Stay with Me (Wait for You, #3)(139)

I swallowed, but the lump was stuck in my throat.

His eyes searched mine. “I love you, Calla. Me owning the bar doesn’t change that. If it did, then I don’t want a f*cking part of it. All I want is you.”

Staring back at him, I couldn’t get any words out of my mouth. Everything he said whirled around in my head. I was overwhelmed.

“Calla,” he whispered.

I shook my head, at a loss for what to say.

“Say something, honey. I don’t want to give up on you, but you’ve got to say something to stop me from walking out that door.”

So many things I wanted and needed to say rose in my throat, but nothing came out. It was like having performance anxiety. I was frozen where I stood and it was so quiet in the room I swore everyone could hear my heart pound.

Jax expelled a rough breath as he held my gaze and then he turned and walked away. He walked right out that door, and I stood there, staring at his retreating form, watching the door swing shut.

I didn’t say anything.

I seriously stood there.

And I watched him walk away.





Thirty-four


“Oh God,” Avery said, sitting down on the edge of the bed. She stared up at me. “He fell for you before you even knew his name?”

Teresa was also staring at me with wide, watery eyes. “Calla . . .”

I still couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think of anything to say. I was a statue.

Jase turned his head to me, brows raised. “If I liked guys—you know, swung that way, I’d get naked after that.”

I blinked. Um.

“And I’d put a ring on that,” Cam added, moving to where Avery sat.

I blinked again. Uh.

Teresa snorted. “I’m in a happy, love-of-my-life relationship, so Jase, take no offense to what I’m about to say, but I’m about to do all those things. My God, girl, that was beautiful. That was real. And that hurt to hear and you just let him walk right out of here.”

I did.

I let him walk right out of here.

“Calla,” Teresa called softly.

Shaking my head, I looked at her. “What am I doing?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “But I think you know what you need to be doing.”

I did. Oh God, I really did know what I needed to be doing. The bar. The secrets. The whatever. It didn’t matter. “I’m so f*cking dumb,” I said.

Cam’s brows flew up.

Then I took off, clenching my cell phone like it gave me extra ability to run as if a T. rex were chasing after me. I threw open the door without looking back and tore out into the hallway. Of course, Jax wasn’t there. I ran down the hall, passing the elevator, and hit the stairwell. They were on the third floor and I’d never run down steps as fast as I did at that moment and not break my neck.

By the time I hit the lobby and ran past a startled-looking hotel clerk, the stitch in my side was spreading across my whole stomach. I barreled through the doors like something straight out of a cheesy Hallmark movie and sucked in oxygen.

“Jax!” I shouted, shooting out from underneath the hotel awning. My eyes scanned the parking lot, not seeing his truck. The place was packed in the front. “Jax!”

There was no answer from the ground or from the stars. I slowed at the edge of the lot, breathing deeply as I turned and jogged down the aisle, my gaze darting over the cars. Had he left? My heart sank as I stopped again, bending over and pressing my hand against my side.

Well, pressing my cell phone against my side.

I’d call him. God, I was so dumb. I could’ve just called him. Straightening, I went to tap on the screen when my heart stuttered to a stop.

“Calla.”

Wheeling around, I almost dropped my phone when I saw Jax standing several feet away from me. I didn’t stop to think about doing anything or turning into another dumbass statue.

My sandals almost flew off my feet as I took off again, running straight toward him and I didn’t stop. Nope. I smacked right into his hard body and threw my arms around his shoulders, holding on so tight I could’ve doubled as a Snuggie.

Jax didn’t move for a second and then his arms swept around me as I said, “I love you. Keep Mona’s. It’s yours. And yeah, you should’ve told me, but I still love you. I do.”

He drew back so I could see his shadowed face. When he didn’t say anything, I started rambling. “I’m dumb. Okay? I have this history of doing dumb things, so I just stood there. But in my defense, a lot of crazy shit has happened lately and you just admitted to seeing me way before I even knew you existed. That alone is a lot to process. And you said that you fell for me before you even met me, and now things kind of make sense to me, because I just couldn’t figure out how you could be so accepting of me when you just met me, but you—”

He cut off my stream of words with his mouth and there was nothing gentle about this kiss. It was rich and deep, all-consuming, and it wasn’t a slow seduction. The kiss seared me, claimed me, and as his tongue swept over mine, I moaned into his mouth.

When he did break the kiss, his lips brushed mine as spoke. “All you needed to say was that you loved me. That was all.”

A laugh choked out of me. “I love you, Jackson James. I love you. I love—”

His arms tightened again and his deep growl rumbling out of his chest silenced me. Our gazes locked. “I need to be in you. Now.”