Page 57 of Muse (Fighting Fate)

Jace laughed softly and tightened his arms around me.

“It’s not funny. I haven’t come across a time I’ve wanted you and haven’t been able to have you. It’s frustrating.”

He laughed loudly then and shifted so he was leaning on one elbow, looking down at me. “Welcome to every minute of my life with you, baby.”

I pressed my lips against his chest and inhaled. “Jace?”

He kissed the top of my head. “Mmm?”

“I want people to know.”

I felt him go still before he pulled back to look me in the eye. “Really?” His voice was full of concern, but I could see excitement in his eyes too.

“Yeah. Do you?”

“Fuck yeah I do. We could start by telling Aiden.”

It wasn’t the actual thought of telling Aiden that worried me. I knew if he could see how happy I was and how much Jace helped me with my anxiety, he’d be okay with us being together. It was the fact that he’d know we’d been sneaking around behind his back. I knew I couldn’t have done it any other way, but it still made me feel bad. “I’m not sure I want him to know yet. I was thinking maybe we could do it slowly, you know, like start talking more at school so everyone could see that we like each other…”

He frowned in thought. “Sure, but can we put a time limit on it? I’m so sick of having to put up with the other girls. They’re driving me crazy.”

The corner of my mouth twitched. I liked hearing that. “How about a week?”

He leaned down to kiss me. “Deal. Now, let’s watch a movie or something before we both end up severely frustrated.”

I giggled and reached for the remote.

Chapter 28

Jace

To say I was a little bit excited by lunchtime on Monday was an understatement. It was more than a little fucking weird for me to admit that, but there you have it. I, the self-proclaimed single man forever, was excited to let everyone know I had a girlfriend.

Striding out onto the green, I sat down beside Aiden, purposefully straddling the seat sideways to take up more room than necessary. As more people came to join us, I refused to relinquish the space, waiting for Mia to arrive and hopefully Aiden to play right into my hands.

I saw when she came up beside me with Kaeli, but I pretended to be too distracted to notice.

“Move the fuck over and make room for my sister you douche bag,” Aiden said suddenly, pushing at my leg.

I repressed a smile. Yep. Right into my hands…

Swinging my leg over the bench, I moved along, happily letting her sit beside me. She looked up at me shyly through her lashes and smiled. “Hi,” she breathed.

“Hey. How are you?” I didn’t really need to ask. We’d been texting all morning so I already knew exactly how she was, but I was determined to get this show on the road. One week. This was the beginning of the countdown.

“I’m okay. You?”

I grinned. “Couldn’t be better. Did you enjoy the careers talk?” All the seniors had just spent the entire morning attending talks relating to our chosen career fields. For people like me and the other guys in the band, it sucked royally, but I could tell by the tone of Mia’s texts that she

found it exciting. It actually made me realize that was another thing I didn’t know about her. I had no idea what she wanted to do when she left school.

It was obviously something everyone else found exciting too, because everyone around us was bubbling with enthusiasm. I guessed it was mostly the idea of getting out of high school and starting the next chapter in their lives. That I could relate to.

Mia’s eyes twinkled a little and she smiled again. “Yeah, although it’s made me a bit more indecisive about what I want to do now.”

“What are the choices?”

She bit her lip and frowned in thought. “Some type of therapy, I think…”

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