Page 291 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 9
He shook his head. “And I have to wonder…if he showed love that way, how is he going to step it up now?”
“He’s not. He made that pretty clear on the phone.” I blinked fast, surprised at how emotional J.J. caring made me. “He does this thing whenever I call…he talks about his family like I’m not a part of it. I’ve fought it off for a long time, but I’m done trying. He doesn’t want me in his new life. So I’m going to give him what he wants.”
J.J. lowered his eyebrows like he could feel my pain. “I’m so sorry, Mila.”
“It’s fine. Really. Our conversation today was a long time coming.”
“Anyone who doesn’t want you in their life is crazy.”
I smiled. “I don’t know…you fought me off pretty hard.”
He shook his head. “I didn’t want to set myself up to get hurt again when I’ve been burned before. But I realized pretty quickly that you were worth that risk. You’re worth any risk, Jellyfish Girl.”
“About that.” I was looking for the perfect opportunity to tell him I might be transferring. I leaned a little closer to him. The bar was getting more crowded as it got later, but it somehow made it more intimate. “The reason I called my dad today was to tell him to hold off on tuition to SMU. I applied to transfer to the University of New Castle. I’m still waiting to hear back, but…I’m hoping to stay in Delaware this fall.”
The smile on his face was so genuine. “Delaware’s a lot closer than California.”
“It is.”
He leaned a little closer too, his eyes dropping to my lips.
“I know we haven’t really talked about what we’re doing,” I said. “And we only just started whatever this is. I applied for myself just as much as I did for us. I get it if you still don’t want to do long distance after this summer. We don’t even need to talk about it right now. I just…wanted you to know. But if you want to talk about it, I’d be happy to. I don’t need to label our relationship or whatever this is. Unless you want to of course.”
He took my empty glass from me and set it down on the bar. He absentmindedly spun it around in a circle as he listened to me babble, a smile on his face the whole time. His silence was infuriating.
“And I know I talked about how I needed to take this summer to better myself. And figure out what I want. But there’s no reason I can’t do that while we’re together. It’s not like we’re going to be together every second. I’m rather independent. Not that I don’t want to spend a lot of time with you. I do. I really, really do.”
He smiled.
“But I’m in a better place now than I was at the start of this summer anyway. I feel like this weight is off my shoulders. Especially after talking to my dad. If I’d had the conversation I had with him today a few months ago, I would have fallen apart. But I’m fine. Clearly. Did I tell you I can almost run five miles? That’s far for me.” I heard crickets in my brain. “God, just say something and put me out of my misery.”
He let go of the glass and leaned even closer to me. “Across the country would have been hard. But I thought I made my intentions pretty clear the other night.”
“You said that I was yours. I don’t know what that means.”
A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “It means I’m not going to pull the plug on us just because the weather changes. I really really want to spend as much time together as we can too.”
I smiled at his comment. I knew he was trying to appease me, but it wasn’t as simple as time. We were running out of that.“It’s more than the weather. Even if I do get into the University of New Castle we’ll still be living in different states. You said you didn’t do long distance.”
“That was before you. And if we have to spend weekdays apart for a year, I can handle that if you can.”
“Just weekdays?”
“You’ll just be a train ride away. I can swing that.”
“So…what does that make us?”
“You’re exasperating.” He pulled me into his lap, not caring that the restaurant was packed around us. “Jellyfish Girl, will you be my girlfriend?”
“Hmm.” I was smiling so much it hurt. “I think I can swing that.”
“You can, can you?” He tickled my side sending me into a fit of giggles.
I would have kept laughing if he didn’t silence me with a kiss. Everyone around us faded away. It was just me and my lifeguard.No…my boyfriend.
“So what are you trying next?” he asked and tapped my glass. The kiss left me dizzy, but he still seemed perfectly composed.
“What else has tequila in it?” I asked.
