Page 99 of Old Fashioned
“Me, either.”
“How’s your mom?”
He sighed. “She’s shaken up, too. I mean, of course she’s relieved we found out what happened, we got proof for what we’d known all along, but… it’s also her worst nightmare, you know? Now sheknowsthe love of her life was murdered, and all because of a jealous man who loved her and wanted her to love him, in return.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know how he can live with himself.”
“Me either.”
“Do you think they’ll give you half of the company now? I mean, your family?”
“I’m not sure,” he confessed. “Mary said she wants to talk to Mom about that this week, but… to be honest, it’s the last thing on my mind right now.”
“I get that. Are your brothers okay?”
“For the most part. I mean, they’re all worried about Mom, mostly. And about me.”
I leaned up again. “And areyouokay?”
Jordan kept his eyes on the ceiling, thinking for a while before he answered with a small smile. “Yeah… I am.”
“You are?”
He nodded, sweeping my bed hair out of my face and holding my cheek as I leaned into the touch. “I still have a lot of questions, and a lot of feelings — especially regarding my biological parents. But… mostly, I feel at peace. I feel like my dad can finally rest, that my family can finally heal, that we can finally have justice and resolution that we have wanted for so long.” He paused, tapping my nose. “And I have you,” he whispered. “Which, honestly, is what makes me feel the best right now.”
I smiled. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” he said on a nod, leaning up to kiss me gently before he rolled us so he was nestled between my legs, and my head was flush against the pillow. “I know we still have a lot to figure out, but… hearing that you love me? I think that gave me the sense that nothing else matters.”
My heart squeezed. “I wanted to tell you before all of this. You know that, right?”
“I wanted to tell you, too. At Thanksgiving, actually. But then everything happened with Mallory, and you were so upset, and I didn’t want to put any pressure on you.”
“I seem to remember you putting alotof pressure on me that night,” I teased, rolling my hips up to meet where he rested between my thighs.
He groaned, pinning me with a kiss before he pulled back and smiled. “It’s just crazy. My entire life, I watched Mom and Dad love each other and wondered if I’d ever find someone like that. And honestly, I’d given up. My brothers found their girls, and I watched from the background, just imagining that I would never be able to open myself up like that, or to have someone who would open up tomelike that, either.”
“And then I came along.”
“Yep. And you put my ass in place.”
“Someone had to.”
He chuckled. “Well, you were perfect for the job.”
“I knew I was in trouble after that first game,” I confessed. “When we fought in my office, and you were all up in my space, and you looked at my mouth like you wanted to kiss me.”
“Ididwant to kiss you,” Jordan groaned, and he kissed up and down my neck like a feverish mad man as I laughed and shoved him off. “And I’ve wanted to kiss you every moment since, too.”
“We broke all the rules.”
“I’m sure we’ll break a few more.”
He hovered over me, eyes searching mine as I played with the hair at the back of his neck.
“I love you,” I mouthed.
“I love you, too,” he mouthed back.
