He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close. His heart pounded against my chest. I’d never felt closer to another person than I did in this moment. Not my family. Not the Magic Willows. He’d trusted me with his deepest secret, and I wanted to be there for him. I wanted to fix it, but I knew I couldn’t. But I could love him with everything I had. And that’s exactly what I intended to do.
It was nearly two o’clock in the morning when we walked to my house. He didn’t want to risk waking my family by driving his bike, so he walked with me to the tree, and his eyes bulged out of his head.
“You’re climbing a tree?”
I chuckled and covered my mouth to keep quiet. “This is how I sneak in and out.”
I kissed him one last time. “I love you, Jett Stone. Thanks for telling me what was bothering you.”
“Thanks for listening to my shit. I love you.”
I turned and started to climb, and he followed.
“What are you doing?” I whisper-shouted.
“I’m making sure you don’t fall.”
I made my way up and leaned over to push my window open. I climbed inside and turned around to face him as he balanced between two branches and I blew him a kiss and watched as he made his way back down.
I washed my face, got on my pajamas, and slipped into bed. The tears started to fall again, and I covered my mouth to muffle the sobs. My heart hurt for Mae Stone. The thought of her being raped and then finding out she was pregnant. And raising that baby all on her own with all of Willow Springs judging her.
I stopped and said a prayer of thanks that out of all that darkness came this beautiful boy.
I thought about how my mother had treated him. The things she had said to him.
I wondered if I would ever be able to forgive her.
But right now, that wasn’t my priority. I didn’t have time to focus on how small-minded my mother was.
Because all I cared about was making sure Jett was okay.
And I’d be there for him no matter what.
Because I’d never loved anyone the way I loved him.
Chapter Twenty
Jett
The next few weeks went by in a blur and things had shifted for Adelaide and me. The whole drama with her mother had only brought us closer in the end. It felt good to tell her what I’d overheard about my mother and my monster of a sperm donor. The crazy thing—I trusted her completely.
She had my back and I had hers.
She and her mother had not discussed what happened, and they were barely speaking. I encouraged her to let it go, because truth be told, Savannah Edington didn’t need to like me. I didn’t give a shit. All that mattered was that her daughter did. But Adelaide had a lot of pent-up anger toward her mother, and I didn’t want to be the reason they grew apart.
Did I think her mother was batshit crazy? Hell yes.
But I wanted my girlfriend to see that all on her own. I didn’t want to come between them. Hell, my mother was the center of my universe, so I knew they’d need to work this shit out or it would just weigh my girl down.
Adelaide, Ma, Gram, Jax, and Shaw had all been by my side when I signed my letter of intent with Texas University. It was a big day and the most important people in my life were there. Shaw had signed with a big football program out in California, and Jax would be playing ball in Colorado. Everything was falling into place.
We were meeting friends at the lake. Adelaide’s arms were wrapped around my middle as she held on for dear life as she sat on the back of my bike. She always slipped her hands beneath my shirt to feel my warmth. I fucking loved it. We parked down by the water of a popular area where everyone liked to hang out. She climbed off my bike, and I reached for her hand. I swung a leg over so that I was still sitting, and she moved to stand between my legs, looking down at me and searching my gaze.
“You need to talk to your mom, Ace. It’s eating you up.”
She smiled and pushed the hair out of my face. “How do you know me so well?”
“It’s a gift.” I chuckled. “I think I’ve always known you.”
She nodded. “How about you then? I’ll make you a deal. You talk to Wren and at least find out if he’s your father or not, and I’ll talk to my mom.”
I let out a long breath. “All right. I’ll do it.”
I needed to fucking know if he’d been the man who violated my mother. Took away her ability to trust and love another man again.
“Good. I’ll go with you if you want me to.” She wrapped her arms around my neck and rubbed her little nose against mine.
So fucking adorable.
Yes, I had a wicked case of blue balls, but I didn’t even fucking care. That’s how much I loved this girl. We made out until my balls threatened to explode every day. We explored and touched and brought each other over the edge every time we were together. But we hadn’t had sex, and I sure as shit wasn’t going to pressure her into it. Hell, I knew she was it for me. Didn’t matter when it happened, because I knew it would. And Adelaide Edington was more than worth the wait. I’d wait for her forever if she needed me to.
“You going to be my backup?” My hands slipped beneath the cardigan and T-shirt she wore and moved up her back, feeling her soft skin against my fingertips. She moved closer, and my dick strained against my zipper.
“Always.”
“I think I’ve got this one. You want me to be there when you talk to your mom?” I settled my hands on her slim waist.
“Nope. If you’re there, I’ll probably end up tackling her if she looks at you wrong.”
“I love you,” I whispered against her lips.
“Love you more.” She giggled.
“Um, somebody call the fire department, because you too are on freaking fire.” Coco’s voice pulled me from my haze.
Adelaide’s head whipped around to see her best friend and Shaw standing there laughing.
“Damn. Where did they come from?” she said, stepping back and straightening herself.
I pushed to my feet and grabbed her hand, intertwining our fingers.
“What’s up?” I said. Ivy, Ty, Maura, Gigi, Jax, and Lydia waited for us a few feet away. We’d all been hanging out a lot and Ty and I had become damn good friends despite the fact that his best friend gave him endless shit about it. We just never talked about the elephant in the room, but Adelaide told me Ty was taking a lot of heat for hanging out with me.
“I’m guessing, your dick,” Shaw said with a raised brow.
I shook my head and laughed because he was an asshat, but he wasn’t wrong.