Chapter 15 Patience
Chapter Fifteen
PATIENCE
No. No. No.
My heart pounded, anxiety rising, as the two people I disdained most in the world approached. My mother and stepfather came in a close second, but I hadn’t seen them since the day I left home and moved in with Jett and his family.
Not seeing Chaz and his awful wife, Sloane, wasn’t something I’d been lucky enough to have avoided because, before I knew it, they were standing right in front of us.
The only reason I stayed rooted in place instead of running like I had the last time I’d seen them was because of Jett’s presence. His arm had wrapped around my waist, hugging me close to his side as soon as he saw the vultures descending.
I felt protected by him.
That feeling may have also had something to do with the huge group of men and women at my back.
“Well, what do we have here?” Chaz’s gaze zeroed in on me, scanning me from head to toe. “You cleaned up real nice, Patience. Even dropped some weight.”
Jett tensed beside me, and his fingers dug into my side. I knew he didn’t realize what he was doing; it was just a reaction to the dipshit in front of us.
Anger rose within me, but I wasn’t much for confrontation, so I kept my mouth closed. But not everyone was like me.
“She was pregnant, you asshole,” Alley spat, stepping up next to me. “Do yourself a favor and walk away and take whatever that is with you when you go.”
Alley waved her hand in Sloane’s direction, earning her an evil glare, but I knew my friend didn’t care one iota.
There were snickers from behind us from the ladies and some groans from the guys.
Someone—pretty sure it was Kace—whispered, “Here we go again.”
I could only imagine his facial expression since I couldn’t see him. I’m sure as usual, it was entertaining and somewhat over the top.
Chaz eyeballed Alley, then his gaze swung to Landon, who’d come up on her side.
“Put a leash on your girl, Abbott. Or better yet, walk her outside because we all know she doesn’t belong here.”
I was more than certain I had never heard Landon growl before, but that’s exactly what happened.
As matching sounds echoed from behind us.
But Alley was the ballsiest of the group, and she wasn’t having it.
“Don’t make me grab my bat from the car, you little pissant.”
“Are you threatening me?” Chaz asked in an eerily calm voice. “It would be wise to remember who I am and what I do.”
This was getting worse by the minute, and it was my fault, not my friends’. Chaz was a lawyer, just like Landon, but we already had problems with him and his family; we didn’t need more.
I liked confrontation about as much as getting a root canal, but I stepped in anyway. “This isn’t the time or place for this. Just move along, Chaz.”
His gaze swung to mine, a sinister grin on his face. “You’re right.”
He paused for a second. I thought I’d hit the jackpot, and he was actually going to just walk away. But that didn’t happen.
“We’ll settle this in court when I take our son from you.”
That blow hit hard, and I almost collapsed. Anger radiated off the man holding me. He’d been surprisingly quiet up until then, but things changed really fast.
Jett gently pushed me behind him, shielding me from Chaz’s view. And then, in a voice I’d never heard come from him before, he let it rain.
“Her son,” he emphasized, “will never get near you.” His voice was hard as steel. “And if I ever catch you speaking to my wife again, looking at her, or if you get anywhere near her… I. Will. End. You.”
Jett stepped toward Chaz, and I couldn’t help the satisfaction that coursed through me when I watched the uptight asshole's eyes flash with fear.
“You better comprehend what I’m saying real fucking fast because I’m not playing, motherfucker.”
Sloane gasped, as did other guests—not our friends; they were probably proud as hell—who were close by.
The evil witch's eyes zeroed in on me, and she gave me a nasty look. “Honey, we don’t need to be in the same vicinity as these lowlifes. I don’t know what you ever saw in her.” Sloane scrunched up her nose like she smelled something nasty. “She’s nothing but trailer trash.”
She tried pulling on Chaz’s arm, but he didn’t move. We had an audience now, but my main focus was on Jett, who was five seconds from coming unglued right then and there.
I couldn’t believe Chaz wasn’t leaving. He really seemed to think nothing could ever touch him, but I had seen the unease in his gaze; he just tamped it down quickly to save face in front of those watching us.
I guess he was too stupid to realize this group around me was made up of some badass men who could wipe the floor with him.
And I realized at that moment, my husband could too. The more I was around him, the more I realized we weren’t those high school kids anymore.
“What a joke. Your wife?” Chaz leaned to the side, peeking around Jett. “I noticed you couldn’t even afford to buy her a ring. Your marriage is bullshit if you ask me.”
Panic plagued me, and my vision blurred. He knew that Jett only married me to help save Griffin. I hadn’t even thought about a ring. We’d done everything so fast, and it wasn’t real.
Well, for me it was.
I’d never marry another soul, even if Jett went ahead and divorced me one day. That’s how real it was for me. He was the only man I wanted. Would ever want.
Jett didn’t respond like I thought he would. Instead of things coming to a blow and fists starting to fly, he turned around to face me, a ring pinched between his thumb and pointer finger and dropped to one knee.
And I stopped breathing.
“I know we’re already married.” He took a deep breath. “But I didn’t have your ring ready when we decided not to waste any more time after I returned home.”
I faintly heard Sloane say in a disgusted voice, “I’m not standing around for this,” but I was too focused on Jett and didn’t care what she had to say.
He looked up at me, and even with the knowledge of why he married me, so much sincerity laced each of his words.
“This ring was always meant for you.”
Wait, what?
He said it was always like he’d thought about this before. I didn’t know what was happening.
“Oh Jett,” I heard Ruby say breathlessly from beside us.
