Mine Would Be You (96)

I flicker my eyes to Emma and back up to Jackson, who is oblivious. “Myles is coming.” He coughs lightly, furrowing his brows. “Or actually Myles is here.” I nod towards the door where Myles has now found us and is slowly making his way over.

“Jesus Christ,” he mumbles, and my heart beats slowly, and I grab his hand and tug his head down to mine.

“It’ll be fine, Jackson, I promise. And I didn’t know until about five minutes ago, and I’m sorry.”

Those blue eyes flash with humor despite him being annoyed. “Nina, I’m not mad at you. I just don’t want to talk to him.”

He never fails to reassure me over the littlest things, and it’s something I didn’t even know I needed until he came around.

I smile. “It’ll be fine, and it’ll be quick. And if you want to leave after, we can go get pizza and go home, okay?”

“Extra cheese?”

“Extra cheese.” I squeeze his hand just as Myles appears at the table.

Harper eyes him but thankfully, doesn’t say anything, and Roman gives me a glance and pulls her away. I assume to go dance, and I smile, nodding at him as he removes her from the situation. As he moves past, he gives Myles a quick hello, and I see Harper huff beside him, and I try not to laugh.

Myles places a kiss on Emma’s cheek, and Sloan and I watch to see what happens with careful eyes and held breaths. He looks up, greeting all of us, “Hey, guys.” He hesitates, draping his coat on Emma’s chair behind her. “Jackson, can I talk to you? I’ll make it quick.”

I see Jackson’s jaw tense just slightly, but he nods and pats my butt before downing his drink and walking with Myles over to the bar. “This should be fun,” Emma jokes, and we all laugh, the tension having evaporated at the table with the two men gone for the time being.

I watch them as casually as possible as I sip my drink and talk with Emma and Sloan. About work, about Christmas plans, and life in general. Emma tells us how therapy is going with her and Myles. Sloan is almost fully booked every day at the salon. I tell them details about upcoming articles, but none of it is that exciting in the winter. It’s the easy season there, at least for me, and especially after September. So, I’m just enjoying Christmas time and getting to write articles for print and the website.

It feels like the boys have been talking forever. My eyes flicker back to them occasionally during our conversation, trying to read Jackson’s facial expressions. His mouth is set straight, but from here it doesn’t look like he’s tensing his jaw or prepared to walk away. He just looks slightly indifferent as Myles talks with his hands, but he starts nodding along, taking sips of another drink, and finally starts talking too, and I smile softly, happy that he’s at least trying or at least being open about how he feels, I hope.

“How do we think this is gonna go?” Emma asks, her eyes on the two of them as well.

I take a sip. “Hopefully they’ll at least be able to be civil, that’s all I want.”

Sloan nods. “I think they will be. I think it was a bit rough, but it seems like they both want to move forward.”

Finally, after what seems like hours, even though I’ve barely finished my drink, I’m surprised to see them hug. It starts off a bit awkward, even from here I can see the distance that they’re maintaining, but after a moment something changes. Myles pats his back, and my heart hurts, because I just know it’s about his dad. They pull back, and the slight awkwardness returns when they separate, but it was a step. Each one took a step.

Myles has shown he’s trying to grow up, not just saying it. I’m not saying he’s earned forgiveness yet or will, but I hope Jackson realizes it’s okay to miss someone even if they made mistakes.

They walk back with easy smiles on their faces, talking as they do. Myles sits right next to Emma when he reaches the table, handing her another drink.

Sloan glances between the four of us and downs her drink. “I’m gonna go dance. I’ll see everyone later or maybe not. Love you lots!” And before any of us can respond, she’s gone, into the crowd.

“Be safe!” I shout after her, and she gives me a thumbs up before disappearing.

Jackson comes back to me, standing directly behind me and wrapping his arms around my shoulders until my chin is practically resting on his forearms. I sip my drink, leaning back as we start casually swaying to the heavy bass reverberating through the bar. When I realize Emma and Myles have fallen into their own conversation, I tug on Jackson’s shirt.

He doesn’t unwind his arms from around me but leans down. “¿Estás bien?” I lean my head on his arm and look at him. A smile starts to spread on his face, and my stomach erupts into flutters.

I know he wants to learn so I’m trying to be better about speaking it more around him.

“Not perfect, but I think we’ll be okay. He apologized for his actions, his words, and so did I, for not telling him what was going on. He said he’s trying, and I can see that,” he says, mouth brushing against my ear. “And he said he was sorry about my dad. He always loved my dad. They got along really well. I told him we could just see what happens.”

Softly, I squeeze the arms that are around me with my palms. “I think that’s great, that’s enough. You don’t have to be best friends again, but I think that’s good.”