“What?” Alex was shocked, and I felt like a douche for not telling her sooner. “What a total bitch! Why wouldn’t you just tell me that?”
“She knew about you from the paparazzi shots, and I didn’t want you to get caught up in all of this until it was sorted. My dad helped me get a restraining order, and we negotiated the terms of the paternity test,” I tried to explain. “She was texting me earlier, trying to get me to come over for Christmas, so I’m pretty sure of what’s in the envelope.”
Alex didn’t seem super impressed with my explanation. “And keeping this information from me helped how?”
“Um—” I was at a loss to explain something that seemed so obvious to me.
Alex sat on the bed and patted the spot next to her. I sat. Turning to me, she combed her fingers through my hair with both hands, massaging my temples with each pass. Gently, she pulled my head to her shoulder and draped her arms around me, still stroking my hair. My hands rested on her thigh. We sat that way for a few minutes and before I knew it, I released a massive breath and sank against her, the tension in my body releasing.
“I love you, Jace,” Alex whispered against my head. “Let’s forget about today and the past few weeks. I know how hard this has been on you for so many reasons. From now on, and from this point forward keeping things from each other has got to be a dealbreaker. We are going to get through this and move forward with everything together. If you are on board with that, everything will be okay.”
“Done,” I agreed. “I mean it.”
Wrapping my arms around her waist, I squeezed her and then sat back up.
“Okay.” I grabbed the envelope. “Let’s find out.”
I ripped open the edge and pulled out the report. Alex looked over my shoulder and we read the results. After it sank in, I enfolded her in my arms, and she clung to me.
After a bit, she looked up at me. “Are you okay?”
“I am.” I kissed her forehead. “I will be.”
“Let’s go to see your folks.” Alex stood. “They’ll want to know.”
“Should we say anything to the guys first?”
She headed toward the door. “That’s up to you.”
Hand-in-hand we went back out to where everyone was sitting having dinner. When Ty saw us, he stopped what he was saying mid-sentence, and all at once everyone turned to look at us. Standing in front of my bandmates and Alex’s dad, I turned and kissed her fully on the lips and turned to address everyone.
“Everyone, I know that I’ve been acting weird lately, and I’m sorry. Ty and Zoey, I’m sorry for yelling and causing a stupid scene at your engagement party, that was a dick move and please know that I’m very happy that you guys have found each other again.” I took a deep breath and held up our joined hands. “I’m sure it comes as no surprise that Alex and I are in love, we’ve done a terrible job of trying to keep it secret. But you may be surprised to know that we have been living together at her house in Bainbridge Island since summer.”
“You sly fox!” Zane clapped his hands. “Awesome!”
Alex squeezed my hand and nodded to me. “We have some other news.”
“We had a long break where we didn’t see each other a couple of years ago, and when we were recording in LA, I went out one night with Cassie and Jessica. Whom I hadn’t seen in years.” I swallowed. “Cassie thought I wanted to rekindle our old relationship, but I turned her down. The next morning I woke up in bed with her, but I didn’t remember a thing.”
Alex’s mom shot daggers at me, and I didn’t blame her.
“Jay-sus,” Connor bellowed.
I puffed out a long breath. “So, anyway. Cassie was killed in a car accident a couple of months ago and left behind a baby girl.”
“She’s not Jace’s daughter,” Alex jumped in. “We just read the paternity results.”
“Her sister and family have been trying to force the issue for a few weeks, I got a restraining order against them, but now that the results are in—” I shrugged.
“Holy shit, Jace.” Carter got up and embraced him. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“He’s too busy taking care of all of you,” Alex interjected. “Now I’m going to go take care of him.”
“Good.” Ty and the rest of the guys had surrounded us. “Jace probably needs a break more than any of us.”
“Guys, I’m fine.” I felt uncomfortable with so much attention directed at me. “I know everyone means well, but if you don’t mind, we’re going to head over to my folks’ house now.”
“I’ll leave with you.” Connor got up and stood from the table.
After we said our goodbyes, Alex and I were about to get into her Range Rover when a sudden urge overtook me. I swept her into my arms and whirled her around. She giggled and clung to my neck. Setting her down gently, I softly pressed my lips to hers. Her mouth opened for me, and we touched tongues and deepened our kiss.
“I love you, Jace.” Alex smiled as she got into the driver’s seat.
“You have no idea, Poppy.” I took her free hand. “You’re never getting rid of me now.”
Epilogue
ALEX
Five months later
Rushing out of the barn, I sprinted across the gravel pathway up the porch steps, stripping my dirty clothes off along the way. With only a half-hour until our visitor arrived, I had to shower and get appropriately dressed. When the water warmed up, I quickly soaped up and washed my hair, hoping I would be able to pull myself together in time. Just as I was rinsing out the last of my shampoo, the shower door opened.
“I couldn’t resist.” Jace grinned through a few days of scruff, his shaft
