Chapter 12 Jack
Chapter twelve
Jack
I lose track of time after Autumn drives away. The farm feels hollow, echoing with everything I didn’t say. I keep replaying our goodbye, seeing the hope and heartbreak in her eyes, the silent plea I didn’t answer.
I duck inside to grab my coat, when I run into Mia in the mudroom. She’s still in her pajamas, hair pulled into a wild bun, but her eyes are sharp and red-rimmed.
She blocks the door. “Going somewhere?” she asks, arms crossed, voice edged with challenge.
I falter, trying to sound casual. “I need to go home. Have to get ready for work tomorrow.”
She snorts, shaking her head.
I open my mouth to argue, but she holds up a finger. “No. Let me talk. Because you two are driving everyone crazy, and I’m not letting you ruin a perfect love story just because you’re both stubborn.”
I blink, surprised by the force of her words. “Mia—”
She pushes on, fierce now. “You want to know what Autumn said to me this morning? She said she wanted you to ask her to stay. She wanted to be chosen. My sister has always been the brave one, but even she can’t take that leap every time.
She wants someone to meet her halfway. To say, ‘I want you, too. I choose you.’ She was waiting for you, Jack. ”
My chest feels tight, raw. “I wanted to, I was going to, but I don’t want to trap her. She has dreams, Mia. She’s bigger than this town. What if I held her back?”
Mia softens, stepping closer. “You don’t get it. Autumn isn’t looking for someone to clip her wings. She’s looking for someone who’ll fly with her. She wants a partner, not a cage. She wants to build something with you, Jack. Don’t you see? She loves you. She’s scared, but she loves you.”
She sighs, shaking her head with a small, sad smile. “You’re both idiots, honestly. But that’s why you fit.”
I run a hand through my hair, heart pounding. “I don’t know what to say. I don’t know if it’s enough.”
Mia fixes me with a look that could stop traffic. “You go after her. You say everything. You make it messy. You don’t wait until it’s too late.”
She shoves my keys into my hands, stepping aside. “Go. And if you hurt her more, I swear to God, you’ll have the whole Murphy clan to answer to.”
I grin, hope rising in my chest, all the fear falling away. “Thanks, Mia. I mean it.”
She winks, wiping her eyes. “Go get your girl, Jack. Don’t mess this up.”
I get in my truck and head for the city. She only left an hour or so ago, so I won’t be that far behind her.
I reach Autumn’s building in record time. My heart pounds with every step up those stairs, hope and fear tangled together.
I knock, and when the door opens, the rest of the world disappears. She stands there in pajama pants and a college hoodie, her hair tangled from running fingers through it, eyes rimmed red from crying. I see surprise, hope, and pain all at once.
“Jack?” Her voice breaks on my name.
I step in, closing the distance in three strides, cupping her face in my hands. “I’m sorry,” I rasp. “I’m so sorry. I should have said it a hundred times. I love you, Autumn. I love you.”
She blinks, tears streaming, hands fisting in my coat. “You love me?”
“I love you,” I say, firmer this time. “I love how brave you are, how stubborn, how wild. I love your laugh, your messy hair in the morning. I want all of it, every day. Please come home with me. Or let me be home with you. I don’t care where we are, as long as we’re together. Just say yes. Please, Autumn, say yes.”
She sobs and laughs, tugging me closer, her lips finding mine. The kiss is desperate, salty with tears, sweet with relief. She breaks away just enough to look at me, her hands trembling as she frames my face.
“I love you,” she whispers fiercely. “I tried not to, but I do.”
“I’ll always come for you,” I vow, brushing away her tears with my thumbs. “Always.”
“Yes,” she breathes. “Yes. Take me home and don’t ever let go.”
I kiss her again, my fingers threading through her hair. She clings to me like she’s drowning and I’m the only thing keeping her afloat. We stumble inside, kicking the door shut, the world shrinking to this apartment and the electricity humming between our bodies.
We break apart, breathless, forehead to forehead. “Say it again,” she pleads, voice trembling.
“I love you,” I whisper, peppering her cheeks, nose, eyelids with kisses. “I love you, Autumn. God, I love you.”
She pushes my coat off my shoulders, fingers scrambling for my shirt, tugging it up and over my head. My hands are everywhere—her waist, her back, under her hoodie, skin hot and soft beneath my palms.
She gasps as I press her against the wall, my lips tracing her jaw, her neck, the place that makes her shiver.
I slip my hands under her hoodie, up over her ribs, palming her breasts through the thin tank top.
Her nipples pebble instantly, and I roll them between my fingers, loving the way she arches against me, desperate for more.
“Jack, please,” she moans, her voice wrecked. “Touch me. I need you.”
I yank her hoodie over her head and toss it aside, then slide her tank top up, exposing her to the cool air and my greedy hands. I bend, sucking one nipple into my mouth, swirling my tongue around the tip, nipping and licking until she’s shaking.
She claws at my belt, yanking my jeans open, pushing her hand down to stroke me through my boxers. I groan, hips jerking, the ache of missing her slamming into me all at once.
“Bed,” she pants, tugging at my hand. “Now.”
We half-run, half-stumble to her bedroom, kissing and laughing and shedding clothes as we go—her pants, my jeans, her panties, my boxers.
When we’re finally skin to skin, I slow down, letting myself look at her.
She’s beautiful, flushed, eyes dark with hunger, lips parted as she tries to catch her breath.
“I missed you,” I murmur, sinking to my knees, hands gripping her hips. I kiss a path up her thigh, licking and nipping, teasing her with my mouth until she’s whimpering, her hands buried in my hair.
I spread her legs and taste her, slow at first, then faster, circling her clit with my tongue, dipping inside her with my fingers, licking her until she’s thrashing, pleading, coming hard with my name on her lips.
She pulls me up, dragging me into a kiss, tasting herself on my tongue, grinding against me.
I flip her gently, pinning her wrists above her head, staring down at her, our eyes locked. “I need you. I need to be inside you. I need to make you mine.”
She nods, wild and breathless. “Do it. Now.”
I line up, sliding inside her inch by inch, groaning at the heat, the slick welcome of her body gripping me. We move together, finding the rhythm that’s uniquely ours.
“I love you,” she whispers over and over, voice breaking on every thrust.
“I love you,” I groan, mouth on her neck, her breast, her lips.
She shatters around me, moaning my name, and I follow, letting go completely, pouring every fear and hope and longing into her.
Afterward, we lie tangled in sweat-soaked sheets, her head on my chest, my fingers stroking her spine. I kiss her hair, her cheek, her temple.
We hold each other, letting the world fall away, every inch of distance between us finally gone.