Page 40 of Final Goodbye
She may be stubborn, but she had a thing or two to learn about me. I was always going to pay for a woman’s meal. I was raised a gentleman and thoroughly enjoyed spoiling my girl.
My girl.
It wasn’t the first time I caught myself thinking those two words. Somehow, someway, and some fucking day, I would make Paige officially mine.
We settled up the lunch tab and made our way out of the restaurant. I wasn’t ready for us to go our separate ways just yet. To my knowledge, we both had the rest of the day off, so why not make the most of it?
“What do you say, a little drive around in your new car? I’d love to be the first passenger.” Once again, I gave her that smile I knew she couldn’t say no to.
“I guess it’s theleastI could do after all you have done to help me. Come on, Cooper. Hop in.” She nodded her head toward her bright new shiny blue car that was absolutely perfect for her.
She may not be sitting behind the wheel of a sports car, but damn, she looked good. It was the way her smile reached her emerald-green eyes, the look of pure happiness on her face. A look I felt like I haven’t seen on her since she came back.
I could see behind the mask she’d been wearing for weeks, the façade she put on at work. But at the moment, she looked proud and genuinely happy about purchasing this car. It’s a big accomplishment everyone would make at some point in their lives, and I was happy to be sitting next to Paige, noticing that feeling sinking in for her.
“You okay there, lover boy? You look lost in that handsome head of yours.” Blinking a few times and coming to my senses, I shook myself out of whatever trance I was just caught up in.
“Lover boy?” I looked at her, one eyebrow propped up.
“You were gawking. Couldn’t stop staring at me there for a minute. It’s either because you’re in love with me or I have a giant zit on my forehead.” I knew she was joking, but I enjoyed the idea of loving her. Bringing her home to my parents and being around her family, what was left of them anyway. I enjoyed the thought of her staying here like she mentioned backat the dealership. I liked it a little too much even. I didn’t want to freak her out, but I wanted to bring out the vulnerability inside her.
“I was thinking about how happy you look. With everything you’ve been through these last few weeks, I know it’s been tough, but you look like you’re on your way to healing.” I took a deep breath and connected my gaze with hers. “How are youreallydoing, Paige?” I asked with a hint of concern in my tone. We were still sitting in the parking lot of the restaurant, not taking that drive around in her new car just yet. But we had all day for that. I just wanted to take advantage of this moment here to talk with her. To check in with her.
Her brows furrowed as she tucked a string of dark hair behind her ear, looking back at me. She was spinning her ring around her finger like she normally did when she was thinking or nervous.
Her mouth finally parted as she began speaking gently, “In this moment, I’m happy. But I’m also confused.”
“What makes you confused?” I asked.
“I always thought being back here would make me miserable. I never wanted to come back here. It was small and stuffy, and I didn’t have people here who cared about me. But now that I’ve been back, it feels different. A good kind of different. Don’t get me wrong, I think about my dad every day. I miss him. I think about my mom and everything she opened up to me about all the time.” Her chest moved up and down as she took a big breath before finishing, “But I can feel myself healing. I may not have closure to his accident but being here helps me feel closer to him than I would be if I were back in Phoenix.” I looked at her, waiting for her to finish her thought. I was feeling selfishly happy that she came back, like this was all supposed to happen for a reason.
“I need to be back here. For good,” she admitted.
For good.
She had no idea how badly I needed to hear her say those two words out loud. I never wanted to sit here and beg her not to leave, even though I would have fallen to my knees for her if she threatened it.
“You know, I’ve heard you mention staying here a couple of times now, and I can’t help but notice the brand-new car smell that surrounds us right now. It’s a pretty big commitment to buy something like this.” I chose to keep the conversation light. I didn’t want to ruin this happy day of hers. She deserved more happy days, and I wanted to be the reason she had more of them going forward.
“I already feel more at home being back here than I felt in Phoenix. I closed myself off. I didn’t open up to people. I didn’t have close friends for as long as I was there. I worked, I made money, and I had plenty of work friends and acquaintances. But there wasn’t one person I felt like I couldn’t leave behind. I’ve only been back for a little while, but I can already tell I enjoy my job more here. I love Sophie, and I think we could be great friends. My mom and I are better than ever, which is crazy, and I want to see Chase continue to grow up. I have a lot of reasons to stick around.”
“Is that all? Nothing else you’ve found yourself enjoying lately?” I let out in a flirty tone, giving her a small nudge on the arm.
“Hmm…” She placed her finger on her chin, giving it a few taps as she looked to the sky, like she had to think hard about this.
“Well, Logan hasn’t been around for a while. Maybe he got the picture and is distancing himself from me. I was always nervous to come back because I thought he would be the complete opposite. Kind of like he was when I first came back to town.” She had a good point there, but it wasn’t necessarilywhat I thought she was going to say. While she was thinking positively about Logan not being around, I had a feeling wewouldbe seeing him a little bit more. A gut feeling told me he wasn’t done with whatever shit he was trying to pull. It was only a matter of time before he brought back the anger in me that’s been suppressed for a few days.
“Ah, yes, Logan. Can’t forget about that stand-up guy,” I said in a sarcastic tone while rolling my eyes. Looking over at Paige, her hands were covering her face, her shoulders shaking. Was she crying? Fuck… I couldn’t live with myself if I said something that made her cry. I reached over, cupping her chin in my hand.
“Hey… I’m so sorry If I said something wrong. I didn’t mean to bring up old emotions between your dad or Logan. I’m so sorry.” And then a burst of laughter escaped her tiny body.
“Oh my God. Declan, you should see your face when you’re jealous.” This fucking girl. I couldn’t even be mad at her. She was laughing, shoulders still shaking, and she looked so happy.
Was I the one to put that giant smile on her face?
“I’m not jealous…” I lied. In between chuckles, she gave me a side-eye like she was calling me on my shit.
“Okay, okay… I just figured maybe I was a little bit of the reason you liked being back here. I mean, it was pretty apparent you enjoyed your time with me when you used my dick to come in your panties the other night in my living room.” Her jaw dropped to the floor as she slapped me across the arm.
