Page 79 of Nerdelicious
Hot tears threaten. I know it’s a lot to ask, for him to leave his only family, the only people he’s loved to be with me, but I want to be the one that comes first for him. It’s unfair and selfish. Grace is only fourteen, she needs him more than I do, and I can’t stay. Not even this burgeoning romance, epic as it might feel, can stop me from following my dreams. Even if it means breaking my own heart. I can’t have another Jack in my life, but I also can’t be the Jack in his.
A dull ache thumps behind my eyes, and I press my fingers to my temples like it will keep the pain at bay.
So what if Grace and Jude are the Jacks? Maybe everyone is someone else’s Jack. Maybe it doesn’t matter. Maybe life isn’t always neat and tidy and people don’t fit into the boxes we want to place them in. Maybe it won’t be perfect, but maybe that’s okay. Isn’t it?
“If you could move, would you? If Grace didn’t need you, or if she was... older?”
He nods, his eyes both wistful and sad.If there were any other way, I would go with you in a heartbeat. This is Grace’s first chance for something normal and stable, finally, and I can’t take it from her. Maybe someday, when she’s older, but not now.
I nod. “I know. I get it.” I brush away the wet streaking down my face with the back of my hand.
He crushes me to him. Kisses my tears away. His chest vibrates under my cheek. He’s trying to speak but can’t. Only a moan emerges.
He pushes me away and snatches his phone. For the first time, he’s visibly frustrated with his lack of speech and my heart twists.
He types into the phone, but it takes a little longer than usual.We can make this work. Just because you are following your dreams doesn’t mean you can’t be a part of mine.
I put my hand on the side of his face, rubbing a thumb over his cheek. Holding the memory of his words inside me. I’m a part of his dreams. Nothing has ever felt so good or right. But... “How? How is it going to work if I’m two thousand miles away?” The question is a desperate plea, and he meets it with a firm jaw and another question.
Do you want this to work?
“Yes. Of course.”
Then it will. There is no one else for me.The look he tosses me after I read his words is a challenge.
I stiffen my spine. “Me, too.”
Good, he mouths, then he chucks the phone to the side and tugs me into him.
Later that afternoon, we’re back at the ranch. Grace is on the couch, Jude and Beast on either side of her, and Granny and I sit across from them.
I wasn’t sure that I should be present at all, but Granny insisted that I be there since Grace’s actions have directly affected me and she wants Grace to have to deal with the consequences.
Earlier today, the happy couples returned from visiting Annabel and Fitz’s parents. Beast and I told Jude the story, and he was able to confirm Grace’s virtual shenanigans using technology and know-how that is beyond my capabilities. I was right. She messed with Comix’s phone and email systems.
Too much time has passed for Jude to confirm if she also messed with Beast’s past culinary school application, but it doesn’t seem to matter much to him anyway.
When confronted, at first Grace denies having anything to do with the phony email and call routing, but when Jude shows her how he was able to track it back to her, she bursts into tears, burying her face in Beast’s shoulder.
“I’m sorry,” she tells me when the first round of tears has abated.
“I forgive you.” How could I not?
Granny rolls her eyes at my easy acquiescence. “It’s not right to mess with people’s lives. This is someone you care about.”
“I know. It’s just... Fred, I don’t want you to leave.” She’s leaning into Beast, Jude holding one of her hands on the other side. I reach out and take her free hand.
“I’m not dying. We’ll still be friends. And I’ve told you, you can come stay with me anytime.”
“People come and go in your life, baby girl,” Jude says with a squeeze of her hand. “And Fred won’t be one of them. I reckon she’s gonna stick whether she lives here or not.” He winks at me.
Grace looks at me and then Beast and back again. “I don’t want you to leave Beast either. I know you’ve been together and trying to hide it from me. You can’t hurt him.”
Beast and I lock eyes for a second and I pat Grace’s hand. “What’s happening between Beast and me is between us. But I would never hurt him. I couldn’t.”
It would be like stabbing myself in the heart, but I can’t admit that much in front of everyone.
She nods and looks up at him.
