Page 69 of Don't Remind Me
I lowered my fork to my plate, bite of lasagna still on it, and put the plate on the coffee table. “How could she possibly think that?”
He shrugged one shoulder, poking at his own lasagna without moving to eat more. I’d be worried he lied about liking it, except I didn’t think he was actually seeing it right now. He was back at his parents’ house, reliving whatever that conversation had been with his mom.
“I never…fit into their world. No matter how much I tried as a kid, I just always liked different things and thought in a different way. By high school, I’d stopped trying.”
“And Alec?” I didn’t have any siblings, so I couldn’t know firsthand, but I imagined that Alec’s relationship with their parents had to have an impact on Jase.
“He fit.”
It was the way he said it, like he was somehow a failure for not being his brother, that cleaved my heart in two.
I took his plate from his hands and set it on the coffee table next to mine, then climbed onto his lap and straddled his legs. His eyes fell to my collarbone, and I took his face in both hands and forced him to meet my gaze.
“You’re the best man I’ve ever known.” I held his stare so he could see I meant every word. “One of the bestpeopleI’ve ever known.”
He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing.
“And if your parents can’t see that, it’s their loss.” I bit back the other words I had for them.They’re fools. They should be ashamed. They can go fuck themselves.Something told me Jase wasn’t ready to hear those. He still wanted a relationship with his parents, still sought their approval despite all he’d already accomplished not being enough to get it. And it wasn’t for me to tell him not to want that, as much as I wished I could.
A tear rolled down his cheek, and his eyes fell closed as I brushed it away with my thumb. I kissed his cheek where it had been, wanting to replace his hurt with something gentle.
He pulled me to his chest, locking his arms around me as my head came to rest on his shoulder. We stayed like that for a while, the steady beat of his heart against mine, our chests rising and falling in tandem as we breathed.
I would have given almost anything to stay like that forever, at peace in his arms. Would have given just as much for him to feel that same peace with his family. For him to no longer believe his place was along the edge of the room, looking in at the party from the outside.
I didn’t know if that was possible. Parents didn’t always change. Mine hadn’t.
What I did know was he’d never find that peace with his family with me at his side. And for every moment like this we shared together, it was going to be that much harder when I had to let him go.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Jase
“The blackenedgreen beans are running low on the banquet table, Chef,” Dani said, poking her head into the hotel kitchen off the event space where the first night of the symposium was currently underway.
She’d taken to calling me Chef tonight, I’m sure to maintain professionalism in front of her bosses and event donors, and it went straight to my dick every time. I wanted to hear her say it in that breathy cry she gave right before she came on my cock.
“Already?” I asked, soaking her in with my gaze. She was glowing, a blush to her cheeks, eyes radiant against the deep green of her sleek jumpsuit. I’d watched her all night as she coordinated every last detail of the cocktail hour, reaping the payoff of all the hard work she’d put in these last months, making it look as easy as pouring a bowl of cereal.
“They can’t get enough,” she said with a gleam in her eye, her smile just for me. It took all my self-control not to pull her into the kitchen, press her against the door, and kiss the hell out of her.
It had been like that for weeks, ever since the baby shower, my need for her a constant, tangible force trying to burst through my skin.
I’d been prepared for the opposite. For the shower to be the crack that grew into a wedge between us. But then I’d gotten home to her cooking for me, and…it still overwhelmed me to think about.
No one had ever cooked like that for me before. Sure, Aubrey and the line cooks prepared staff meals that I ate, and my mom had cooked dinners for our family growing up. But no one had ever cooked something just forme. As something nice to do, as a way to take care of me. And especially after the mess of the shower, to feel seen like that? It was more than I knew how to say.
So I’d shown her instead. I hoped I had, at least. Hoped I’d said it with every kiss and every embrace, every morsel I fed her since. And I’d continue to try, starting with doing everything in my power to make sure this symposium went off without a hitch.
“I’ll start sending out smaller batches so we don’t run out as fast,” I told her.
“Thank you.”
“Whatever you need.”
Her lips inched higher as she turned away, allowing me the briefest glimpse of her ass before the door swung closed.
“Half tray?” Aubrey asked from down the line, already pulling out more green beans.
