Page 54 of Ever After

“What if Aiden sees us? What if we run into each other? What if Aiden pops up here while Jay is here?” I turn my back to the bed and let myself fall onto the mattress.

“Seriously, Lilah.”

“What?” I ask.

“I doubt Aiden will come back here after his devastation yesterday. Besides, so what? He’s the one who cheated with that gross bimbo.”

“Yes, but I know him. If he sees us, he’ll try to do something.”

“I think they both can hold their own.”

“You’re not helping.”

“I don’t know what you’re so worried about. It will be fine. Plus, if I’m here, I’ll act like he’s with me.”

“Oh yes, because that will go over so well with Jay.” I sit up and pull my legs toward my chest.

“Stop worrying about it. Go back to bed. I’m tired,” she lays back down in bed and pulls the cover to her chest.

She’s right. I’m worrying too much. Everything will be fine, I say to myself. It has to be.

I’m walkingthrough the airport to pick up Jay. It's been giving me déjà vu from the first time I picked him up. Except for this time, I have an ache in my stomach from all my worries. My hands are sweating, my shoulders have so much tension in them my neck is hurting. The tension soaring through my body is making me feel like I’m walking funny, but I’m not. At least I don’t think I am. I keep trying to tell myself that everything will be fine, there is nothing to worry about. I don’t owe Aiden anything, but it still worries me that something will happen that shouldn’t. And I can’t even think about what will happen.

I wasn’t sure if I should tell Jay we should stay in a hotel. He probably would have questioned if I was using him as my rebound since I told him I was done with Aiden. I sit down on a bench near the baggage claim area, waiting for him. My hands keep fidgeting, and I can’t sit still. I try to focus on everyone running around trying to catch their flight. Some guy sitting on the bench looks over at me and gets up and walks away. Great, I probably look like I’m on crack.

Jay walks toward me with his bag. I look back over at where I was looking for him and realize that baggage claim wasn’t even for his flight. I head over to him. Once I’m in front of him, I reach in for a hug. Jay drops his bag and pulls me in tighter. The tension in my body evaporates. My anxiousness goes away. It’s as if he’s, my medicine. I had the same feeling when I went to see him with Lia. I thought it was because I was away from my problems. But now I think it’s him. It’s always been him since the first day I met him. Maybe that’s why I never felt that hurt after walking in on Aiden, because he’s been around me since then.

Jay reaches up and grabs my chin, forcing me to look at him. He reaches down and kisses me softly. It’s different from the other time I picked him up. That felt like he was yearning for me. This feels like. I can’t quite describe it.Love?No. Not love. Wait. Does he love me? Do I love him?

He releases my chin, and a huge smile crosses his face. “I missed you.”

“I missed you more,” I say, grabbing his hand. He reaches for his bag with his other hand, and we walk toward the parking lot.

“That’s not possible,” he says and kisses my forehead.

A little bit later I say, “We’re here.” I look over at Jay and he’s rubbing his eyes. He fell asleep on the way over here.

“Where is, here?”

I look at him, confused. “My house.”

He looks at me with scrunched eyebrows. “Lilah, why would I stay here?”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t want to stay at a house you shared with your ex. Your husband. He’s not your ex yet.”

My stomach drops. My face goes cold as the blood rushes down from my head. I look away from him and stare at my house. Why would I think he would want to stay here? I’m an idiot.

“Hey, it’s fine.” He reaches over and lays his hand on my leg. “It was a miscommunication. I shouldn’t have expected you to find a place for me. I could have looked. For some reason, it didn’t cross my mind.”

“I’m sorry. Now that you say it like that, I didn’t think about it. Well, I did. I guess. I didn’t know if you would care or not.”

“Oh no, trust me, I care. I don’t want to see anything you guys once shared.”

I smile and look over at him. “Are you jealous?”

“I like you. So obviously.”

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