I thought he was going to finish what he’d started, but I was wrong.
Laying my head on his chest, he wrapped his arms around me. Within minutes his breathing evened out. Swiftly falling asleep with me, for the first time, in his comforting embrace.
Neither one of us had spoken since his shower. Once again, the silence was deafening in the limo. Simply becoming louder and louder the closer we drove to our final destination.
I turned my face toward the tinted window, trying to calm my unsteady nerves. Thinking of anything other than his demons that still lived and breathed in this place. We weren’t more than a foot apart in the back seat, however, it felt like miles of distance were placed between us.
Physically and mentally.
I couldn’t find it in myself to ask him what he was going to say upon our arrival. Too overwhelmed with the endless possibilities of the good and the bad.
“Junie,” he murmured, peering out the opposite window. “I wouldn’t have done this for anyone but you.”
His words touched my heart.
“Wit’ that said, I don’t think I can do this, darlin’.”
Pushing through the uncertainty of where this could take us, I soothed, “You can do anything.”
Our eyes connected.
“Wit’ you by my side?”
I nodded. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“And what about after? Huh? What happens after?”
“You go back on tour, and I’ll follow you anywhere.”
“Just like that?”
“Yes, just like that.”
“How long do I get to keep you before you leave me too?”
“Cash...” He broke my heart.
“When do you go back to school?”
“Can’t we just live in the present? Enjoy the moment we have now? Plans mean there’s an end, and I don’t want to think about that.”
He scoffed out a chuckle. “I can’t seem to think ’bout anythin’ else. I’m tired of livin’ this life alone, Junie. I don’t wanna be alone no more.”
“You won’t. I’ll be with you.”
“For how long?” he repeated, whispering so low I barely heard him. “Just marry me, baby. You want me to beg? I’ll beg on my hands and knees.”
Kneeling down in front of me, he did exactly that.
“Oh my God, Cash. What are you doing?”
“I’m like a fuckin’ dog at your goddamn altar. Be wit’ me, Junie.”
“I am with you.”
“Be wit’ me forever.”
I took a deep breath, the word yes on the tip of my tongue. “I won’t go anywhere.”
He didn’t like my answer. I could tell by the disappointment in his eyes. He wanted me to say yes to his proposal.
How could I do that? This was crazy, right? A whirlwind romance in a week’s time...
“Pinky promise for life?” he stressed, aware of what I was questioning.
I intertwined my pinky with his. “Pinky promise for life.”
Shaking his head like he was now disappointed in himself, he continued, “You should have never showed back up in my life. I won’t let you go now, Junie. I can’t. You’re mine. Do you understand me?”
I’d waited all my life to hear him say those words, and yet nothing compared to him actually expressing them in that moment. Love was such a powerful emotion. I’d seen it bring people together and break them apart, all at the same time.
The expression on his face was tearing at my insides. He looked so broken.
So lost.
So unbelievably determined to find purpose in his life.
Was I it?
He hadn’t said those three words to me, but he didn’t have to.
I felt it.
Saw it.
Breathed it in.
He only proved it further and further with every action. “Does that mean you’re mine?”
“The longer we’re together, Junie, the more I realize I’ve always been yours.”
I smiled, resisting the urge to tell him how much I loved him. How much I’d always loved him.
“You make me wanna be a better man.”
“You’re going to make me cry, Cash.”
“Don’t cry, darlin’. Just keep bein’ you. I need you to remember that.”
“Always.”
Grabbing the sides of my face, he leaned forward and kissed me.
Deeply.
Profoundly.
Passionately.
We got lost in each other.
His hands moved, gripping my ass. He effortlessly settled me on his lap.
“I can’t stop kissin’ you.”
“I don’t want you to.”
We made out like two teenagers who couldn’t keep their mouths off one another. He didn’t once try to fondle my breasts or rock my hips against his dick. His hands stayed on the sides of my face the entire time. I’d read plenty about him to know he wasn’t like this.
Though, with me, this was enough for him.
I was enough for him.
<>Cash<>
Kissing Journey helped quiet the anxiety of what I’d be walking into at the Pierce home. Quickly learning she was my calm before any storm.
“Sir,” the driver announced through the speakers, breaking us apart. “We’re at the gate.”
“Oh!” Journey exclaimed. “I’ll talk to Bill.” She jumped off my lap, and I instantly felt the loss of her warmth, her reassurance, her love in my arms.
She rolled down the window of the limo to what I assumed was Jackson and Harley’s gated community.
“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?” the security guard announced when he saw her.
“Hey, Bill! How are you? Long time, no see!”
“Aren’t you supposed to be in school?”
“I am. I mean, I was. I’m here for—”
“Bailey’s birthday party? Of course, you are. The two of you are like two peas in a pod. I think you spend more time at your brother’s house than you do at your own. Does she know you’re here?
“It’s a surprise!”
“She’ll be thrilled to see you. It’ll probably make her whole birthday. You know how much she adores you.”
“I adore her too.”
“Can you let Mrs. Pierce know I got her email, and I’d love a piece of cake?”
“Will do.”
“You tell that sweet girl I said Happy Birthday.”
“I will. Can you let us through please?”
“Sure can. Have a great time.”
Journey closed the window and fell back into the seat beside me. “Bill is a close friend of Jackson and Harley’s. He’s been the security guard ever since I can remember.”
I barely listened to what she just said. I was too engrossed in wanting to know where my daughter was raised. My eyes took in their community, reminding me a lot of where I lived when I wasn’t on tour. It was fancy as fuck. Each mansion was bigger than the next. Families living their perfect lives, with their perfect kids, and their perfect pets that didn’t shit in the house.
At last, we arrived at the largest mansion of them all, which was at the end of the cul-de-sac. Their home was probably every bit of twenty thousand square feet. It didn’t surprise me in the least.