I turned to her, but she wasn’t looking at me; she was staring at…
My gaze followed hers, and my eyes landed on the ring. I’d been so stunned when he knelt on the floor, and while I realized there was a ring, I had been so focused on the man that I hadn’t really looked at it.
Tears flooded my eyes and trickled down my cheeks. “What are you doing?”
“Like I was saying.” He pushed the ring up closer toward me. “Gramps gave me Gram’s ring, and I’ve been saving it.”
He blew out a breath.
“No matter what happens, I want you to have this.”
Him thinking that we might have an end date, hurt.
I could hear the worry and doubt in his voice. How could I take his grandma’s ring knowing he didn’t think we belonged together?
I was about to say just that, but his bright blue eyes implored mine as he said, “Please. Take it.” He gulped. “For me, Roo?”
Closing my eyes, I searched my heart and soul for the right answer. Emotions began to well up inside me.
Fluttering my lids open, I looked at the ring.
It wasn’t flashy or big. It was simply beautiful, elegant, and timeless in its design.
A single white gold band with six marquise diamonds and five round sapphire stones—ones that reminded Gramps of his wife’s vivid, velvety blue eyes—set between each one.
It was perfect.
I’d heard how Gramps had seen the ring and knew it was meant for his one and only true love. My heart skipped a beat as Jett’s words from only seconds before echoed in my mind. This ring was always meant for you.
My gaze moved to Jett’s, and I knew with everything in me, I couldn’t say no. I wished, even dreamt of this moment so many times, longing for him to want me the same way I did him. The lines blurred between what was real and what wasn’t—kinda like my eyes that swam with tears.
I held out my left hand, holding my breath as he moved to place the ring onto my finger. The cool, smooth texture of the band slid on my finger, fitting me flawlessly. My heart beat wildly as the tears finally spilled over, cascading down my cheeks.
Jett jumped to his feet, still holding my hand, his face pinched in a panic. ”Sweetheart, please don’t cry. You know I can’t handle your tears.”
The endearment and his concern just made the waterfall of tears flow faster.
“I-I j-ust—” A stuttered breath came out instead of any more words.
He bent his knees a little so we were eye level. “How about dessert? I know you love it.”
He was giving me an out from talking about all the feelings that were pouring through me. And I did like sweets.
“I might even let you share mine,” he said, teasing me.
I soaked that up because this was my Jett—the person I knew and loved.
He’d been a bit sulky when I’d seen him around school—never having actually met him in person until that day at the pizza place—and who could blame him after what his mother had done to him?
But since the day he and I met, he’d been different.
A little part of me hoped it had something to do with me—I’d made his life better somehow, like he’d made mine.
Jett had become my everything. He protected me, he took care of me, he’d made me laugh, and he was the kindest soul I knew.
“Do I get to pick them?” I asked with a little bit of a glint in my eye.
He brought out the best in me, even when I was emotional.
His smile perked up, and with it came those endearing dimples. My stomach swam with butterflies when I saw them.
“Anything for my wife.”
There were some gushing sounds around us, and I realized we were still putting on quite the scene. Chaz and Sloane were nowhere to be found, and that suited me just fine. Hopefully, they left the building altogether.
I knew our friends were probably itching to talk about this, especially Ruby since the ring on my finger had been her grandmother’s too, but everyone let us have our moment alone.
“Lead the way,” I said.
As Jett pulled me toward the longest dessert table I’d ever seen, I leaned in and whispered in his ear.
“I’m not sure what I did to deserve you that day so long ago, or this beautiful ring, but I’m the luckiest girl alive.”
His palm tightened on mine, and he turned his head to look at me, our faces so close I could see every tiny emotion flickering through his crystal blue gaze.
“I think you have that backwards, Roo.” His eyes closed for the briefest second before opening again and focusing back on me. “I’m the lucky one. You have always been my better half.”
He turned back to the table and began pulling me along as if he hadn’t just rocked my world.
Did he mean I was his and he’d thought I always had been? He thought he was lucky to have me?
I was getting mixed signals, and I knew he was confused because of everything that he’d gone through, but…
My heart raced, and my stomach flipped as if it was doing back handsprings over and over again.
Excitement and confusion took turns inside me.
Was Jett in love with me?
And if so, how long had he felt that way?
We stood at my door, silence surrounding us for a second before I broke it.
“Do you want to come in?”
Griffin was staying at Gramps’s place. It hadn’t made sense to wake him, so I would grab him in the morning.
I didn’t pull my gaze from Jett’s, even as the vulnerability of being denied what I wanted so badly took up residence in my whole body.
His eyes were indecisive, want and fear battling in his mesmerizing gaze. Jett shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels.
“I better go to my place.” He said the words, but there wasn’t much conviction in his tone, and a little part of me thought he might change his mind if coaxed.
“We are married. It wouldn’t be unheard of for us to spend time alone.” I smiled. “We used to camp out in the living room and fall asleep watching movies together all the time.”
It was like a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head when he responded, “I can’t, Patience.”
No Roo or sweetheart, no soft whispers—no, his voice was firm and left no room for argument.
What happened to the man who just gave me a ring and told me that it was always meant for me and that he was the lucky one? The same one who growled and ripped Chaz a new one in my defense?
I tried reaching out, sensing he was struggling with something and was scared, but he backed away.
The hurt pierced my soul, and I knew it was written all over my face. I could see it bothered him, but it didn’t change anything.
“I’m sorry. Goodnight.” And with that, he walked away.
A few doors down, he entered his condo without a backward glance.
My heart felt heavy and broke a bit at the weight of the thought that Jett may never be able to embrace me and him as an us. Would he ever take his shot?
I sure hope so.