Page 125 of When You Had Me Adapting

“Alright, you two, I’m gonna head out,” my dad says, standing. “Lacey, please tell your parents I said hello. It’s always so good to see you, sweetheart.” We stand to meet him, and he hugs us both.

“Jace, I’m so proud of you, Son. I know today was hard for you. If you ever need to talk, you know I’m here for you.” His words hit me straight in the heart.

“I love you, honey,” he says looking back towards the stone. The cardinal is still perched there and I smile at the thought that it could be my mom.

I wrap my arm around Lacey’s shoulders and pull her tight into my side. “Thank you for coming with me,” I say.

“Always, J. You don’t have to do this stuff alone.” I lean down and press a kiss to the top of her head. I check my watch and realize it’s beginning to get late.

“You ready to head home? I know you have the girls coming over.”

“I could cancel. I know it’s been an emotional day,” she offers.

“No, I could use some time to myself to process it all. You hang with the girls and we can do something tomorrow.”

Her mouth falls a little, but she nods her head. “Okay.” We both say our goodbyes to my mom and for the first time in five years, I feel a little lighter. Hand in hand, we head back to my Jeep and I drive her home.

CHAPTER 53: THE INVISIBLE STRING IS REALLY INVISIBLE STRINGING

LACEY

“I’ll call you tomorrow?” Jace asks, breaking the kiss we just shared in front of my apartment door.

“You sure you’re okay?”

“I’m better than I’ve been in a long time,” he says, peppering my face with kisses and making me laugh. “And you, pixie, have everything to do with it.” His lips find mine again. His tongue swirls around my mouth and I let out a small moan. The thought of calling off the girls’ night crosses my mind, but I know Jace, and I know he needs time to process things. I pull back and those blue eyes capture mine.

“Have fun with the girls.” He gives me one more chaste kiss before spinning around and heading down the stairs towards his Jeep.

I watch him as he goes, leaning on the metal railing and smiling to myself. It feels surreal that we’re back together and we’ve fallen back into each other’s lives so easily. It’s like nothing ever happened.

Once his Jeep disappears down the street, I turn and walk into my apartment. Poppy is sitting on the couch intentlyscrolling on her laptop and drinking from her favorite coffee mug. I check my watch and shake my head. Only my best friend can drink coffee no matter the time of day and still sleep.

“Whatcha looking at?” I ask, eyeing her and setting my keys by the door. “I haven’t seen that look on your face since before you graduated.”

“Oh, nothing,” she looks up from the screen and shuts her computer. “Just some mindless scrolling.” She twirls a piece of hair around her finger and offers me a sheepish smile. There’s a weird pause and she sets the laptop on the coffee table and pulls her legs to her chest.

“How were your parents?”

“Same old, same old.” I shrug, sitting down across from her on the sofa. My body sinks into the pillowy cushions. “I accepted a long time ago I’ll never change Lori Sims, but that doesn’t mean some of the shit she says doesn’t get under my skin. Dad was fine, all business, per usual. And oh my God—” I sit up grabbing at the locket around my neck. “Did you know this was actually a gift from Jace and not Colton?”

“No way.” Her eyes land on the necklace. “But I thought Colt got it for you because he thought the birds were eagles,” she laughs.

“I know. I can’t believe it, but I guess it makes more sense now.” I run my fingers over the metal. “All this time it was from Jace. The crazy part is I hadn’t worn it in years. I found it the day we went on the boat and decided to put it on because I couldn’t find the other necklace I was looking for.”

“Damn the invisible string was really invisible stringing,” she laughs, sipping her coffee. “That’s sweet. How did Colt end up with it then?”

“Apparently, Colt snatched it from Jace when he brought it over,” I let out a laugh. “You know Colt always has to act like my big brother even though he isn’t.” I shake my head. “Therewas a letter too. He wanted to try to work things out. Asked me to meet him the night of our party on the roof and then he saw Alex kiss me and thought I had moved on. He decided to go to Georgetown the same night.”

“Oh my god, I forgot Alex kissed you. So gross.”

“Right?” I laugh.

“You think if you had gotten the letter, you would’ve gone?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. Maybe, maybe not. I was still so mad at him. That was the night you told me about Europe with Beau. Alex kissed me. I was in such a weird headspace back then that I don’t know what I would have done.”

“Maybe it was all meant to happen this way.” She shrugs. “Me meeting Logan. Jace coming back into your life when you least expected it.”

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