that.

Then finding out she practically went through the same thing, albeit finding him in bed with someone, it became my top priority to make sure sheneverfeels that way again.

Ever.

But meeting her daughters? That’s a whole different kind of scary. I don’t know the first thing about kids—especially not little girls. She’s told me so much about them that I feel like I already know them in some way, but I know meeting them will be a different story.

The funny thing about all of this though? As nerve-racking as meeting her kids sounds, it’s nothing compared to the idea of everyone finding out we’ve been sneaking around behind their backs.

I know James is going to take it the hardest. We’ve always been incredibly close, and I know it’ll feel like a punch to the gut for him. He’ll come around eventually, but at first? Yeah, he’s gonna be pissed. Especially when he realizes I’ve beenlyingfor almostfourweeks. That all those late-night “gym runs” weren’t exactly the kind of workout he had in mind.