“It’s four more months, Liv.”
“Okay… but look how fast the last three went.”
“For you, maybe.” I pushed back my chair, causing the wooden legs to scrape along the ceramic tile.
She didn’t say a word until she saw me snatch my coat off the rack near the door. “Where are you going?”
“I need air.” In fact, I needed it so badly I shrugged into my coat while running down the stairs and right out the front door. Back and forth I paced, dragging in one deep breath after another and talking to myself. A few passing by stared at me, but that didn’t stop the panic attack swelling inside my chest.
Regardless, I couldn’t seem to force my feet to walk away… not metaphorically, at least. Tonight, I had planned to tell her that while she studied back in the city, I would record my album. I would take the time to do it right, and she could take the time to do her own thing. What mattered was we did it all together.
But the more I thought about it, the more her news didn’t matter. Really, nothing needed to change except location. This was something she wanted to do, and I would support her during it come hell or high water… as she had supported me.
Forcing myself to think it through, I walked around the block. There was a lot for me to say, and I wanted to make sure it came out right.
When I came full circle back to her building, I pulled in a few more deep breaths before heading into the lobby, nodded at Sofia, who didn’t dare stop me, and went right into the elevator.
A minute or so later, I rapped my knuckles on her door.
“Hi,” she said, studying my face.
“I’m sorry.” I lunged for her, burying my face in her neck. “I’m sorry I freaked out.”
“It’s okay. You didn’t do it—”
“Don’t, Liv,” I interrupted her forgiving words. “Don’t give me an out again. I need to own up to the fact I’ve been a selfish prick for far too long. Come.” Tugging her out of the hallway, I kicked the door shut behind us and sat on the couch, easing her onto my lap. “It wasn’t okay for me to be so selfish. All you’ve ever done was to be there for me, at every turn with every decision I made. I’m now here for you.”
“You’re always there for me.”
“Not the way you need me to be. I came here wanting to push reset, and that hasn’t changed. Where you are, I will be. If that means here, if you’re okay with me staying, I will live here in Florence. What I hadn’t told you yet was that, although playing with Cannon was an amazing experience, I decided to go solo. I have written so many new songs while on tour, and with those I had already, they will supply years of recording in a studio…” I waited for her to digest what I had said, and then added, “A studio here. Whether you decide to stick around for one more semester or for your entire college career. Either way, I’m staying.”
“You’re serious?”
“As a heart attack. You took my heart hostage that day you and your mom came to the beach house for the first time. You stomped right over to where I was making an epic sandcastle, pointed a finger, and said, ‘The tower is not tall enough.’ Do you remember that?”
She nodded with a smile. “I made you start over.”
“Yeah… you did.” I placed a gentle kiss on her soft lips, lingering for a few seconds before pulling away. “And then the first time I kissed you? Our legs hanging over the edge of the pool as our dads sat across the deck?” Again, she nodded. “Baby, every kiss feels like that first one. Every time I take you, it feels like prom night all over again. Every single day with you has my heart squeezing with the same emotions, over and over, just as it did during all our firsts.”
I smiled when she wiped away a single tear, never looking away from my eyes.
We were just kids, but we had grown together in so many ways… and most significantly, we’d matured in the relationship department. Sure, we had a lot more growing to do, but if we could survive the shit we’d endured this summer, we could survive anything.
When I bent to connect our lips, the familiar current ran right to my cock. I would never tire from feeling her lips against mine, her body against mine. I sank my fingers into her hair, pulling her even closer. Our lips danced together, warming us both toward that crescendo we achieved so easily together.
While sitting in an ironclad embrace, the kiss quickly built as we gripped each other in a desperate attempt to eliminate the space between us. This kind of desperation I could handle… I welcomed it. It was validation I couldn’t live without this girl. We were meant to be. She was made for me, and I for her. She had forever left an indelible mark on my heart.
Alivia Deron Taylor was most definitely my destiny.
Epilogue
Jack ~ Five years later ~ June 7
Déjà vu hit hard as I stared out at the beach prepped for another wedding ceremony. The last had occurred twenty-one years ago to this day, when I married the love of my life. Shit, how did more than two decades fly by so quickly?
Most of those in attendance had witnessed Leila and my union back then. Our parents, our bandmates, our friends, and siblings were a common denominator.
I remembered every detail as though it were yesterday. Her sleeveless, scooped-neck dress that molded around her narrow waist and billowed down to the floor in a full skirt. A simple veil had been tucked into her upswept hairdo. Three presents I had given her… a heart necklace, an eternity bracelet, and her engagement ring had served as more than just accessories that day.
I’d never forget the way my heart pumped in my chest as I stood beneath the floral trellis, in my simple black tuxedo, showing my “crotch-clenching” dimples that she always loved so much.
And now there we were, sitting side by side. I glanced down at our entwined hands, thanking God for bringing that exquisite woman into my life. Leila was as gorgeous today as the day she stumbled into the studio. She hadn’t aged a bit, and she definitely didn’t look old enough to have a son who was about to be married.
Today, our oldest child would take the same vows we had all those years ago. She’d been weepy all day. Tears of joy that wouldn’t stop falling. I wrapped an arm around her while the somber expression on my face served as a mask, hiding how close I was to losing it as well.
The pale-gold dress that hugged her stunning body may have enhanced the amber in her eyes, but our history was what had them shining as brightly as the sun above. I then glanced down at the bracelet that circled her wrist, and the rings that circled her finger, symbols of my undying love since the day I’d given them to her.
We were blessed in so many ways… our four amazing kids, our incredible career, the wealth that flourished for us because of the path we had taken together. Leila and I loved each other hard, and we loved our kids even harder.
At that moment, Shane’s eyes caught mine as he stood a few feet away. The ocean behind him served as a backdrop, and the wooden trellis above served as an altar. That cocky smirk of his not much different than the day he came to us, and it always sucked the air from my lungs. I was so damn proud of my kid.
He may have only been twenty-four, but he most definitely had lived a lifetime already. Far more mature than I was at that age, he never ceased to amaze Leila and me. From losing his mother, Paula, at five, to becoming one of the youngest musicians to ever tour professionally, every step he’d taken had led him right to this profound moment in his life.