Page 72 of When Our Stars Aligned

“Exactly.”

“I think, for now, I wouldn’t say anything. Just keep everything the same.” A smile spreads across her face. “And if you eventually get married, it will be one less thing to change.”

“Thanks.” I laugh. “God, I can’t even think about getting married. I mean, I honestly thought that after everything that happened with Trent, I would be on my own for the rest of my life.”

“And now?”

“Now, I feel like I’m getting a second chance at everything I ever wanted.”

40

Jax

For the first time in over a decade, I am looking forward to the holidays. Aly is planning on coming home with me to meet my family. I know they will all fall in love with her the way I have. She has officially and single-handedly broken down my walls. My mom was right at Thanksgiving; I never smiled anymore, but that changed once Aly came into my life. I feel lighter than I have in forever.

Tonight, we are going on a date. I made reservations at a fancy French restaurant in town. We will get dressed up, eat amazing food, and then take a stroll downtown where all the little shops are lit up for Christmas. The streetlights are wrapped up to look like candy canes, and all the trees are lit up in little white lights. It will look like we just stepped into the scene of a Christmas card. Cheesy, I know, but my girl will love it.

“Hey, sweetheart.” I smile and kiss her as soon as she walks out of the bedroom. “You look beautiful as always.” I step back to appreciate her form-fitting little black dress with hot-as-hell fire-engine-red heels and wonder how I got so damn lucky.

“Thank you. You clean up pretty nice too,” she says, looking me up and down. I switched out my usual jeans and T-shirt for black slacks and a dark green button-down shirt.

“Are you almost ready to go?”

“Yup, I just need to drop off a pair of earrings Gabby wanted to borrow.” She heads towards the door but turns around. “Oh! I switched out my purse to match my dress. I left it on the bed. Can you get it for me?”

“Sure,” I say and head towards the bedroom. There are two purses on the bed, a small black one and the larger blue one that she carries most days. I grab the small black one but accidentally knock into the blue one, spilling the contents onto the floor. Muttering a curse under my breath, I bend down to retrieve the fallen items, which consist of a small planner, ChapStick, a pen, and a lanyard with her faculty ID attached to it. I stare in disbelief at the ID in my hand; surely, I must be reading it wrong.

“Jax?” I hear Aly call from outside the bedroom door. “Did you get my purse?” She rounds the doorframe and goes wide-eyed when she sees me holding the lanyard.

“What is this?” I grit through my teeth. I can hear the sound of my heartbeat in my own ears.

“Jax, I can exp—”

“Why does this say Dr. Alyssa Parker?”

“Well, I—”

“Your last name is Winters, is it not?”

“It is but—”

“Why are you using my last name?”

“There’s a—”

“I can’t believe you!” I run my hands through my hair. “Why the hell are you using my last name?”

“I’m not, well, I guess I am, kinda, but it wasn’t—”

“I fucking trusted you!” I raise my voice, making her jump back a little.

“You still can!” She puts her hands up in defense. “I just need to—”

“I let my guard down,” I cut her off. “For thirteen years, I’ve been guarded because I didn’t want to get hurt again. I fell for you. I let you into my home, my bed, my life—something hardly anyone ever sees, and this is what you do? Did you think that maybe we’d get married so you’d just skip everything and take my name?”

“What? No!” She takes a step towards me. “Jax, I—”

“Get out!”

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