Page 111 of If Tomorrow Never Comes

She inched back to meet his eyes, eyelashes wet. “Why did you?”

He shifted his head on the pillow to see her better and slid his hand a little higher up her back so his entire palm was against her body, nothing between them. The gesture wasn’t sexual, he just wanted to feel her warmth and her breath. Feel her living body next to him. “Something Carly said hit on a deep-seated fear I have of turning into my Dad, and it just ... got to me. I don’t know why. I’d just done something that hurt her, and I started thinking about if anything like that ever happened with us. And then, while I was insistent on working through it on my own when I should have just been open with you in the first place, I wasn’t there for you when you needed me.”

“Don’t worry about today; it was just a few hours. I still have a support system here. It’s what I’m used to.”

“I’m glad you have them, but I want to be part of it, too.”

She nodded, but a question remained in her eyes. “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.” As he said the words, he realized how deeply he meant them, and how they only solidified what Blythe had said today about him leaning in. The fact that he was here, ready to do whatever Elliott needed from him, no matter how hard, was proof he wasn’t his father. “I won’t disappear on you again. I promise.”

She sniffled. “Okay.”

“Promise me you’ll call me next time? I don’t care if I’m at work, asleep, we’re in a fight, or we’re doing perfect. I need you to talk to me, too.”

“I promise.” She slid her hand up and down his back. “Yuka called you?”

He cracked a grin. “It was more of a threat than a call, but yes.”

“She’s small but mighty.”

“She is.” He cataloged her features as they lay there. Her gray eyes, the freckles splashed across her cheeks. The slight puffiness in her eyelids that he hated because he couldn’t stand to see her cry. The strands ofblond hair framing her pretty face. “God, I love you,” he whispered, pulling her closer against his chest.

She pressed her lips to his throat. He wanted her in his arms and to have her lips on his skin forever. “I love you, too.”

After a few minutes of silence, he asked, “What’s the plan? Were you going to stay here tonight?”

“I didn’t really think—I just came here. It’s where I’ve always been when I got bad news. I didn’t bring anything to sleep in.”

“We can fix that if you want. I can go grab something for us at Target.”

“You’d stay with me?”

He pressed his fingertips into her back. “You couldn’t get rid of me if you tried.”

“What about Hank?”

“I already asked my mom to go grab him. I didn’t know what you’d need, and I wanted to be available.”

“Oh.” She thought for a moment. “I kind of want to see him.”

“Hank?”

“Yeah.”

He chuckled softly. “He’s been missing you. We can go back if you want. Stay at my place or yours, whatever you want.”

She nodded, her hair brushing his chin. “Yeah, okay. Let’s go home.”

Chapter Thirty-Three

Elliott

She asked Jamie to drop her off first so she could shower while he went to grab Hank from his mom’s. When she’d cleaned up and knew he was back at his place, she made her way across the complex.

She stepped off the elevator and the comforting, sugary smell of baked goods assailed her senses. It got stronger the closer she got to Jamie’s apartment, and by the time she opened the door, she had a huge smile on her face.

Jamie had his back to the door. The clash of a wire whisk against a metal pan muffled the sound of her entrance.

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