“I won’t,” he promises, dipping his head again and hovering them over mine. “You’re really my girl?”
I nod. “Definitely.”
Jackson closes the gap and my eyes fall shut, reveling in the pure pleasure that comes from his kiss. He holds me tight, making me feel safe as the wind blows through my hair. This is everything and more. Absolutely perfect.
Jackson pulls back and we’re both breathing hard. His hands fall down to my hips and he considers me a short moment. “I kind of have another bomb to drop.”
“Seriously? You hit me with the ‘I love you’ bomb and have the audacity to hit me with another?”
“Uh-huh. Though, this one is a little more terrifying than the last.”
I shake my head, still unable to stop smiling with the knowledge that Jackson is mine. “That’s not possible.”
“Believe me,” he murmurs, his low tone making the butterflies go nuts in the bottom of my stomach. “You’re going to think it is.”
“You don’t?”
“Nope. I think it’s the best fucking thing that will ever come out of my mouth, but you…yeah, not so much.”
Dread fills me. “This is when you hit me with the ‘it was all a joke’ bullshit, isn’t it?”
He sucks in an outraged breath. “You better not be doubting me.”
I laugh. “Fine. Just tell me what it is.”
Jackson nods but a seriousness comes over him and maybe I’m even seeing a little bit of uncertainty in his eyes. My heart rate instantly picks up. Maybe he was serious when he said this was going to be worse than his ‘I love you’ bomb.
What the hell could it be?
“Elle,” he says, taking my hand and bringing it up to his lips. He presses a gentle kiss upon my skin before placing it back down on my lap and taking my hips. “Kaylah helped me to realize that I was in love with you. She said she sees it in the way we look at each other. Not just me, babe.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that I think you’re in love with me too.”
I gape up at him, my bottom lip dropping as I suck in a gasp. “Are you sure?”
Jackson shakes his head. “I’m sure that I think you do, but I can’t answer that for you. You’re the only one who knows what’s going on inside your heart.”
I nod. He’s not wrong. Only I know what I’m truly feeling. “Come on,” Jackson says with a laugh, taking my hands and helping me down off the ledge. “Let me get you something to eat before you drive yourself insane thinking about it.”
“I…” I think it over.
The way he makes the butterflies go apeshit in my tummy.
The way he makes my skin tingle and burns from his touch.
The way I’m always searching him out in a crowd.
The way his ridiculous little texts have me grinning like a child.
The way he makes me feel like the most beautiful girl in the room.
The way he respects the fact that I have a past and has never once looked down on me.
The list goes on and I realize that the answer is so startingly obvious.
“Don’t,” he says, putting his arm over my shoulder and pulling me into his side, clearly seeing that I’m deep in thought. He presses a kiss to my temple. “Don’t feel like you have to answer me. When and if you ever feel like you want to, I want it to be from you, not because you feel like you should.”
I nod again as he reaches for the handle. “Wait,” I say, pulling back as he looks down at me. I step out from under his arm so I can look up and see those perfect eyes just right. “You’re right,” I tell him as my heart races and my palms sweat with nerves. “I don’t know how I never saw it before. I love you. You make me excited about waking up every morning and every afternoon when I have to leave school, this ache settles into my chest and has me wanting to run out onto that damn field and throw myself at you. I freaking love you, Jackson and I’m an idiot for not realizing it sooner.”
“Damn straight, you’re a fucking idiot,” he booms, grabbing me around the waist and spinning me around. I squeal out and hold on for dear life but before I know it, I’m back on my feet with Jackson stepping in to keep me safe. “But you’re my idiot.”
With that, his lips come down on mine one more time, and everything settles in my world and for the first time in my life, everything is right.
Epilogue
Jackson
Five Years Later
“Yo, fucker,” Jesse’s voice booms through the Bluetooth speaker in my car. “Are you guys still coming over tonight? Nate just dragged Tora’s ass home from Harvard for the weekend.”