Chapter Twenty-Seven #2
I settle in as well, allowing our legs to touch and melt together like they were meant to. Jace lifts the end of the yellow candy box, and a memory resurfaces. “Your sister. Those were her favorites.”
A soft quiet settles between us, but I remember his sweet nickname for Mina. It stuck out, but I hadn’t recalled it until now.
“They were,” he replies. “Now, I always eat them during the holidays. It helps me remember her. Odd, I know.”
“Not odd at all.”
Jace pops a few more of the hard-shelled candies into his mouth. Then he extends his hand toward me, palm face up. Glorious sparks flood my skin as I slide my own palm across his and interlace our fingers.
The lights in the space go completely dark, and I’m riveted by the screen as it begins to play the classical Christmas tale.
It’s a heady feeling to watch one of your favorite movies with someone you care about.
We’ve shared so much this holiday season, and now this—being here, watching this film together—feels more intimate than most things.
It’s when Jimmy is busy talking to Donna (aka Mary) and telling her that he’d lasso the moon for her that Jace shifts again. He hasn’t touched his popcorn yet, intent on catching every word on the screen. But now he turns to me, and Jace and I make eye contact, finding each other in the darkness.
“Ivy,” he whispers into the staticky space, his breath moving the tiny particles of dust dancing from the light of the machine, finding my ear over the humming of the projector just above us.
He reaches inside his jacket and pulls out a piece of paper, handing it to me and nodding encouragement for me to open it.
When I do, I find the words, lit by the white glow of the screen: I’d lasso the moon for you—J.
He planned this. His nervous energy and the way he hasn’t been snacking make sense. And in the iconic words that bear repeating, I lean close to whisper in his ear. “I’ll take it.”
The flash of his grin causes moonbeams to shoot through my skin, and I finally understand this scene of It’s a Wonderful Life, especially when Jace’s muscular arm lifts to wrap around my shoulders and pull me closer to him.
There’s an old wooden divider between us, part of the charm of this place, but it gives me leverage, my elbow resting on it as I lean my head closer to his chest.
Near the end, when Clarence gets his wings and the entire theater is wiping away tears, I catch Jace digging the heel of his hand into one of his eyes.
He’s such a glorious gentleman. Green flags are waving all over by the fact that this movie still gets to him, even though he mentioned that he watches it every year.
Just as slowly as they arrived, people shuffle out of the theater, filling the aisles. We wait, blessed to have people in our row go their separate ways quickly, giving us more time together in the quiet space. It’s nearly midnight now, almost officially Christmas Day.
“Merry Christmas, Jace.”
“Merry Christmas, Starlight.” He leans his forehead down to meet mine.
I smile. “I’m so glad you were here for this,” I confess. “Do you think . . . if you could do it over, you would?”
He leans back to look at me then focuses again on the still-humming screen.
It’s not playing anything, but it hasn’t been turned off either.
People are still filtering out, and I wave to my parents and Gram as they point to the lobby.
I nod. Considering I’m walking home with them tonight—since I always stay over with them on Christmas Eve—they’re my figurative ride home. Jace turns his attention back to me.
“I wish we could have had all of it, the chance back then to create a future together. But I could never imagine a life without Emmy. So, I think I’m grateful for everything that’s happened this time around.
” I nod as he continues. “Ivy, we’ve confessed a lot to each other over the past few weeks.
You’ve somehow been mending my heart like it’s your superpower.
” He pauses and ruffles a hand through his hair before letting it drop back on his thigh.
“I just want you to know that even if it didn’t seem like it, you’ve always held a part of me.
But now, I want you to hold all of me. Are you . . . are you ready for that?”
I’m almost expecting it this time. A chime carries into the theater from the lobby, and I smile again, his words warming me from the inside. Reaching up, I turn his face toward me, wanting him to hear and see my response fully. “Bear, I’m more than ready. And I want you to have all of me too.”
He sniffs, tears brimming on the edges of his whiskey-colored eyes, their radiance dim in the sconces surrounding us. “And Emmy?” he asks.
“Will never have to worry if she’s loved.”
He nods once, his arms completely enveloping me, his dark curls caressing my skin, his face buried in the curve of my neck.
I feel his tears and the relief in his very bones.
The urge to feel his hair between my hands comes over me.
I need him to understand the sensory experience of being fully held, the thought consuming me.
Shifting and sliding my hands along his limbs, I embrace him.
A sigh escapes Jace as he cries quietly, a deep inhale echoing through his lungs as his emotions release, my fingers meeting his scalp.
He leans down and places a tentative kiss on my lips.
His large hand presses into the space between my shoulder blades.
I feel his smile before his kiss moves from the familiar patterns I’ve grown accustomed to, the feeling and taste of his lips something long ago imprinted upon my soul.
His touch shifts to the fiery, a level of gentle care shifting the energy from what’s been to what could be.
His hand feels like a hot stone pressed against my skin, warming my neck and tethering me to him, his five o’clock shadow now brushing tiny sparks around my mouth.
Our breath mingles until I can hardly take a full breath.
We pull apart just enough to look into each other’s eyes.
“Starlight, once you asked me what I wanted to be known for,” Jace murmurs.
The theater has gone quiet, most of the moviegoers having departed, some lingering in the lobby before they wander home.
A few workers have started to clean up, and while the moment could be anything but romantic, the fact that he isn’t rushing through it only makes him even more attractive to me.
“And?” I encourage softly.
Jace’s voice is steady. “I want to be known for loving you. I think I always have.”