Page 99 of Until We Meet Again

Seeing her pain only reinforces my decision to leave Chicago. I need to get out of this city and from the memories of a future that I destroyed. I need to go back to Dallas and face everything that haunts me.

I want to become a better man, one who can accept the love of the woman he's fallen for, but I won't be able to do that until I've healed my screwed-up and broken mind, which is why I need to speak to my sister. I can't offer Tessa love right now, but I want to because I feel it. It's there, buried deep inside my still-damaged heart. I won't ever be worthy of her unless I can offer her the world, and when that day comes, I'll fight for her. I'll fight every day for the rest of my life if that's what it takes because I refuse to let her be the one who got away.

Walking up the steps to the large black French-inspired double doors of my family home, I really look at it for the first time in years. It seems bigger now somehow.

I take a deep breath and knock on the door. I haven't told my parents I'm coming home. I didn't even tell Callum, and the look on my mom's face when she answers is precisely why. Her expression is pure shock. Her eyes are wide, and her hands fly up to her mouth as her jaw drops at seeing me.

"Oh, my goodness, Zane."

Then comes that smile—the one she saves for her kids—but today, it’s only for me.

It takes me half a second to notice how tired she looks. She's aged slightly, and I can't help but feel a little guilty for maybe being part of why she looks so exhausted. After drawing me in for a hug, she steps aside, allowing me into the house, and the familiar scent causes me to be hit with an onslaught of memories, mainly of Kimberley, and mostly ones that I've buried so deeply within me that the idea of confronting them again scares the shit out of me. For a moment, I consider running back out the door and getting as far away from this house as possible. But then I remember why I'm here.

Breathing in deeply, I close my eyes for a brief second. A beautiful smile and piercing green eyes appear in my mind, urging me to confront everything I've been avoiding.

I'm here for my girl.

I'm here because I can't imagine a life without her.

Even though I don't know what our future holds, I can only hope that somewhere along the way she gives me a second chance to show her that I can love her the way she deserves.

My mom throws her arms back around me, clutching me tightly as if I’d been gone for years rather than months. When she finally lets go, she pulls back to look at me. She has the same hazel eyes as my sister and me, and they meet mine as she rests her palms on my cheeks. "We’ve missed you."

"I've missed you too, Mom." I kiss her on the head before placing my bags by the front door and heading into the living room. Standing there, I see my dad, feet up on the ottoman, with a beer in his hand. I watch him closely, noticing he also looks different from the last time I was here. Grayer perhaps?

Clearing my throat, I laugh. "I see some things never change." He turns to me with a warm smile spreading over his lips.

"Hey, my boy. Come here," he says, his voice full of affection.

I walk over, and he jumps up from what's always been his favorite chair and wraps his arms around me, pulling me into a big bear hug. "You're looking good, son," he says as he checks me over from head to toe.

"Thanks, Dad. How are you holding up?" I ask, trying to keep the conversation light.

He shrugs with a forced smile, takes a sip of his beer, and settles back into his chair. I know he isn't okay, and neither is my mom, or any of us, for that matter. Losing Kim was like losing a part of ourselves, changing everything forever.

"Does Callum know that you're back?" my mom asks as she hands me a beer and settles beside me on the leather couch.

"No, not yet."

"Can you believe he's getting married?" Dad says with a proud smile.

"Actually, I can. Cal's always been the romantic one." I laugh, considering I want to romance the fuck out of Tessa the day she takes me back.

"One of you boys had to be." My mother's voice drifts off. I realize she must have had the same passing thought as me—that my brother was so romantic because Kim had instilled it in him from a young age after she claimed to have given up on me.

"So, how long are you staying?" my dad asks, remaining glued to whatever he was watching before I got here.

As a kid, I knew that my parents had my back, no matter what. But when I decided to leave Dallas and start fresh somewhere else, they had difficulty supporting me. They'd just lost one child, and then I ran away from my life here. I guess they felt abandoned, but I had to go. I needed to make that move, even if it meant going against my family's wishes.

As it turned out, it was the best decision I ever made. Because it led me to Tessa. She was everything I never knew I needed—bright, funny, unbelievably beautiful, and made just for me. She made me feel alive again, breathing life back into me when I was dying inside. I used to think we met by chance, but I'm more convinced than ever that nothing about us is a coincidence. It's fate, destiny, or whatever the hell you want to call it.

"Not long. I have a few things I need to do, and then I'll return to Chicago."

"Why don't you come home, Zane? It can't be good for you to be out there alone."

"I'm not alone, Mom. Besides, I have a job I love."

And a woman who loves me, who I sure as shit don't deserve right now.

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