Chapter 55
FIFTY-FIVE
JUDE
“I still can’t believe this is happening,” Charlotte whispers with her cheek pressed to my chest.
My fingers run through the long, blonde strands of her hair as we lie in bed together. “What can’t you believe?”
“That you love me. That I got the nerve to tell you I love you.” She turns so her chin rests against my chest, and her big eyes focus on me. “Just…all of it. It feels too perfect to be real.”
I smile because she’s saying exactly what I’ve been thinking. It’s been an hour since we got cleaned up after having sex. It’s been nice to not be in a hurry after; to just lie in bed, saying everything out loud that we’ve been too afraid to say until now. “It is perfect, but it’s also real.”
Charlotte gives me a wide smile as she shakes her head in disbelief. “My family is going to lose it when I tell them about us. My sister Hailey has been telling me to hook up with you for months.”
I can’t help but laugh at her comment. For some reason, it feels good that she’s been talking to her family about me. Pride blooms in my chest that I was important enough to Charlotte for her to tell them about me. “Has she? I can’t wait to meet her, then. I can’t wait to meet all of them.”
“You’d want that?” she asks, her eyes lighting up. She watches me closely, almost as if she can’t believe I’d want to meet her family.
I continue to run my fingers through her hair as I look into her eyes. “Of course. I’d love to see where you come from. I can’t wait to tell them about how amazing a daughter and a sister they have, and to let them know how wildly in love with you I am.”
She playfully rolls her eyes. “My mom’s going to be obsessed with you.” Her nose scrunches as her lips turn into a smile. “Actually, she might already be.”
I can’t help but return her smile. “Moms always love me.”
Charlotte lets out a dramatic groan. “Well, I can’t say the same about your mom. I’m scared she might hate me. What’s she going to think when we tell her we’re together?”
I shrug. “I love my mom, but she doesn’t get a say in my life.” I make sure to keep my voice calm and composed, wanting her to know that I mean every word that leaves my mouth.
Charlotte watches me closely. Her blue gaze rakes over my face as if she’s trying to find any indication that I’m just telling her what she wants to hear. “But she’s your mom; I know you care about what she thinks. What if she thinks we’re rushing into things or that this isn’t real?”
I shake my head and use the hand not in her hair to hold the side of her face. “Do you feel like this isn’t real or that we’re rushing into things?”
She doesn’t answer at first, but eventually, she shakes her head. “No.”
“Good. I don’t think so either. I think the timing for everything has worked out just the way it was supposed to.”
Her bottom lip juts out slightly, and a tiny crease appears between her eyebrows. “But I still want your mom to like me.” Her words come out a little shaky, and it feels like a punch to the gut.
“She will. I think she already does,” I assure her.
“From what you’ve told me, she didn’t care about just my heart, but yours too.
I think she thought she was doing what was best for everyone.
I’ll have to talk with her about staying out of it next time, but it worked out in the end.
We were both finally able to say how we feel without the fear of being hurt, and that’s all that matters in the end. ”
I wish my mom had talked things over with me before going straight to Charlotte, but I know she thought she was doing the right thing by intervening.
If she hadn’t brought up her concerns to Charlotte, I’m not sure we’d be in this place now.
As much as I hated Charlotte leaving the way that she did, now in hindsight, I think it was good for both of us to have a few days apart.
After not seeing each other for a few days, we were able to see each other again and both be open and honest about how we were feeling.
Charlotte stares at me, the hint of a smile on her lips.
My heart squeezes because she’s just so damn beautiful.
“What?” I ask.
Her smile grows, and she attempts to hide it by pulling her bottom lip between her teeth. “Nothing.”
“Tell me.”
“I just hope you’re right. I love you. I know you’re close with your parents, and I just can’t help but be worried that it’ll take some time for your mom to warm up to the idea of me…to the idea of us.”
“I promise I’ll talk to her, but I also don’t want you worrying about her. We both know how we feel. No one else has to understand it but us.”
Charlotte gives me a smile before laying her head back down on my chest. She doesn’t argue, which I hope means she’s satisfied with my answer for the time being.
Warmth spreads throughout my entire body to have her body pressed against mine.
I can’t wait for countless more nights spent just like this.
The two of us in bed, talking about anything and everything.
“I miss Ava,” Charlotte announces, pulling me from my thoughts.
I can’t help but smile because I love how much Charlotte cares for Ava. It means the world to me how much she loves my daughter. “I miss her too. Think we should go pick her up in the middle of the night?”
This makes Charlotte laugh against my chest. “I’m trying to get on your mom’s good side.”
I play with her hair before pressing a kiss to her forehead.
“You already are, trust me. Even when you were gone, she spoke highly of you. She wouldn’t tell me anything happened between the two of you.
She played coy about that. But she did compliment you countless times. I promise everything will be fine.”
“If you say so,” Charlotte responds before letting out a long sigh.
We lie in silence for I don’t know how long. I run my fingers through her hair while she absentmindedly traces circles on my bare chest. I didn’t know happiness like this even existed, but something as simple as lying in bed with her has made me feel a bliss I can’t even put into words.
Part of me is nervous I might wake up and find out all of this is just a dream. I have to remind myself it’s real. She’s here. She loves me. She’s in my arms, and we’re going to figure things out together.
I don’t want to rush things, but there is one more thing I want to talk about with Charlotte. The only thing that’d make this better is having the chance to put a label on the woman that I love.
I clear my throat, nervous to say my next words but choosing to say them anyway. “Tomorrow at the Pembroke party, I’m excited you’ll be my date, but I’d also love to tell everyone in attendance that you’re my girlfriend.”
Charlotte spins to her stomach and looks at me with an excited spark in her eyes. Her mouth hangs open for a moment as she stares at me in disbelief. “Jude, is this you officially asking me to be your girlfriend?”
The excitement in her voice makes my heart soar. “Only if you say yes.”
“Have you ever even had a girlfriend?”
I give her a smirk. “Not really. I haven’t cared about someone enough before to make them mine. You’re my first…and my last.”
Her lips dance with the hint of a smile. The moonlight filtering through my bedroom windows illuminates the blues of her eyes, creating an almost twinkle in them as she stares at me. “God, why do you have to be so good with your words?”
“I’m just telling the truth. You’re it for me, Char. And if you want to wait to put a label on this, then that’s fine…I’ll wait. But I love you, and there’s nothing I’d love more than to show up at Pembroke tomorrow telling everyone you’re my girlfriend.”
The sides of her eyes crinkle as her smile grows. “I’d be honored to be your girlfriend, Jude Kensington.”
I pull her face to mine, my lips hovering over hers. “No, sweetheart, the honor is all mine.”
She closes the small distance between our mouths. Our lips connect in a kiss that is tender and tugs at my heartstrings.
Eventually, we pull away, but I keep my fingers tangled in her hair as our gazes meet once again. “So is that a yes?” I ask, my heart hammering in my chest at the question. I know she’s pretty much already said yes, but I need to hear the words to make sure I got it right the first time.
Charlotte nods. “Of course it’s a yes.”
My mouth slams against hers as happiness takes over my entire body. I woke up this morning worried about what the future held for Charlotte and me, and now I’m ending the night with her as my girlfriend.
I don’t know how long we stay that way, but I love that nothing is rushed, and we kiss as if we have all the time in the world. In a way, we do. There’s no fear of what happens in the morning, and there are no barriers between us. It’s perfect.