As he dusts kisses along my cheek and lips, I feel his confidence as it comes off him in waves. I believe him. I’ve put all my hope and trust into him, thrown all caution and reason to the wind, and I just pray I’m not wrong for doing so.
I hope I’m doing the right thing.
It feels right.
I mean, I’m keeping my baby and I love its daddy, so this is right. It has to be.
But damn it, my parents have stirred doubt inside of me, and now I’m questioning it.
Us.
“Avery, look at me,” Jace demands and I look up, his eyes locked on mine.
“What are you feeling? Talk to me.”
“I’m scared.”
“Okay? Why?”
“’Cause he’s right. It could all come crashing down into a heap of a clusterfuck, and then what?”
His eyes are so steady as he holds my gaze. “Then we pick it all back up, put it together, and push on. The great thing is we have each other, Avery. We’ve got this. Together.”
“How do you know? How are you not freaking out?”
“’Cause I love you and I know we can do this.” My lip trembles and I pull in a deep breath as he smiles. “That’s right. Do it again,” he says, breathing with me, and my heart slows down as my eyes slowly fall closed. Leaning his head to mine, he wraps his arms around my neck, kissing my forehead.
“I love you.”
“I love you too,” I whisper. I might not know anything else, but I know that.
I just hope that’s enough.
I’m not going to cry.
I’m not.
We’ve got this.
I’m also not going to puke, even though that’s all I’ve been doing for the last few weeks.
Jace says it’s fine.
We are fine.
But it just feels like one thing after another.
“I thought you said a room would come available for us today. Didn’t you say today?” Jace asks, leaning on the counter of the housing department.
“Yes, I thought so, hon. I’m sorry,” Mrs. Annie says, and she looks as defeated as we feel. We’ve been in here a lot lately and she knows our whole story—that we are desperate to get housing on campus. Being married, we want to sleep together. But I can’t stay at the Bullies’ house long-term, and he can’t stay in my dorm. “I thought the couple that was staying in the room I wanted to give you was gonna go off campus, but they decided it was cheaper to live here, so we are completely full.”
It is. A lot cheaper.
“We only have ten family dorm facilities. It’s a small campus, honey. I’m so sorry.”
Jace
lets out a long breath, the dark circles under his eyes hurting my heart. He’s been working double at the coffee shop while busting his ass on the ice. If I thought he worked hard before, he is working double time now. He is determined to not only get into the draft but go number one with the highest entry contract. He doesn’t want to fail me, as he keeps saying. No matter how much I said he couldn’t fail me if he tried, he’s running himself into the ground. And he won’t let me stop him.