Page 84 of Defying Ella
“Would you be my girlfriend?” Before I could answer, he rushed on. “Give me a chance to make up for all my shitty mistakes and love you the way I should have months ago.”
My mouth went dry. “Love?”
“It wasn’t obvious?” He cupped my jaw. “Sparky, I fell in love with you in Italy. There’s been no one since. I don’t want anyone else.”
“I knew it,” Daphne hissed across the table, a look of pure triumph claiming her face.
The love part, that caught me off-guard. Although, if I thought about it, that should have been plain to see as well. I’d always been cautious with my heart. It wouldn’t have let me fall for a guy who didn’t love me back.
And I’d done just that.
I probably fell a little for him in our first week together. No one else had ever made me feel like anything were possible, no matter how bad things looked at the outset. I’d shrugged it off as my naivety, hoping he’d change his mind about us.
“So what do you say, Els?” He squeezed my hand. “Will you give this idiot one last chance?”
With my stomach in freefall and my heart jumping for joy, I could hardly say no.
“You seriously want to make this official?” I asked, blinking back tears.
“Desperately.”
“And you’re sure you won’t regret it when you go on tour and I have to stay here to teach?” I bit my lip.
“If teaching’s what you want to do, then we’ll make it work.” He cupped my jaw again, smiling despite the fact I still hadn’t said yes. “There’s school holidays, and the band won’t always be touring. We can figure it out.”
Oh, could he make himself any more perfect?
“And if you come home from practice to find a hyperactive Phoebe camped out in our bed?”
He smirked. “Then I’ll break out the crayons and distract her until she falls asleep.” His brows rose when I just smiled at him with tears brimming in my eyes. “Any more questions, Sparky?”
I shook my head. A tear rolled down my cheek and he brushed it away with his thumb.
“Is that a yes?”
“Of course, it’s a yes, you sod.”
I threw my arms around him, practically straddling him in the middle of a very busy music venue. His arms wrapped around me even so. Our friends cheered behind us, but I could only press my face into his neck and breathe him in in a way I’d never been able to before.
Mine.
It almost didn’t compute, but that didn’t stop the giddiness from rippling through me. I clung to him while the tears soaked into his t-shirt and his arms banded around me.
My sister tried to explain how Dan’s return made her feel and I’d never understood it. Now, with Jared holding me tight, something in my chest squeezing hard and happiness filling every pore, I finally got it.
He felt like home.
And I’d never let him go again.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Two weeks later.
I rushed down a crowded Albany Road, dodging swarms of people heading home, shopping or hitting the bars early. Sweat beaded beneath my thick winter coat — so much for the first day of spring — but I couldn’t slow. I promised Jared I’d meet him for soundcheck, had even cleared it with my production manager to work the early shift.
So bloody late.
A last-minute catering disaster and insane traffic were to blame. I wouldn’t let excuses stop me getting there on time though. One glance at my watch put a little extra wind in my sails.Three minutes.
