Page 38 of Cherish

“That fucker wants you now that someone else has you,” Ananda says. I shake my head at her and answer my phone, signaling for them to shut up.

“Hey, babe.” We continue walking toward the Charles/MGH red line stop. “We’re headed downtown.”

“I miss you.”

“I miss you, too.” Mellie and Ananda smirk at each other, but they laugh when I stick my tongue out at them.

“I want you to go back home with Mellie tonight. The forecast is calling for rain overnight and I don’t want you alone in case of a thunderstorm.”

“You’re so bossy. I liked it better when you were mute.”

He lets out a loud, carefree laugh. “We’ll spend some nights over at your place when we get back from the wedding. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Good. Let me talk to Mellie, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

^^^^

The first text came the next morning. After a fun evening of shopping with my girlfriends. To my surprise, Mellie pulled out Jason’s credit card and paid for all our dresses. I argued, but Ananda told me to shut up and to accept my boyfriend’s largesse. She had no problem letting him buy her dress. After shopping, we have a fun dinner at a Mexican restaurant where we order one too many drinks. The entire evening, I never even give Doyle another thought.

When I wake up in the middle of Jason’s king-sized bed, I reach over for my phone, expecting to see messages from him.

Good morning.

That’s all it said, but it wasn’t from Jason. It was from John.

One exasperated groan later, I flop back on the bed. The next text message I get definitely puts a smile on my face, and one hour later, the reason for that smile is waiting for me outside my favorite café.

I collide with his strong chest, and he lifts me off the ground with just one arm, kissing me until I’m breathless. Hand in hand, we walk inside the café.

“You’re glowing, Alex,” Tina says as she offers us menus. Knowing exactly what we want, we both decline. She brings coffee for me and sleepy time tea for Jason. “When did this happen?” She gestures between me and Jason. “Was it when you were both in here a few weeks ago?”

“It started way before that for me.” I smile at his words. He lifts my hand off the table and kisses it.

After taking our orders and dropping them off at the kitchen, Tina comes back to sit at our table, demanding to hear how we got together. We tell her the entire sordid tale. From Jason seeing me right here in the café, to him losing the ability to speak when we bumped into each other. Tina gets a kick out of Ananda and Mellie tricking me into going to Jason’s party, and she swoons when we tell her we took things to a whole new level that night.

“I saw the chemistry right away.” The door opens, and a big group walks in. “Oh, I have some new pictures of Owen. I’ll be right back.” She pulls out a stack of photos from her apron and tosses them on the table.

“Isn’t he adorable?” After looking through the pictures several times, Jason takes them from me and puts them back in Tina’s apron as she serves us our food.

“He is adorable, but you are drop-dead gorgeous, and I can’t wait for us to get out of the city.” He kisses my neck, causing goose bumps to erupt all over my body. “I’ll have obligations as the best man, but after the wedding, I’m going to take my time and love every inch of you.”

“I can’t wait.”

After a long moment, he bumps his nose with mine before turning back to his food.

CHAPTER 25

JASON

We need to talk. When would be a good time?

I type the word never, but delete it, deciding against being that immature. I do what I promised I would. I ignore the text and block the number.

“Come on!” I quickly walk to the back of the house toward Mellie’s room. The door’s wide open and the room looks like the day after a tornado. Clothes are strewn everywhere, and I trip on a shoe in the middle of the room. “Are you fucking kidding me, Mellie?”

She ignores me, zips up another bag full of shoes and throws it over her shoulder. While Ananda and Alex look through her closet, I kick the clothes and shoes out of the way.

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