Chapter 16 Jett
Chapter Sixteen
JETT
I was constantly fucking up.
She wore my ring and was my wife, and I couldn’t get my shit together to even kiss her at the end of what was basically a date.
This whole thing started out wrong, but for a good reason. The thing was, it was exactly what I wanted. And in the next moment, I told myself I didn’t deserve any of it. I fisted my hair in my hands and pulled at the strands in frustration.
I’d managed to get to my place, shower, and pull on a pair of clean boxers, but after sliding into bed, all I could see was the look of sadness on her face when I turned her down. She was right; we had many nights where we’d fallen asleep near each other.
God, I had slept so contentedly just being near her.
What I’d give for sleep like that now.
But it wasn’t possible.
Her eyes, so full of sorrow, flashed in my mind again, and I thought I was going to come unglued.
I couldn’t unsee it and wanted to do something that made her happy.
An idea began to form—something we’d done before she came to live with us in high school, but also when we had been in our rooms at Gramps’s just down the hall.
I pulled out my phone and shot off a text, not wanting to call in case she had managed to fall asleep, but hoping the little ping of a text was something she would hear if she was still awake like me.
Me: Want to sit on the phone and talk like we used to, but hang up when we feel like we can fall asleep?
Many times we accidentally fell asleep while talking and then woke up with our phones still connected, but I couldn’t let that happen now. Hopefully, what I was offering would put a bit of a smile on her face and settle us both.
That smile came in the form of an emoji just a second later.
Patience: I’d love to.
I dialed her number, and when she answered, I could hear that smile in just her simple hello.
The happiness I also heard in her voice shot straight through me, and I felt my body instantly relax.