Page 88 of Beautiful Disaster

“Don’t… let me say this… I know it’s fast, like it’s only been about two months, but I know how I feel. I’ve been so afraid of being with men, and you helped me trust them again. You’ve healed me in a way I didn’t believe possible. I’m never going to be perfect or guilt-free, but I feel almost whole. That’s because of you. You’ve forced me to confront my demons in a unique way that worked. It’s forced me to be open and honest with you about everything, not just with you, but with me, too. And I’m not afraid anymore.” He removes his hat, sets it on the floor gently, and runs a hand through his hair. “Jesus, it sounds like I’m proposing or something. I just want to tell you I love you, is all. And… thank you for everything.”

I spread my arms, and he crawls over to me, sitting on my crossed legs. I wrap my arms around him and kiss his head. “Jinx, my pet, my precious… I love you, too.”

He looks at me with bright blue eyes full of wonder. “You do?”

“Yes,” I chuckle. “I’d planned on telling you tonight, too.”

“You did?”

I laugh again. “Yes, because you’ve healed me, too, in the best possible way.”

He nuzzles his face in my neck. “God, I was so afraid to say something.”

“Never be afraid to tell me how you feel, Precious. Never.”

Jinx sits up, takes the bracelet from me, and clips it to my wrist. “Thank you for all my gifts,” I say and kiss him.

He truly is the best gift of all, as corny as it sounds.

Chapter 25

Jinx

Mason reaches next to me and lifts the blind covering the plane’s window. “Look down there, Precious.”

I shake my head, determined never to fucking fly again.

He chuckles and kisses my hand, which he’s been holding for most of the flight. I couldn’t even sleep a wink, though I tried to watch a couple of movies.

“Look,” he says more firmly.

With a sigh, I stare out the window at a world of orange rooftops surrounded by mountains shorter than those in Durango. The buildings are so clustered together, and the closer we get to the ground, the more I can see how old they are. “Beautiful,” I whisper.

“I wish we had time to spend there,” he says.

Julien cranes his head to look back at us, smiling. “Oh, we’re totally going to visit. We only have one day, though, when we drive up from Siena back to Florence. We’ll take the train from there to Vernazza in Cinque Terre. Too bad it’ll be too cold to swim, but it’s supposed to be stunning.”

Mason smiles wistfully. “Even though my parents came from Italy, I’ve never been. I think one day I’d like to come back and visit my home city, where my parents were born. Maybe we’ll see Rome while we’re at it.”

“I’d like that. Just don’t make me fly.”

He laughs and kisses my temple as we stare out the window, dropping lower and lower, and way too fucking fast. “We must. A ship will take too long, and they have zero appeal to me.”

“I suppose…”

Julien looks back at us again. “Hey, at least we have our own personal Italian translator.”

Mason smiles and nods at him. “Happy to.”

As we reach the airport, I slam the blind closed along with my eyes, clinging to Mason’s hand. I can hear Aleks whimpering in front of me, and Foxy and Tink doing the same behind me. It’s clearly our first time on a plane.

My stomach drops, and I feel a little nauseous as the plane races down the tarmac after we touch down in Florence, Italy. The engines scream, and I’m terrified they’ll fall off the wings, and we’ll all die in a fiery explosion.

“Why’s the plane shaking so much?!” I say too loudly.

Mason holds my hand tighter. “It’s a big plane.”

“We’re all going to die!”