She was such a great friend. “He broke it off after the show in LA. He told me he had to think of his daughter. I wouldn’t ever abandon him, but he left me anyway.”
“For someone who preaches against drama, he certainly is being a bit dramatic.” Zoey looked at me pensively.
“Right?” I nearly yelled. “I’m going through the stages of grief, and I’m kind moving toward pissed right now.”
“Try to talk to him tonight,” Zoey encouraged. “I bet when you see each other, it will all fall into place.”
“I miss him so much,” I cried. “I love him so much.”
“I know.” Zoey clung to me. “I totally know.”
“Zoey, the band doesn’t know, so could you please make sure that when you tell Ty, you let him know that he can’t tell Jace he knows,” I begged. “Please, I don’t want him to know I’ve betrayed him, he made me promise not to tell you.”
“I’ll tell him,” Zoey promised.
On Christmas day, my mom and I went to Ty and Zoey’s together. We helped Ty set up some extra lights and decorations after Ty pulled me aside to tell me that he was going to ask Zoey to marry him. Genuine happiness filled my body. I decided that, no matter how Jace acted, tonight would be a fun night. I wanted to celebrate my best friend and her long-lost love finding each other again. Which we did in spades when Zoey gleefully accepted his proposal.
After getting caught up in their happiness I hoped that Jace would feel the same way. When my overtures were rejected, I was devastated. When he stormed out the door, it felt like it was the final nail in the coffin.
Chapter 31
JACE
When the door slammed behind me, I crumpled on the front steps of Ty and Zoey’s house. I’d never created a scene in my life. The past weeks had been so stressful, I knew I was falling apart. I wasn’t accustomed to being out of control and I hated it. Leaning against the stone wall, I burrowed under my warm coat and pulled out the envelope I was too scared to open.
I heard the click of the door and looked up to see Zoey approaching tentatively. Wrapped in a big puffy coat, she sat beside me.
“Hey,” she said, looking at me, trying to catch my eye.
“I’m sorry about my behavior in there, Zoey.” I pinched my nose. “I didn’t mean to ruin your engagement.”
“You couldn’t ever ruin it, Jace.” She nudged me with her shoulder. “I’ve only been waiting for nearly nine years; nothing could bring me down today.”
“Ah, well.” I tried to conjure up a smile. “I’m still sorry.
“Jace, you’ve always been a good friend to Ty. And to me.” She crossed her arms around her knees. “So, I’m going to be a good friend to you. Alex loves you. Really loves you. Like, she’s all-in. Whether you’re a dad or not, you’re it for her.”
“But—” I tried to stop her.
“No buts. Pull your head out of your ass and take a lesson from me and Ty, don’t waste precious time. Love doesn’t come around often and when it does, don’t throw it away.” Zoey smiled and gave me a side hug.
“It’s complicated.”
Zoey cocked her eyebrow. “About as complicated as the poppy tattoo on your shoulder?”
“Well—I didn’t say that I didn’t love Alex.” I leveled my gaze at her. “We’re just never on the same page at any given time.”
“If you guys work on things together, you’ll be fine,” Zoey assured me.
We sat side by side in the cold for a few minutes.
“These are the results.” I showed her the envelope. “I’m petrified to open it.”
“Jace, come back inside and go to Alex.” Zoey stood and held her hand out to me.
“I’m so embarrassed, I really fucked up.”
Zoey kept her hand held out, she wiggled it at me. “One more piece of unsolicited advice. You have saved every one of those guys from some of the most embarrassing situations imaginable. You are not perfect, and no one expects you to be perfect. Man up and figure your shit out.”
“You’re bossy.” I laughed ruefully, but still took her hand. She yanked me up.
“That’s why I’m a good lawyer,” Zoey patted my shoulder. “C’mon.”
Tentatively, I followed Zoey back inside where everyone was seated around the table except for Alex. I gave a little wave as I went in the direction that Zoey pointed to where Alex was. Heading down the hall, I quietly opened the door to a guest bedroom. Alex had her back to the door and seemed to be stuffing some things into a duffle bag.
“Poppy,” I said quietly.
Alex swung around, her were eyes red with tears. My heart clenched.
I walked over to her. “I keep saying it, but I’m sorry.”
“Don’t do this again, Jace.” Alex openly cried. “My heart is already broken. And bleeding.”
“Shhh.” I pulled her to me and banded my arms around her. “I’m a mess, but I don’t want to live another day without you.”
“What?” Alex looked at me with surprise.
“I have the results.” I showed her the envelope. “I haven’t been able to look at them, and my nerves are on edge. The only person I want to be with when I find out is you.”
“Okay.” Alex seemed wary.
“If she’s my daughter, my life is going to change,” I said seriously. “Are you really ready for that?”
“Yes,” she said simply.
“I’m not.”
“Well, I guess we’ll need to grow up a bit.” Alex stared at me.
“Me, you mean.”
“Jace, the past few weeks have been really awful. I’ve been trying to give you space, but there are a lot of things we have to talk about and you freezing me out isn’t going to work for me.”
“Jessica has been threatening me, Poppy.” I reached up and traced her hair by her temple. “She saw all of the pictures from the premiere and threatened to release all sorts of stuff about Helena and how she was conceived to the press. Lies.
