One More Time(54)

I let her lead me through the door. I guess she does trust me not to hurt the guy I found in her bed. Although the only possible way for me to inflict the same pain on him that he has on me would be to rip his heart out, and I’m not sure even my Jet alter-ego could justify that.

She sits me down at the kitchen island, in the same room with Walter. We’re actually going to discuss this in front of him?

I look back and forth from Walter to Jenna, warily. But she’s important to me, so I let this ride out. For now.

“Firstly,” she says, “I understand how you feel. And thank you for staying and telling me. But here is the part you don’t know—Walter came over last night so we could hang out, watch your amazing performance on SNL, and chat about our boyfriends. And then we fell asleep.”

My heart starts racing all over again. “Okay, right, after ‘chatting’ about your boyf...wait. Boyfriends? As in both of you have boyfriends?”

I whip my head around to look at Walter again. He is cheerfully making cappuccinos on Jenna’s espresso machine. There are three mugs in front of him, and two of them are pink, as is the elaborate kimono he’s donned.

He looks over, catches my eye and gives me an exaggerated wink.

Oh.

Oh.

“I…” The storm of emotion drains from my body, leaving me tired, embarrassed, and stuttering. Not to mention relieved. “But you have to admit that was really confusing…”

“Yes. It was. You’re right. And I would have told you what to expect if I’d been expecting you this morning.”

I can feel my ears turning pink. “I wanted to surprise you, and it backfired just a tad.”

“Just a tad,” Walter says, setting down fresh coffee in front of me and a tea in front of Jenna. “But let me tell you, as someone who’s hated you since I met her, I’m pretty jazzed to see how passionate you are about her now.” The arched brow and little shimmy he gives leaves me no doubt that Jenna has described our passion in great detail to him.

“Can we start over?” I ask.

“Nope.”

And my heart falls into my stomach.

“Because you were right about a lot of things you said when you thought Walter and I had sex. And we need to address that. We probably should have done it a week ago.”

With that, Walter tastefully melts into the living room with his coffee.

“Most importantly, I’m sorry. I’ve owed you this apology for a very long time, and this seems like the right time for it. I’m sorry for running away from you ten years ago. It was wrong and shortsighted and stubborn. When I thought you were gone, it was really scary to wonder if you’d ever come back. It’s easy to assume, and really hard to swallow your pride and actually talk to someone.”

She’s tearing up, and holds up a finger to save her place while she heads to the bathroom to blow her nose. I get up and frantically gesture to Walter, and have to just hope he understands me because she isn’t gone long.

When she’s back in the room, Jenna opens her mouth to continue, but I cut her off. “Can I have the speaking stick back?”

“Sure. We don’t have a stick, though.”

“How about I use your hand, then?”

I reach down and take her hand in my own. Her smooth skin gives me an instant sense of calm. This morning might have started on a really sour note, but in a strange way it’s actually been a great thing to happen. We’ve both proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that although we still fit as well as we did ten years ago, we’ve also grown up in all the ways that count.

The next time we are tested—and in Hollywood, we will be—I know we’ll come to each other first.

So there’s nothing that feels more appropriate now than to finish exactly what I started last night before the show.

“I’m sorry about today, too,” I tell her, rubbing my thumb along the back of her hand. “I should have handled it better. But I’m mostly sorry that I didn’t make it clear how important you were to me ten years ago. Instead of letting you go so that you could make your dreams come true without me in the way, I should have found a way to make your dreams come true with me. I wasted a lot of time not having you in my life. And I don’t want to make that mistake again.”

She’s tearing up again, and this time I make no effort at all to hide the fact that my eyes are also shining.

“You have made me happier over the past three months than I have been in the ten years since we’ve been apart. I was an idiot for suggesting we take it slow. I don’t want to spend another day without you in my life.” I use my free hand to reach into my pocket, whip out the Tiffany ring box and fall to one knee. “Jenna Stahl, I love you, and I will always love you. Will you please marry me?”

She’s in my arms before that final word comes out of my mouth.

“Yes, yes, yes!” she sobs over and over again, laughing at the same time.

I hold her tight, closing my eyes in silent thanks.

When I open them again, I see Walter had understood exactly what I was asking. He holds up his phone, where he’s captured the entire proposal, and then bursts into sobs louder than Jenna’s and joins us for a hug. I pat him awkwardly. I’m excited to get to know Jenna’s best friend, but normally I only like one person in lingerie crying on me at a time.