Page 74 of That One Moment

“I can’t believe you’re here!” Her demeanor changes in a flash, like a lightswitch being flipped. ”You’ve been ignoring me for years!” Her voice is sharp, angry and it makes Caiden flinch and take another step backwards until his back hits my chest. “How could you treat your own mother like that?”

It’s laughable coming from her, what with the way she treated both her sons like an afterthought for all their lives.

Caiden’s body shakes and he scratches anxiously at the scar on his arm. Minute by minute, I sense him shutting down. Gone is the laughter and the carefree Caiden of moments ago, replaced by the man I remember all those times before when Cooper was the only one who could hold him together.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbles, loud enough that only I can hear. I wrap an arm around his stomach and another over his chest, resting a hand on his frantically beating heart. My hope is that my presence, the pressure of my body on his, grounds him and prevents him from shattering to pieces that I may never be able to put back together.

He’s told me how hard he’s been working to come to terms with the way his mother treated him and Cooper. Talking about her lately has come easy to him. Seeing her is another story.

Squeezing him tighter, I narrow my eyes, watching as his mother makes a slow perusal of her son, stopping on the place where my hand rests on his heart.

“You forget you even have a mother, then have the nerve to show up inmybar with this no good piece of shit?” She spits out. It takes me a moment for the words to register and when they do, hot, white fury pumps through my veins.

“Your bar?” Caiden asks, his voice unsteady.

She doesn’t answer before I grit out, “I’m the piece of shit? That’s a joke coming from you.”

She ignores me, instead answering Caiden. “Yes, my husband and I bought it.” She points to the man in the leather chaps.Her husband.Something in her answer draws a whimper from Caiden and my heart squeezes tightly, every bone in my body aching to get him out of here.

“Come, sweetheart,” I whisper into his ear. “Let’s go.”

“God, Caidy,” she adds, a sneer in her voice. “I thought you were the smart one, not like that brother of yours. Yet here you are with his scraps.”

Something comes over Caiden, like a dark cloud cracking and breaking, unleashing a lashing of strong rain and heavy thunder. He shakes out of my hold and steps right into her space. He trembles when he speaks but his words are clear and firm.

“‘That brother’ was the best person I’ve ever known. He was too good for you. He deserved a mother who loved him, who wanted him. We both did. I cut you out of my life because you’re toxic and I didn’t want to die from your poison.”

Caiden reaches back and takes my hand, tugging lightly and bringing me to stand next to him.

“I don’t care what you think about me and Jamie. I no longer care what you think about anything.” With that, he brushes past her, and I’m on his heels as we walk out of the bar.

I expect him to fall apart. He’s shaking, his teeth chattering despite the warm air outside, but he doesn’t. Something akin to pride washes over me. This man is strong, fragile maybe, but strong in the way that glass can be both.

“I can’t come back, not for good.” The finality in his voice scares me. “There’s too much of Cooper in this place and too many reminders of the person I used to be. The one I’m working so fucking hard to leave behind. I’ll visit, but this isn’t my home anymore.”

His eyes are dark in the light of the sole street lamp outside the bar. “We can make this work, long distance if we have to. I want….I want you.” He clears his throat. “I want to be with you.”

“Then ask me.” Stepping forward, I touch my palm to his cheek, applying pressure until he meets my imploring gaze. “Ask me to come with you.”

“What about your friends and your job?” Caiden asks and I swallow thickly, still too embarrassed to tell him I quit. “I can’t expect you to pack up and move with me. That’s a big expectation for something so new. What are we even doing, Jamie?”

“What we said we would. We’re living.”

He bites his bottom lip and I have to kiss it, so I do.

“Ask me,” I mumble, letting my lips brush his. “Say the words, and let’s do this for ourselves. Let’s see how good we can be.”

Caiden clears his throat and meets my gaze. “Come with me.Livewith me.” He emphasises the word ‘live’ so the double meaning isn’t lost.

Everything in my world suddenly becomes clearer and more confusing at the same time. It’s in this moment that I question everything I’ve ever believed about soulmates, and partners, andlove. One look at the smile gracing Caiden’s beautiful face and I begin to wonder if I’ve been wrong all along. What if it’s possible to fall in love more than once?

Chapter Thirty-Three

Caiden

If there is a list of things that a parent should caution their child about, moving in with the guy you’re sleeping with, who is possibly your boyfriend (you can’t be sure, because neither of you have used that word yet) should be top of that list. Or at the very least in the top five.

“Does your music have to be so loud?” I say with a wince. It’s early on a Friday morning. Outside, the trees are slowly changing colour, golds and browns, falling to the pavements. Inside, my boyfriend - because let’s call a spade a spade - is dancing around the kitchen in a pair of black boxers and white socks. His music blaring through the smart speakers pounds against my brain which is already throbbing with a headache. The kitchen is once again in a state that makes my eyeballs itch, and the cat, who - despite me telling Jamie cannot have human food - appears to be chewing on a chicken drumstick.

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