Chapter 13
JENSEN
Morgan pulls away from Lainey and faces me, giving me a look of warning. I didn’t even know they knew one another, let alone were close enough for Morgan to warn me with a glare, as if she has a closer friendship with Lain than I do.
I nod to her, my lips pressed together. She has no idea how far back Lainey and I go. I would never hurt her, no matter the issues between us.
Morgan walks past me, probably heading back to the table, but I don’t watch her leave. My gaze is locked on to Lainey as she takes a deep breath and turns around to face me, craning her neck back to meet my stare.
Her eyes are bloodshot, like she’s been crying.
My heart aches, and I act without thought, cupping her face and stroking her cheeks.
Baby, don’t cry.
It doesn’t matter what the state of our relationship is; I’ll kill whoever created these tears—and if my suspicions of who caused this are correct, I’ll even have fun with it.
Leaning down so she can hear me better, I calmly murmur, my jaw clicking with reserved anger, “Tell me what he did.”
She laughs, the kind that’s humorless and pained, her eyes turning upward.
Gently, she wraps her hands around my wrists, and I expect her to shove me away, but she doesn’t, and my heart does backflips in my chest as her delicate fingers tenderly squeeze me.
Without a word, she shakes her head, not wanting to tell me, probably because she knows I’d actually break his leg this time around.
But then she parts her lips and says three words that I’ve been waiting years to hear. “We broke up.”
I want to pretend that I’m sad, but the truth is that this has been long overdue. Even if nothing ever happens between us, I’m glad that she’s at least getting rid of him.
She doesn’t say anything, and all of the things I want to say aren’t going to make her feel better about the situation; they’d only add complications. This is her game; I’m just trying to read her and act accordingly.
She wets her lips. “I’m sorry.”
I scoff, my face scrunching up in confusion that her first thought after what she just went through is to say sorry to me. “What? Don’t apologize to me for anything.”
She relaxes into my hold, tilting her head back further. “But I need to. You were right about him. I just really wanted you to be wrong.” Her voice cracks, and my heart breaks.
I cradle the back of her head with one hand, pull her into my chest, and brush up and down her back with the other, melting my body around hers. “It’s okay, Lain. It’s okay.”
For a split second, time seems to stand still; she’s frozen in my embrace, like she doesn’t know whether to lean into it or push me away.
But then, suddenly, the skies part, and a beam of sunshine warms me to the core because she wraps her arms around my waist and hugs me tightly like her life depends on it.
At every crossroads, she has pushed me away and run in the opposite direction, but this time … she’s choosing to stay.
My eyes burn, tears pooling, as a wave of pear and fresh-cut flowers of her scent invade my nose. That same sweet aroma she’s always had. I don’t know if it’s her perfume or if it’s just Lainey.
Fuck, I missed it. I missed this. When I have her this close to me, wrapped in my arms, the world doesn’t seem so scary.
My eyes slam shut, and my surroundings fade away, a tear rolling down my cheek. A frog grows in my throat as my hands slide down her back, and I envelop her completely.
I needed this, more than I even realized. I can’t even remember the last time I hugged someone this tightly. Honestly, my last one was probably with Lainey. But since she left me, I’ve kept everyone at an arm’s length for the most part.
Aside from my teammates, but even they only know so much about who I am. I don’t talk about my past or about anything beneath the surface with them; it’s always been easier, keeping everything inside.
Slowly, she backs away, and painstakingly, I let her.
She avoids my stare, but when her blue eyes drift up to mine, she sucks in a quick breath. “Are you crying?”
“No,” I say forcefully, fighting back my smile.
Her eyes widen, and she gasps. “You are! Jensennn.” She drags my name out playfully and throws her arms back around me. “Now I feel even worse.”
Gently grabbing her shoulders, I guide her far enough away to see a tear roll down her cheek. I wipe it away, cupping her face and continuing to brush her cheeks with my thumbs.
“Stop. I know you didn’t want to believe me. I know why you pushed me away. I get it, Lain. I do. Forget about that asshole.” I sigh. “What do you need right now? How can I help? Besides pumping you full of booze.”
She giggles and sighs dramatically, clearly going through a roller coaster of emotions.
Staying quiet, I can see the wheels turning in her mind.
“I don’t know.”
“Hey, that’s okay,” I assure her. “Do you want to go back to the group?”
She glances over to the roped-off area, and her jaw tightens in my hands. “Did you know her before tonight?” She bites down on her bottom lip like she didn’t mean for that question to escape.
