Chapter Twenty-Four
OAKLEY
“Get out of bed,” Maggie demands, shoving her way into my room.
I shoot her an acidic look from my desk, snapping my journal closed. I’m fucking exhausted, and I have absolutely no energy to deal with my bratty little sister right now, no matter how much I love her. Figuring out how to get Jamie to trust that I know what I want even if he doesn’t think he’s good enough is kind of taking precedence over everything else.
“Magnolia, I’m really not in the?—”
She cuts me off by shoving her phone under my nose. I jerk back, ready to shout at her to leave me the hell alone, when I catch sight of what’s on her screen.
All the blood rushes from my face, and I yank Maggie’s phone out of her hands. If I could think, I’d realize how serious this must be for her to let me take her phone from her.
The camera work is shaky, and the edge of Maggie’s sweater keeps cutting off half the frame, but I can see plenty. I can see Shane’s artfully styled hair and his blinding smile, and then the camera shifts to the person sitting across from him.
Savannah fucking Ward .
I see red, every hope I had of Shane being a good person vanishing in an instant. And then they started talking.
The audio is shitty, but I can hear everything I need to.
“They’ll break up soon. I gave her the documents…Aunt Tammy. That Walker kid…hopeless…he’ll never convince her to stay. Then I just…save the day, she’ll eat it right up.”
“Serves…right. Montgomery Princess deserves it…could’ve saved herself the trouble if…didn’t come between me and her stupid brother.”
My hand clenches into a fist on my desk, anger rising up viciously. It’s bad enough she’d do this to me and Jamie, but thinking about what would’ve happened if I didn’t steer Bo away from her makes me sick.
“All that money…ours soon enough, kiddo…won’t be long before I can propose.”
An angry snort falls from my lips at hearing that. Good fucking luck trapping me in a sham of a marriage. I’m Oakley fucking Montgomery, and no one fucks with me and gets away with it.
“Mags, where did you get this?”
“Penny and I saw them at Ruby’s when we were out shopping,” she says, shrugging carelessly. “Guess they didn’t recognize us with our hoods up.”
God, she’s such a little shit. I can’t help but be proud.
“Can you send that to me?”
My voice is about as shaky as my hands are, but Maggie just snorts and shoots me a knowing look as she takes her phone back.
“Already did, genius,” she says.
There’s a lot less acid in her voice than usual, and her eyes are almost affectionate. She doesn’t pull me into a hug before she leaves, but she does linger in the doorway for a long moment.
“Don’t let that fucker ruin the things you’ve going for you.”
Standing, I rush over to my bed, fumbling on my nightstand for my own phone, as she slips back into the hallway. I’ve had enough of letting anyone ruin things—including myself. I’m not going to worry about the right thing to do this time.
I know what I need to do.
I force myself to focus on pressing the right buttons instead of the feeling of bile starting to burn up my throat. So much for Shane not knowing. I wanted to believe that he wouldn’t use me like that, and to know that he planned to do so much worse makes me sick.
The video is almost two minutes, and it takes forever to send, but it finally shows as delivered. My dad will be shocked, but with such undeniable proof, he’ll have no choice but to believe it. Once he gets over his shock, he’ll be pissed .
David Montgomery is not a man to take a threat to his family lightly.
Swiping over to my text thread with my aunt, I send her the video, too. Shane proved, loud and proud, that he doesn’t deserve any of my sympathy. We’ll see how he likes getting what he earned.
I know it’s a big favor, but can you make sure he doesn’t have a job when he gets back to New York?
I don’t even have to wait for the length of the whole video to get a response.
Oh, Oakie, I’ll make sure of that and more .
I can practically hear the vindictive venom in her voice, and it brings a grin to my face. Good. Let the fucker regret every second of my time that he wasted.
My hands have finally stopped shaking, and there’s only one thought in my head now.
Jamie.
He has to see this, and I have to show him the proof he was right about all of it. Maybe it won’t change anything, but he needs to see it. I grab my phone and a jacket before dashing down the stairs, not bothering to tell anyone where I’m going. This feels like the most important thing I’ve ever done in my life, and I can’t wait a single second longer than I have to.
Jamie’s beat up old truck rolling up the driveway causes me to stop halfway down the porch steps.
The arm in the cast hangs out of the driver’s side window, and I can see the nerves on his face, but he’s trying to be casual. A smile splits my face when he raises his hand in a lazy wave. I should probably be annoyed with him, but something in my heart is telling me to just get in the truck. Somehow, looking at the shy warmth in his eyes, I know everything is going to be just fine.
“Hey,” he says as I walk down the stairs, careful of the snow. “Want to go for a ride?”
I don’t answer him. I stalk straight toward the truck, not hesitating for a second. He looks nervous, and he tries to shift back when I step right up to the window, but I don’t let him. I reach in and wrap my hand around the back of his neck, yanking him forward.
His lips are chilly and chapped against mine, and he stiffens in shock, but I don’t let go. My eyes are still open, and so are his, waiting for each other to do something.
It’s him that moves first, his mouth curving into a smile beneath mine, and he presses closer, taking my lips in a proper kiss. The whole world goes silent as I try desperately to pour a million apologies and explanations into the action. I think he understands, because he tangles his hand in my hair and pulls me closer, desperate. The metal of his truck is cold even through my jacket, but I’m so full of warmth that I can hardly feel it.
“Yeah, let’s go for a ride,” I say when we separate, both of our faces flushed. “I’ve got something to show you before we leave.”
Before he has a chance to really respond, I pull away, feeling more confident than I have in a long time. I finally feel like I know what I’m doing.
