CHAPTER 25
REESE
She pushed the words out in such a hurry that she hadn’t even stopped to consider that this was far from the way she’d imagined this scene playing out in her head.
Jette’s lips parted in surprise and the sight tugged at her heart.
Reese’s mind was racing as the pub around them seemed to roar, but Jette remained frozen.
Her dark brown eyes were carefully searching Reese’s face, looking for reasons to trust her.
Reese was still reeling from the admission and she felt her words jumble together clumsily.
“I know how crazy that sounds,” she confessed.
“It’s—” she cut herself off. “Actually no,” Reese began suddenly, only pausing when Jette merely blinked at her in shock.
Her thoughts seemed to buzz noisily in her own ears.
“I take that back. I don’t think it’s that crazy.
I really don’t.” Well, all bets were off now.
Again, Jette could only sit in silence as Reese ran through the feelings that had weighed on her shoulders for the last month—months, if she was honest. “I can’t stop thinking about you.
I don’t think I’ve stopped thinking about you since we met, if I’m telling the truth.
” The weight left her shoulders the moment the words left her lips.
But it quickly slid and settled in her stomach the longer that Jette sat in silence across from her.
After an agonizing minute—or hour, Reese really couldn’t be sure—Jette took the final sip of her drink and gave her another long look.
Reese forced her shoulders to loosen, trying to give the appearance of being calm, cool, and collected when she really felt like she was coming apart at the seams. “You could’ve texted. Or called,” Jette said quietly.
Reese nodded, feeling the lump in her throat steadily solidify.
“I could’ve,” she agreed. She must’ve texted out a hundred different texts to Jette only to delete them before sending.
“But you deserve better than that.” An emotion flashed across Jette’s face so fast, but it was gone before Reese could even guess at what it was.
Reese desperately looked her in the eyes, taking in every tiny detail of her face.
Her eyeliner was almost entirely gone after being smudged and wiped away and her hair hung in messy uneven curls from the show.
Even disheveled and frustrated, she was heartbreakingly beautiful.
The shaking feeling in Reese’s chest grew the longer she waited.
“I don’t know what to say,” she stated. “I told you how I feel. I don’t want to keep doing this. I don’t want to keep sneaking around.” Jette’s shoulders twitched and Reese hated the way her chest heaved in response.
“I don’t want to sneak around,” Reese confessed.
“I ended things with Kiran.” Jette’s expression shifted from shock to confusion.
Reese took another deep breath. She’d reached the end of the game and it was time to lay all her cards on the table.
Win or lose, she needed to be honest. “I needed to take the time to get my own shit straight and I had to do that on my own. And for the record, it fucking sucked,” she said.
“But you were right, I needed to do it on my own. And I didn’t want to see you until I could show you that I’m serious.
But I am, Jette,” she let out a single nervous laugh.
“I am so damn serious, it’s not even funny.
” Jette’s lips twitched slightly and Reese had seen that expression enough times to know she was fighting the tiniest smile.
“What about what you said in Vegas? You and Kiran have been together for years. I mean, you guys live together and everything,” Jette began.
“We did,” Reese said with a nod. “But it’s over.
I moved out. I’m done,” she pressed on. The truth was spilling out of her for the first time.
“It’d been over for a while. My…” her voice trailed off as their eyes met.
“My heart wasn’t in it. I thought it was but after this, after meeting you, I don’t know if my heart was ever truly in it.
Because I’ve never felt—” Reese paused and let her hands rest in her lap.
If she was already making a fool of herself, she might as well go all the way.
“I’ve never felt so seen, or so understood, or so cared for since I met you.
I thought I had everything I wanted and now I can’t believe I ever thought I was happy before.
” She cut herself off before she had the chance to really embarrass herself by saying the rest of the words tangling on her tongue.
That was it. Everything she’d been bottling up for weeks sat between them like a stone.
A soft smile ghosted across Jette’s face and a jolt of electricity shot down Reese’s spine.
She slowly exhaled upon realizing she’d been inadvertently holding her breath.
Reese reached for her water, trying to stop herself from rambling on.
She waited for Jette to say something back.
To give her another chance, or break her heart, or something painfully in between.
She swallowed her last sip in silence as Jette mimed something to the waiter.
“I don’t want to rush you,” she teased, trying to keep things lighthearted.
“And I understand the irony of me saying this to you. Especially after, well,” she swallowed thickly.
“But this would be a great time for you to say something,” she flashed a tentative grin, hoping Jette would do the same.
“Do you want to take a walk with me?” Jette asked pleasantly.
She said it as though it were the most natural thing to say at this moment while Reese’s head spun.
Reese stuttered and nodded incredulously.
Jette murmured her appreciation and signed the paper check between them with a flourish.
Sliding out of her seat, she tossed the black backpack over her shoulder before extending a hand to Reese who willingly accepted.
Her skin tingled when their fingers touched.
The streets were dark and lively as they walked down the sidewalk and Reese was starting to feel like she had missed some crucial piece of information.
It had to have been minutes before Jette finally spoke again.
“How would this work exactly?” she asked quietly.
It wasn’t until that moment that she heard how conflicted Jette’s voice sounded.
“I don’t want to quit touring,” she continued.
Reese’s heart jumped into her throat. Nothing had been said outright but it felt closer to something she wanted to hear.
“I would never ask you to quit touring,” Reese turned to face her. She gave a reassuring smile. “I love that you have a job you’re passionate about. It’s hot,” she grinned as a flush of pink crossed Jette’s cheeks.
“I’m gonna have to be away a lot,” Jette pressed.
“Like months at a time.” Reese nodded understandingly and Jette inched closer as their eyes met.
Her heart was pounding in her chest as they waited on the corner.
Holy shit. Jette was talking like she was considering it.
“And I don’t know what’s going to happen with LA or any of it.
I mean, I still might have to move,” she began to ramble.
Reese cut her off with a smile. “We’ll figure it out, J.
” She took a risk and shifted a half step closer, never taking her eyes off Jette.
Jette just barely grazed her fingers against Reese’s hand and Reese felt like she was levitating over the concrete.
“Does that mean,” she paused again, their faces just inches apart now.
Jette looked at her through long lashes and nodded, her eyes softening as they swayed closer.
“Does that mean you, um—” Her whispered tone cut off sharply and Reese barely had time to register Jette’s hands on her jaw before their lips touched.
She instinctively wrapped her arms around her waist and knew it wasn’t just the cool leather giving her full body chills.
Jette tangled her tattooed hands in Reese’s red curls and kissed her deeply.
Reese felt lightheaded but couldn’t be bothered to pull away to catch her breath. Nothing would pull her away.
Jette murmured against her lips. “I fell for you a long time ago,” she admitted with a smirk and a quiet laugh that made Reese’s stomach flutter.
She pressed another slow kiss to Reese’s lips, like she still couldn’t believe it was real.
“I think I was just waiting for you to catch up,” she added playfully.
Reese’s heart pounded so hard in her chest that she was positive Jette could feel it through her clothes.
Reese let out a giggle against her lips. God, she was never going to get tired of kissing her. “Well then, I’m sorry I kept you waiting.” Her words had a teasing lilt to them but it felt more sincere than anything.
Jette pulled on her waist with one hand and cupped her jaw with the other.
She kissed the corners of Reese’s lips before trailing across her jaw and cheeks.
Her dark eyes gleamed under the streetlights and she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth for the briefest moment.
Reese’s stomach swooped unbelievably low as they stood wrapped around each other.
Her silky voice dropped into a devastatingly sexy tone that Reese felt in her chest. “Took you long enough,” she whispered and a warmth flooded Reese’s body as their lips met again.