Page 59 of Counting the Stars

“What?!” He turns the steering wheel a hard right. I grab onto the oh-shit handle above me as the SUV skips across the shoulder and up onto a grassy area. He shifts into park roughly. We both jolt forward, and the seat belt locks around my chest.

“What the hell are you doing?” I try to catch my breath while unbuckling the seat belt.

“Are you serious?! You think I’m upset because you didn’t live up to my parents’ expectations? What on earth would make you think that?” He too unbuckles his tightened seat belt and shifts sideways to face me.

“Well, at first, I thought you were mad at your parents, but you’ve been so standoffish, so I started wondering if you were disappointed in me. Maybe I could’ve acted more sophisticated or something. I don’t know. I’m not sure what I could’ve done differently. They didn’t really give me a chance.”

“Man, I’m screwing this up.” He lets out a long sigh and scrubs a hand down his face. “God, Gabby. I don’t think I could ever be disappointed with you. I’m embarrassed. Embarrassed about this weekend, my weird family, just everything. Why would you want to be with someone who has a family like mine?”

“What? Because I know you’re not like that. Your family doesn’t define who you are. You can’t choose who you’re related to, and I’m certainly not going to hold that against you. Alex, I love who you are. You’re the guy who’s been there for me every step of the way. I want to be that for you, too.” I’m not sure if he heard me or not because his face still looks tortured as he continues talking.

“My parents have always voiced their opinion about my life choices, but up until tonight, they never tried to take matters into their own hands. I can’t help but think that maybe there’s some truth to what they’ve been saying.” He stares out into the distance. “Maybe I do have an issue with growing up.”

Oh. My. God. Where is this coming from? What on earth did they say to him?

“No. No. No.” I grab his face and force him to look at me. I’m so pissed that those pretentious people are making him doubt himself. “No dejes que te afecten.Don’t you dare let their words get into your head. They may have known you all your life, but they don’t know who you truly are. I know the real Alejandro Jones. The one who knows what he wants and is not afraid to go after it. The one who’ll drop everything to help astranger in need. The one who has the ability to make everyone feel like they’re the most precious gift on Earth.”

“Stop, you’re giving me a big head.” His mouth hangs open as the innuendo he didn’t intend to make registers. We both begin to laugh, thank God. The hard lines around his face soften and the man I adore starts to come back from over the edge.

“You know what?” I take a breath and realize I can turn my anger into something else. “I’m not mad at your family. I feel sorry for them because they’re missing out on an opportunity to know someone as amazing as you.”

My life has improved so much since Alex has entered it. How could I have possibly denied my feelings for him for so long? Of course, as soon as I think that, harsh reality slaps me in the face as we both turn our heads to the sound of a fire engine screaming down the highway. We watch in silence as it whizzes by and disappears around a bend.That’s why. I can’t lose him.

“Stop that.” He senses my sadness, reaches across the center console, and pulls me in for a hug.

“I’m trying to get past my fear.” I squeeze him like he’ll fade away if I let go.

“For what it’s worth, I think you’re making fantastic progress.” He places a kiss on my head. “Take all the time you need. I’m not going anywhere.”

We spend the rest of the ride home playfully arguing over music and sharing way too many snacks. I get him to try his first Snoball and am highly insulted when he says he isn’t impressed. We discuss the party and some of the ostentatious things I overheard while I was searching for Lilli. Alex opens up about the short meeting with his parents and how turned off he was by Octavia. My heart soars when he reassures me that I’m the only woman for him. I trust this man witheverything. The more quality time I spend with Alex, the more I can’t imagine my life without him.

We pass the sign for Starboard Beach’s city limits, and disappointment settles in. I don’t want this night to end.

“Hey, Alex? My eyes focus on the muscles in his forearms as he navigates his way around a particularly winding road. I never paid attention to things like that until I started reading romance novels. Yup, I get the appeal now.

“Yeah, baby girl?”

“Since we didn’t plan on coming back until tomorrow and it looks like a nice night, do you think maybe instead of going home we can go count stars?”

“You’re not sick of me yet?” The corners of his mouth turn up and I realize I make him happy just as much as he makes me.

“Not at all. I’m enjoying all this extra time with you.” I look at him and smile. “You’ll have to thank Carter once we get home. I think your plan is working.”

30

Alex

“This is the craziest thing I’ve ever done.” Gabby studies the information card from the pocket of the airline seat while the flight attendant goes over her spiel. This is the first time she’s been on a plane and her nerves are getting the best of her.

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind. It all started when Jax came barreling through my bedroom door around four o’clock in the morning, scaring Gabby and me half to death. I thought he was an intruder and took a swing. Fortunately for Jax, I was groggy when I took the swing and he missed out on sporting a black eye for a week. Unfortunately, my fist landed right in his shoulder. Specifically, the bad one with his war wound. There was a lot of shouting and before we knew it, the entire 3rd East crew was running into my bedroom.

Luckily, Gabby was wearing pajamas and I had my boxers on. While we’ve been sleeping together, we’re still notsleepingtogether. We’ve been sharing my bed ever since the night we spent visiting my family. It just felt right. Am I sporting theworst case of blue balls in modern history? Yes. Yes, I am. But I promised Gabby we’d take things slow and I’d let her take the lead. I love having her next to me and I plan to keep it that way.

Anyway, back to Jax interrupting my beauty sleep. After a few weeks of dead ends, he discovered an aunt of Gabby’s. It took about ten days to make contact with her, and after some initial shock, she agreed to talk with Gabby if she came to New York. Which brings us back to our current situation.

“You think this is crazier than leaving your hometown and driving a clunker of a car over a thousand miles to start a new life?”

“Stinky is not a clunker.” She splays her hand over her chest as if I just insulted the Queen of England.

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