Page 118 of Crimson Desires
Chapter Thirty-Two
Aster
After nearly twenty straight hours of driving, I found myself right back where I’d started: at home.
There was an SUV in the driveway. I parked behind it, my shoulders sagging as soon as I turned off the ignition.
I jostled Violet, who was sleeping in the passenger’s seat.
“We’re home, Vi.”
Violet stretched her arms, yawning. “You know, when I was a kid, I used to tell myself that I’d go to the ends of the earth to see Jack Maverick in person.”
“And?”
“I was wrong. Twenty hours in the car is my limit.”
When we arrived in Cleveland and met up with Wicked Crimson at the post-tour wrap party, Ava’s jaw practically hit the floor. After a confusing bit of back and forth, I’d learned that while Violet and I had driven to Cleveland, Jack had taken a plane to Boston.
After a few frantic calls, arrangements had been made for Jack to stay in Boston while Violet and I drove back.
Violet and I had taken shifts driving. I was grateful for my time with the Wicked Crimson production crew—because I found it easy to conk out while my sister took the wheel. Still, I was only running on about five hours of sleep.
As soon as we stepped through the side door, we were treated to the smell of breakfast. I breathed in through my nose, taking in the scent of pancakes, bacon, and maple syrup. I could hear voices talking in the kitchen. Dad’s, Melinda’s, and Jack’s.
I hesitated.
Throughout the drive home, I’d thought long and hard about what I wanted to say to Jack when I finally saw him. But at that moment, standing in the entryway of my house, I couldn’t remember a single thing that I had planned to say.
Violet gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “It’s okay. I’ve got your back,” she muttered.
I gave her a curt nod. Then, I walked up the stairs into the kitchen.
When I saw Jack, my heart nearly exploded. He was standing at the kitchen counter, cooking over the stove, wearing the sweatpants I’d bought him in Raleigh and one of Dad’s old shirts. The shirt was baggy on him but did nothing to hide the powerful musculature in his forearms. The morning sun shone through the windows, making his fluffy blond hair look like a halo around his head.
He looked at me like I was something precious. He smiled that stupid, infuriating, beautiful, crooked smile, and whispered my name. “Aster.”
“Jack, I’m so sorry. I thought-,”
“It was an honest mistake. You-,”
“Sorry, did you want to say something-,”
“Shit. I didn’t mean to talk over you-,”
We both paused for a second. Then, we laughed. Jack pointed at me with his spatula. “You first, flower girl.”
I nodded, steadying myself with a breath. “Jack, I’m so sorry that I ran away from you. I should’ve talked to you before thinking the worst of your intentions. It’s just... when I saw those emails from Ava and your father—it was like my worst fears were coming true. This entire tour, I tried so hard not to fall in love with you. I reasoned that distancing myself from you was the logical thing to do. I made a thousand excuses to keep you at arms’ length. I told myself that you didn’t really love me—that I was just a stupid fling. That you’d get bored of me and drop me after the tour ended. That you only wanted me for selfish reasons.
“But now I understand that I was making excuses because I felt like I didn’t deserve the happiness you wanted to give me. The love that you wanted to give me. I was scared to give you my heart, because I knew from past experience that trusting your heart to somebody else is the quickest way to have it broken.”
Jack turned the heat off the stove. He set the spatula down on the counter and took a careful step toward me. “Are you still scared of that, Aster?”
A laugh escaped me. “Are you kidding me? I’m fucking terrified. But that’s okay, because you’re someone worth being terrified for. I’m sorry I didn’t say this in Nashville, but if it’s alright, I want to say it now—Jack Maverick, I love you.”
Jack’s expression softened. He took one step toward me. Then two. Then, suddenly, we were crashing into each other like magnets that had been pushed into each other’s fields of attraction.
Jack picked me up with ease, and I wrapped my legs around his waist. I kissed him, hoping that our embrace would punctuate the meaning behind my words. Finally, after a few moments, we pulled apart.