Page 31 of Needing You

Reluctantly, we parted to get into the car, but the drive slipped by in what felt like seconds. Maybe because I knew the evening was quickly coming to a close, and I needed more time with her. I needed more of her and another chance to show her, if she wasn’t convinced already, that she didn’t need to be going out with anyone else.

She’d allowed my interruption tonight, but I wouldn’t be that bold again. I was an asshole, but not a controlling bastard. I wanted her, but I needed her to choose me. Especially after so many years ofnotchoosing me.

I parked across from her building, and she slipped out of her seat fast enough that it decided things. I’d debated trying to talk here in the silence of the car, to prolong this time together, but she was eager to get back. She had someone waiting on her, after all.

She waited for me, and I grabbed her hand as we crossed the street. Our fingers knitted together, palms touching, and we climbed the stairs to her door.

“As ridiculous as it was, I’m glad you came tonight,” she said, that small smile pulling at her lips again.

“I’m glad you didn’t kick me out.”

She chuckled low, then faced me, taking my other hand in hers. Our gazes hooked, and my ever-increasing pulse shot through the roof. “We never did get to have a doorstep kiss.” We’d always been sneaking around. I’d never been to her house until I’d tried to find her and her mom told me she’d left.

“First time for everything.”

I didn’t need any more permission. I dropped her hands and cupped her face, pressing a soft kiss to lips I’d fantasized about for more than a decade. Then again. And then, like every time we’d touched, fire burst to life between us.

I deepened the kiss just as she opened to me, her mouth soft and pliant as I licked into her. In seconds, I’d pulled her closer, her hands were in my hair, and we were devouring each other with the pent-up determination of our former selves. Only the loudthumpfrom inside the apartment could’ve made us stop, but it did the job quite effectively.

She gasped and stepped back, pulling her hands away and clutching them to her chest before she pressed her hand to her mouth. “Sorry. Um. I just… that was probably Jackson.”

Tension loosened in me as I nodded, agreeing. “Yeah, not ideal to have him haul open the door and see his parents making out on the doorstep.”

Her eyes closed and she shook her head, but that smile told me she wasn’t mad about it—maybe just horrified by the mention of Jackson catching us.

“Come to family dinner tomorrow. Four o’clock at my mom’s house.”

The grin and lightness drained away in seconds. “Are you sure?”

“I’ve been sure, Kate. I want Jackson to get to know everyone, and they’re desperate to see him. I don’t want to rush you, but—”

“We’ll be there.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes.”

And that smile told me everything as she slipped inside, her dark hair swinging behind her, and one last “good night” mouthed before she shut the door. She was ready. She was hopeful.

And tonight was just the beginning.

15

KATE

“You ready for this?” I asked Jackson, adjusting my grip on the domed dish in my arms. I’d made cupcakes for tonight, but they were decidedly more elegant and classier than the ones I made for children’s birthday parties.

Jackson smirked as he tossed his hair off his forehead. “Areyou?”

“I’m not sure,” I said under my breath as we stepped onto the porch.

The last time I’d been here on a Sunday night was when I’d shown up to have a conversation with Will that was a decade and a half in the making. Now, I stood here with a dozen probably pretentious cupcakes in my hands, ready to share a meal with the family who should have been in our lives all along.

Dammit. Maybe this was a bad idea.

Before I could even suggest we run away and put this off for another week—or two, or seven—the front door flew open, and Jenna Walker stood there in all of her made-to-be-a-grandma glory. “Jackson,” she crooned, beaming at my fifteen-year-old like he was nothing more than a squishy-faced baby in a stroller. “Oh, look at you. Come in, come in, let me see you.”

“Hi.” Jackson let out a shaky laugh as he moved toward her, towering over his grandmother as she stepped back and looked him up and down.

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