Page 48 of All of My Life

“I don’t give a fuck,” he snapped back. “The only way people are going to learn not to fuck with you is for you to have my last name.”

Chasin was scared for me.

“Chasin, none of this is your fault,” I said, wondering how we’d gotten to the point where I was consoling him and not the other way around. “You couldn’t have known.”

“I should have known,” he argued. “There isn’t anything about you that I’m not supposed to know.” He looked torn up, the weight of everything finally shining through. “I’ve been obsessed with you all my life, Jett. I should have known. I should have questioned why you never went home. I should have questioned why you avoided people. I should have questioned it all.”

“Chasin-”

“I should have questioned why you gave in so easily at the bridge that night,” he went on. “I should have questioned what you were doing there until I got an answer. I should have insisted on knowing everything, instead of using you the way that I did.”

“I needed you to use me,” I said, reminding us both of how screwed up I was. “Every single time that we were together, I needed that from you, Chasin.”

“And I was too caught up in my obsession for you to ask why,” he replied. “All I cared about was how badly I wanted you, and I never once asked why you were letting me get away with all the things that I’d been doing to you. So, yeah, this is my fault. If nothing else, it is partly.”

“Chasin, none of this is your fault,” I repeated. “And asking me to marry you out of guilt is as stupid as if I’d said yes.”

His brows rose. “Baby, if you think that I’m asking you to marry me out of guilt, then you’re off your pretty rocker.” His right hand found its way underneath the covers. “I’m asking you to marry me because I’ve loved you since kindergarten. I’m asking you to marry me because you’re it for me. I’ve never imagined my future without you in it, Jett. Never.”

I let out a heavy sigh. “I can’t marry you, Chasin,” I told him. “Not…not while all of this…this mess is going on. I can’t…if I marry you, I want it to be because we love each other, not because I was too messed up in the head to say no.”

“Tell me that you don’t love me,” he ordered. “Tell me that this last year and a half was just sex. Tell me that you feel nothing for me.” His blue eyes flared with defiance. “I dare you.”

“You know that I can’t,” I replied quietly.

“Then say it, Jett,” he practically snarled. “I’m tired of waiting.”

I had to take in a deep breath. I was arguing with him, stating all the reasons why getting married would be incredibly reckless on both our parts, and I knew that if I said those three little words to him, there’d be no convincing him to wait. I’d be giving him all the power that he needed to make a wedding happen, my state of mind just too exhausted to put up much of a fight.

Still.

“I love you,” I said, finally saying the words. “I love you, Chasin.”

Chapter 29

Chasin~

Some people would argue that I was forcing Jett to profess her love to me, but I wasn’t. Despite what her parents believed, and regardless of how people viewed her loner status, Jett Morgan was stronger than most people. To have endured everything that her parents had put her through, and do it alone with no one to confide in, that took a spine of steel. So, if she was telling me that she loved me, it was because she wanted to, not because I was pressuring her into it.

“Say it again,” I demanded, not sure if I’d ever get enough of her saying it.

“I love you,” she said.

“I’ve been waiting almost fifteen years for you to say those words to me,” I told her. “I’m probably going to make you say them every day for the next sixty years.”

Jett’s face softened. “I’m just trying to get through the next sixty days, Chasin.”

“Yeah, well, like the next sixty years, we’ll get through these next sixty days together,” I said.

“Chasin…” she sighed, but it wasn’t in a bad way.

Grabbing her hips, I pulled her down until she was laying back on the bed and my body was covering hers. She looked like a battered mess, but I’d still rather look at her than anything else in the world. Jett Morgan was my life’s art piece, and she was fucking priceless to me. Her hazel eyes were always going to have the power to drive me to my knees, but I was okay with that. I was at the mercy of this girl’s whims, and she didn’t even know it.

“Christ, you’re fucking beautiful,” I said as I stared down at her.

Her eyes widened. “Chasin, my face looks like a wreck.”

“If you think a few bruises, smeared makeup, or even wrinkles will ever distract me from how fucking stunning you are, then you’re very mistaken, baby,” I informed her.

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