Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
JETT
I shouldn’t have been surprised when Ruby showed up, knocking on my door.
What had shocked me was that it had taken her until almost noon to do it.
There she stood as I opened the door, with a worried look on her face, holding up a bag of food from our favorite diner. It was the place where she and my brother-in-law first had dinner, sparking their relationship; my sister claims it was the night she found her knight in shining armor.
Their marriage was one every couple should strive for. In fact, all their friends had amazing partnerships too, including Mabel and Leo, who owned the restaurant that had my stomach growling as the delicious aroma seeped from the brown paper bag my sister had clutched in her hand.
Suddenly, the food hit the ground, and I was wrapped in my sister’s crushing hug as her tears soaked my T-shirt.
I did this to her.
Another layer was added to the already mountain-high pile of guilt building inside me, waiting to crush me until there was no way to emerge.
My sister had been my rock, along with Gramps, and Grams too, for a short time.
The day my mother dumped me on their doorstep, they pulled me into their home and their love with open arms. I’d been confused as a child, a bit angry as a teenager, but even after Grandma passed away, Ruby and Gramps took care of me.
Still, it was someone else that really changed it all for me.
Patience.
The pretty girl had needed me, and in return I’d needed her. Our support for one another even so young, was unwavering. We shared everything, including music.
But I was even more damaged now than I’d been before.
Could her friendship, love and music mend my damaged heart and soul like it had before?
Floods of memories washed over me, and I clung to my sister. “I’m sorry,” I told her softly.
She pushed back and looked at me, her tear-filled eyes unwavering. “You do not have anything to be sorry for, little brother.” A small smile tipped her beautiful face—one that got her many modeling jobs over the years. “I guess you’re not so little anymore.”
A light chuckle rumbled in my throat. It felt good and, just for a second, smothered the other feelings running through me before they took complete control once again.
“I’m so glad you’re home and safe.” Her voice broke a bit on the last word, and I could tell she was trying to hold it together—to be strong for me.
We were still standing in the doorway, the discarded food on the ground. When my stomach rumbled again, Ruby laughed. Grabbing the sack, I stepped back, and she made her way into the condo.
Walking toward the kitchen, she said, “I can understand if you need space.” She set the bag down on the granite countertop and turned to me. “But you always have a place with us. Never forget that.”
I swallowed the lump of emotion in my throat as I stood facing her, my back to the open door, rooted to the spot as I watched my sister.
Ruby was right. I knew with everything running rampant in my head—the nightmares, and sometimes the anger that rose—I did need to be alone right then. But just knowing I still had the place that meant so much to me, filled with so many special people… it made a difference.
“I won’t—” The blare of “Bad Reputation” by Joan Jett cut me off, and I knew it was Alley calling my sister since all the ladies had their own ringtones for each other—each song fitting for the individual.
There was a chance I might have laughed at how well the song worked for Alley if it hadn’t been for the look on my sister’s face as her gaze came to mine.
Pulling the phone from her ear, she pushed a button looking down at her cell and said, “Please repeat; you’re on speaker so Jett can hear you.”
“Oh, hi, Jett. I’m so glad you’re home,” Alley said, but didn’t wait for my response before continuing. “So as I was saying, I was coming into No Surrender as Patience was going out, and a man approached her.”
My fingers curled into my palms, and my jaw clenched at the news.
“That bastard Charlton or Chaz, whatever the hell you want to call him, and his family officially served her with papers asking for a paternity test. It states that if it comes back saying—he the asshole—is the father, he wants custody.”
There had been texts insinuating this exact thing, but now it was real.
“Patience must be going out of her mind,” Ruby said, voicing the same thoughts I was having.
Someone said something to Alley in the background. “Landon was here, and he is already on this, but Patience said she was also taking action.”
Ruby’s face scrunched up with curiosity while I was working to control the temper rising inside me.
“What kind of action?” my sister asked.
There was a soft hum then a long pause before Alley said, “Patience told Landon and me that Jett said he’d marry her.”
My sister gasped at the news as her head snapped my way.
A pain settled in my chest as I told them, “She turned me down.”
Suddenly, Ruby’s eyes rounded, her gaze going just over my shoulder.
“I changed my mind.”
Spinning around, there stood Patience in the doorway, her face a mix of anguish and determination.
“I’ll marry you,” she whispered. Her expressive brown eyes shimmered with flecks of gold and unshed tears. “Is the offer still on the table?”
Heart racing, with a lump in my throat, and unable to get out an intelligent response, I just nodded like an idiot.
Patience stepped closer, placing her hand on my cheek. It was like a magnet. Unable to refuse the pull, I leaned into her touch and soaked up the feel of her soft skin against mine.
With her gaze fixed on mine, she said, “There’s something you need to know, though.” Her palm softly slid down my cheek and cupped my neck. “I was mad earlier and hurt, but in no way did that mean that, besides my son, you’re still not the second most important person in my life.”
My breath hitched, and my eyes stung with unshed tears. I didn’t even care if I came in second. When it came to Griffin, I should.
“I don’t deserve you…” My voice was gruff with emotion.
Those eyes that were soft seconds ago flashed with fire for a moment, and her palm tightened as if to emphasize her next words. “That’s bullshit. You deserve anything you want and more.”
Her hand on my neck pulled me so close, our breaths mingled.
Her flowery scent, bright and fresh like a field of daisies, short-circuited my senses.
It was her signature body wash she’d always used, one she said was simple, but to me, it was anything but.
I shook my head to try and focus but ended up breathing her in again.
Couldn’t resist.
Patience’s gaze softened once again. “You’re my best friend, but we have tiptoed around our feelings long enough. When I say, ‘I do’ it won’t just be for my son.”
In a defeated tone, I tried to tell her what I had earlier. “I’m broken.”
She had to understand what I couldn’t give. I didn’t deserve happiness when my teammates couldn’t have that too, when my anger or nightmares could affect her and Griffin.
“And I said not to me.”
Patience closed the last fraction of space between us. In one motion, she managed to pull my head down even further than she had as she slid up on her toes so she could reach me, our height difference making more work for her.
Then she pressed her heart-shaped lips gently to mine.
Some might say the simple kiss wasn’t anything to write home about, but I knew that if I hadn’t been stunned speechless as waves of emotions zipped through me, I’d have had plenty of things to say about how phenomenal it had felt.
When she released me from her hold and her lips left mine, I missed her touch immediately.
With our gazes locked on each other, she said, “I’m gonna love you until you love yourself.” Her sweet breath whispered against my slightly parted lips, still reeling from the effect her mouth had on mine. “And then me.”
Unable to contain them, a few tears slid down my face as she walked away, leaving my heart and mind at battle with one another.
I heard a sniffling behind me and turned around to see my sister crying as she stood staring at me.
“What just happened?” I asked her.
Taking a deep breath, she took a second before answering. Then she said, “Your girl is playing for keeps.”
I’d never been able to resist Patience or deny her anything. That’s why I’d been reluctant to come home and stayed in Texas, hiding like a coward.
Yeah, I was in fucking trouble.
Her words came back to me. I’m gonna love you until you love yourself. And then me.
The thing was…
I already did.
I’d loved her since the second I laid eyes on her.