I climb into the passenger side, immediately scooting across the bench seat to sit directly beside him. He watches me, confused, as I pull my phone out from my pocket and pull up the video. His attention shifts to my phone when I hold it out and press play.
His face goes sour when he recognizes Shane, and then complete shock overtakes that when the video shows Savannah sitting across from him. He watches it in silence, confusion shifting to surprise shifting to anger as it plays. When it ends, I lock my phone and replace it in my pocket. Nerves are finally starting to crawl up my spine, some of the confidence that filled me as soon as I saw Jamie draining away.
He doesn’t say anything for a long moment, and I can’t tell what’s going on in his head when he finally looks at me.
“Want to go out to the barn?” he asks.
I want to ask a million questions, but I can’t find the words for any of them right now.
“That sounds nice,” I say.
We spent a lot of time at the barn on his property when we were in high school. It was always quiet there at night, and there was no one out there. It made for a perfect spot to hide from our parents when they were particularly annoyed about our relationship.
There are a lot of good memories in that barn.
Jamie starts driving, the roads familiar and dusty, and I sit quietly beside him as the scenery passes by. We’re almost halfway there by the time he says anything.
“I talked to my dad,” he says. “He has a lot of paperwork from Peter Wallace. It looks like the guy was funneling money away in a fake account under my name. I’d be willing to bet he was doing the same to your dad. I can take a look at any paperwork he has if he wants me to.”
I blink in surprise. That’s the last thing I expected him to bring up right now, but I guess it’s important to know.
“I’ll let him know,” I say as we pull onto the narrow access road.
“Did you show that video to your dad?”
“I sent it to him. And to Aunt Kathy,” I say. “She’s going to make sure he gets fired.”
Jamie snorts, glancing over at me with a vindictive grin on his face.
“I think once our dads both get their hands on that video, he’ll be lucky if he doesn’t wind up in jail,” he says.
That’s probably true, now that I think about it. His aunt is a big shot lawyer, but with video proof of conspiracy to commit fraud, I don’t know if there’s any way she’ll get him off. I grin at the thought.
Serves him right.
Jamie pulls up to the back entrance of the barn and parks, then kills the ignition. He sits silently before turning to face me. His eyes are hard and determined, his shoulders set firmly, like he’s bracing himself.
“Oakley,” he says, reaching out to take my hand in his. “I kind of wanted to figure out a whole big speech, but that’s not really my thing. Instead, I’m just going to say what I know is true.”
I squeeze his fingers tightly, both nervous and unshakably certain of the outcome of this. There’s only one way this could ever go, really.
“I love you.” He squeezes my hand back, finally meeting my eyes. “I’ve loved you since I fucking met you. I’ll always love you. I’m never going to think I deserve you, and I’ll never think I’m good enough. So I’m going to ask you to do me a favor, ok?”
I want to promise him the entire world, but all I can do is smile and nod.
“I want you to trust me,” he says. “I want you to trust that I love you, and that it’ll always be you for me, no matter what. If you can do that, I can trust that you’ll pick me every time, even if I don’t think I’m worth it.”
Tears spring to my eyes, and I suck in a shaky breath. This was always the only outcome, but I didn’t think it could ever be this easy.
“I promise.” The words are heavy, and I realize that I’ve never meant anything more. “I trust you, Jamie. I will trust you. I love you.”
The air is suddenly thick between us, and I do the only thing I can think of. I launch myself at him, clambering into his lap as I steal his mouth is a frantic kiss. It’s messy, nothing but desperate kisses and frenzied hands. He half rips my jacket off and yanks at my shirt, shoving it up over my breasts and immediately dropping his head to dig his teeth into my skin. His hands grip my hips hard enough to bruise, and I moan, tossing my head back in pleasure.
I jerk at his belt until it unbuckles, ignoring the sound of one of his belt loops tearing. Having him inside me is more important than anything else.
He seems to be of the same mind, groaning against my skin and grinding his hips up. He presses me back against the steering wheel, and I’ve never been more grateful that his horn doesn’t work. Even with one arm in a cast, he makes quick work of my sweats, yanking them halfway down my thighs as he mouths at my nipple.
I can hardly form a coherent thought, overwhelmed and straining for any contact. The air is chilly against my bare cunt, and I can’t wait a single second longer.
As soon as he manages to free his cock, I push him back, taking hold and guiding the head to my entrance. A shiver wracks his frame, and he watches me with dark, hungry eyes. They go lidded when I take the first few inches, and my whole body shakes at the initial stretch.
The angle is awkward, and I can hardly spread my legs enough to get a good rhythm going, but it still feels so good I can hardly breathe. I collapse forward against his chest, my lips going straight to his neck. He moans as I work a mark into his throat, sucking and biting as I ride him sloppily.
“Fuck, Oakley,” he murmurs, wrapping his good arm around my waist to help me as we both approach our end. “Fuck, I love you. I love you so much, baby.”
“I love you,” I gasp, tossing my head back when he hits a spot that makes me see stars. “Fuck, right there, Jamie. God, I love you.”
I press my forehead against his as he hammers into that spot, watching pleasure wash over his face, and when he pulls me in for another kiss, I shatter.
He falls over the edge with me, holding my shaking body as I ride him through my orgasm. His moans echo in the truck, even though he muffles them into my shoulder, and I laugh breathlessly, my entire body buzzing with pleasure.
“I fucking love you,” I whisper, pulling his head up so I can kiss him.
“I fucking love you, too,” he answers me with a grin.
Yeah, this is the only way my life will ever feel right. With Jamie Walker at my side.