Page 126 of Next Time I Fall (Excess All Areas 2)

Jimmy ran a hand over his jaw. “Well. Glad you think there’s a positive to that. I regret missing out on those years.”

“But we’re making up for them now, right?” she said.

“Yeah. Hopefully we are. And I was wrong to lecture you about Jase. Watching him have your back through this process, seeing how happy you are, the way he looks at you when you aren’t watching. Did he tell you he cornered me in London?”

“He did?” When? How had she missed it?

“Yeah. Told me I was too busy expecting my own second chance with you to notice I wasn’t letting him have a first chance.”

“He didn’t tell me.”

“Yeah, well. He was right. And I like him even more knowing it was a conversation just between the two of us. You need to hold on to what the two of you have found.” Jimmy stood and pulled her into a hug. “I treated the person who made me happy like shit. I let go of it, expecting to find it again, or with someone else, or with some greater level of success. I let go of it the moment it felt like it needed work and effort. I wish I’d stuck with it instead of hiding away from it in my work.” Her father let go of her and ran his fingers over the dials and switches. “And I can honestly say, opening this today, with you at the helm, is a moment I’ll cling to. It’s made me happy. I’m glad you contacted me.”

“Don’t make me cry, Dad. It took an age at the MAC counter to look like this.”

“Yeah, well. Might as well go all in. I love you, kid.”

Cerys nodded, unable to quite put words to how she felt.

“Cerys, my love,” her mum shouted from the entrance, and Cerys exhaled sharply and shook her head to clear the tears.

The door to the studio opened and Jimmy smoothed his white shirt down and checked the collar in the glass through to the recording booths.

“Opening night,” her mum said, stepping into the room followed by Jase, who winked at her. Her mum hugged her like it had been years since she’d seen her rather than the previous weekend. She’d had her hair blow-dried for the occasion, and her green eyes positively glittered with excitement. “I saw Zoe on the way in. She looks well. And this, it’s beautiful, love. How does it feel?”

Howdidit feel? She’d been so caught up in the day-to-day logistics of opening Bexter Studios UK that she’d barely had the time or energy to process it was all done.

“It feels like home, Mum,” she said, glancing over at Jase, who had leaned back against the desk, arms crossed, ankles crossed, with a smile on his lips that made her melt inside. “All of it. How was the train ride?”

“Good. And it made it so much easier that Jase could kindly pick me up. Oh, Jimmy,” she said, tugging her hair behind her ear.

Cerys watched as her dad stepped forward, reaching for her mum’s hand and sandwiching it between his own. “Siân. It’s good to see you.”

And, oh my god, the way the two of them looked at each other after all this time.

Her mum smiled as she looked up at him. “How are you, Jimmy?”

“Better for seeing you.”

It had train wreck written all over it. Or perhaps the cutest second chance romance ever. Shit, she didn’t need to see it.

“Jase, I need some ... we should ... can you help me with something in the office?”

Jase grinned and reached for her hand. “Is that a euphemism?”

“It better not be,” her father muttered gruffly from over her shoulder.

Cerys bit back a grin and let Jase lead her to the office where he promptly kicked the door closed with his foot and lifted her into his arms and backed her into it.

“Did you see the way my mum and Jimmy looked at each other?” she said.

Jase pressed his lips to the side of her neck. “No. Because I was thinking how great your tits looked in this shirt and had to relive City’s defeat to Wigan in the 2018 FA Cup to keep Little Jase from coming out to explore.”

Cerys grinned and placed her hands on his cheeks to lift his face so she could look at him. “I’m serious.”

“I’m serious too. Little Jase woke up all ready to say hi this morning and was crushed to find you not there.”

“Little Jase can be overdramatic. You were back late from the gig in Liverpool, and I thought you might want to sleep in. But let’s talk about my parents. I don’t want my mum to get hurt again. And I like my dad. I don’t want to have to hate him.”

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