I think those shots are hitting her harder than she anticipated.
I bite back my smile. “Who? AJ?”
Her eyes find mine again, a fire burning deep in those pretty blue orbs. “Yeah, AJ.”
I drift forward, and the warmth of her breath hits my chin. It takes far more willpower than I’d like to admit to not close the distance between us completely.
Her eyes fall to my lips as I murmur, “So, you were jealous.”
She glares at me and jabs her finger into my chest. “Oh, I was so not jealous.”
Lowering my thumb on the next swipe, I brush the edge of her lips, and she sharply inhales, her head tipping back and chest rising. She wants this. She feels this as deeply as I do.
Her gaze meets mine, her breathing quick and shallow. Fuck, it is taking everything in me not to claim those lips that I’ve dreamed about for the last thirteen years.
But when that happens, it’s not going to be in a bar, when we’re surrounded by drunk idiots. It’s going to be perfect, and it’s going to be private—because once we start, there’s no stopping, and there’s absolutely no going back.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to admit it; I know you were jealous. The same way I’ve been jealous of Cole for the last few years.”
Her eyes widen, like she’s in shock that I said that out loud. “Jensen.”
I hold her lips closed with the pad of my thumb. “I know.” I pause, taking a quick inhale. “I’m not going to kiss you. I’m not going to make a move. Especially not the minute after your breakup.”
She chuckles, still clearly not fully accepting what just happened, and that’s okay. They’ve been together for a long time, and it’s going to take a little while to sink in. And I’ll be here every step of the way.
“Do you want to talk about it?” I ask her, and she shakes her head aggressively before I can even finish my question. “Okay, so what’s the plan then?”
She pouts, throwing her head back. “You decide. I don’t want to have to make a decision right now.”
An idea pops into my head, and I can’t even fight the smile from taking over my face. “Do you have all of your stuff?”
She lifts her purse, double-checking, and she drops her phone inside of it. “Yeah. Why?”
“You want me to make the decisions, right?” I ask.
She squints, wanting to challenge me even though this was her idea. It must be hard for her to not always be so difficult. I laugh to myself at the thought.
She nods begrudgingly.
“Then do as I say and don’t ask any more questions.”
“But—”
I cut her off, grabbing her hand and spinning on my heel. “Come on.”
“I don’t want to go back over there,” she shouts at me as I pull us toward the group.
Stopping outside the roped-off section, I ask our security guy, Adrian, “Can you watch her for a second?”
“Jensen!” Lainey shouts sharply, and I turn around, giving her my attention as she crosses her arms.
“You’re not going to have to go back in there. Stay out here with him. I’m just telling Luca that I’m taking you home.”
“We’re going home?” she asks, her face and shoulders drooping.
I wink at her. “No, we’re doing an old-fashioned Lainey-Jensen cheer-up.”
Her eyes light up as she remembers what I’m talking about—what we used to do together when either of us was in a bad funk. She rocks back on her heels, not a protesting word to say. Perfect.
When I walk over to Luca and AJ, who I knew would hit it off tonight, they greet me with smiles. AJ actually works here as a bartender, but got off just before Lainey arrived.
Thanks to her agreeing to flirt with me, I got Lainey to admit she was jealous. That reminds me that I need to get AJ those game tickets she wanted as payment.
It might have been a little toxic, I admit, but seeing the anger in Lainey’s eyes at the thought of another girl all over me was worth it. Although it seems rather futile now that she and Cole broke up, and we’re the ones spending the night together.
“Hey, man. How’s she doing? Cam told me that she finally broke it off with Cole.” Luca sits up taller, and I swear these guys gossip worse than girls some days.
“Thank fucking God. Yeah, she did. She’s doing okay—might be a little bit in denial. But I’m just letting you know I’m taking her home. Are you still crashing at her place? You can always stay at mine, too, if you need.”
He side-eyes AJ, who’s smirking knowingly at him. “Nah, man. I think I’m good. But thank you.” He rises from his chair. “I’ll walk you guys out.”
Luca follows me back to where Lainey is now chatting it up with Adrian, who seems uninterested but is entertaining her nonetheless.
Luca and Lainey talk back and forth as I lead the way to the front door, cutting a path through the crowd.
“God, that feels nice,” I exhale, stepping outside into the cool night air.
“I love you,” Lainey mutters to Luca, who pulls her in for a hug.