Page 1 of Finding Our Tomorrow
CHAPTER ONE
JAX
Present Day
“What’s all this for?”I step into the condo I share with my longtime girlfriend, Willow, and find rose petals and candles scattered all over the place. When I glance at our coffee table, two champagne flutes are sitting on top with a bucket of ice and a bottle of champagne next to it. I was only gone for a couple hours, having a beer with my brother, Jase.
Willow steps forward, and her lips curl into a shy smile, a look I rarely see on her face. My girlfriend isn’t shy by any means. With her midnight black hair that has different colors running through it—this month it’s blue, that same blue that matches her eyes—tattoos covering most of her arms, perky tits, and tanned, toned legs for days, she’s sexy as fuck. And with herI don’t give a fuckattitude, she’s sassy as hell. With her heart that beats outside of her chest, she’s giving and loving and selfless. But she isn’t shy. So when she hits me with that rare smile, I know something is up.
“Today is our ten-year anniversary,” she tells me, her shy smile splitting into a wide grin. I give her a shocked look. Not because I don’t know what today is, but because Willow Montgomery doesn’t celebrate anniversaries. So the fact that she’s standing before me, suddenly celebrating our anniversary, definitely has my interest piqued.
“It is,” I agree. “An entire decade of getting to spend every day with you.”
Willow’s eyes fill with tears, and my thoughts jump to a worst-case scenario. “Baby, what’s wrong?” Whatever it is, we’ll deal with it together. My girlfriend may live for today, but she knows I’m always going to be right by her side, living for today with her.
“Nothing is wrong,” she says, taking another step forward. “I’m just…I’m kind of nervous.”
Pulling her into my arms, I plant a kiss on her forehead. She smells like the lotion she puts on every morning after she gets out of the shower. Light Blue by Dolce & Gabbana. It’s sweet and feminine and I could recognize the scent anywhere. “You’re going to have to help me out here,” I murmur. “You were just smiling and now you’re in tears.”
Willow pulls back and wipes the tears from her eyes. “Jax, you are everything to me. You aren’t just my boyfriend, you’re my best friend, my other half.”
My heart pounds against my ribcage with every word she speaks. “I feel the same way.”
She pulls something out of the front pocket of her jeans. A ring… No, notaring. Two rings. “I’m ready, Jax,” she says through her watery smile. “I’m ready to marry you. To spend the rest of my life as your wife. Jaxson Crawford, will you marry me?”
My gaze flits between Willow’s hope-filled eyes and the two rings she’s holding. The one I bought for her ten years ago, anda simple silver band that I’m assuming is meant for me. I want so badly to say yes, but before I do, I need to know one thing. “What’s changed your mind?”
Smiling, Willow places the rings on the coffee table and grabs a small, square black book. “This.”
She hands it to me, and I turn to the first page and then the second and then the third. Each page is filled with pictures of us, of our life, starting with the first night she took pity on me and took me out with her.
CHAPTER TWO
JAX
Ten Years Ago
“I’m out, bro,”Jase, my younger brother, says, popping his head into my workstation. While I’m waiting for my last appointment of the day to arrive, I’m working on a sketch for another client.
“Already?” I glance over at the clock and see it’s only six o’clock.
“Promised Celeste and Sky I would pick up dinner and bring it to them. They’re getting ready for that fashion show coming up. You want to come over for dinner?”
He asks the same question every day, and every day I tell him the same thing. “I’m good, bro. Go be with your family.”
For as far back as I can remember, Jase, our sister Quinn, and I have lived together. Whether it was in North Carolina where we grew up, or here in New York, where we’ve been living for the last several years. We’ve always stuck together. Until recently, when both my siblings moved out and in with their significant others. It’s weird living on my own. I’m almost fortyyears old and I’ve never had a place to myself. I imagined the townhouse would become a bachelor pad. I would throw parties every night and have women over without having to worry about the innocent ears of my niece hearing anything. But after a couple months, the partying got old, and the mindless sex got even older.
As much as I would love to spend time with Jase or Quinn, I don’t want to impose. They moved out for a reason. To start their own lives. It’s not like I don’t see them every day. Quinn helps out occasionally by running the front desk at the tattoo shop Jase and I own: Forbidden Ink. And since I work with Jase at said tattoo shop, I see him every day.
“You sure?” he asks.
“Yeah, man. I’m going to head home after my appointment and get some shut eye. Late night, last night.” Late night watching reruns of Breaking Bad on Netflix…
“All right, well, if you change your mind…”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. Get out of here, and make sure you give my favorite niece a kiss.”
“She’s your only niece,” Jase volleys.
