Chapter 24

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

TWO MONTHS LATER

Kenzie

“Did you get the fresh mint?” I ask, searching the fridge for it.

“It’s on the counter.” Jace comes up behind me, his arms going around me as he pulls me away from the fridge and shuts the door.

I flip around to face him. “What are you doing?”

“Kissing my girl.” He leans down and his warm lips press softly against mine.

“Jace, stop,” I whisper, smiling as I attempt to push him away.

“You don’t want me to kiss you?”

“Not with my mom here,” I say, keeping my voice low. “You know where your kisses lead.”

“To my favorite place.” He kisses my neck as his hand lowers to my chest.

“We don’t have time for this.”

“We do if we’re quick.” His lips return to mine. “I can’t help that I can’t be around you without—” He stops when he hears the garage door opening. “Shit,” he sighs. “My uncle’s here.”

I laugh. “Told you we didn’t have time.”

“We will later.” He lets me go but leans down for another kiss. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Love you more.” He smiles as he goes to greet his uncle.

Jace and I are hosting Christmas here at the house. My mom just got back from Africa and I didn’t want her having to deal with decorating and making Christmas dinner, so I suggested we do it here. Jace loved the idea. He totally gets into Christmas, which I didn’t know until we started planning it. He’s mostly obsessed with the lights. He’s been putting them up for weeks. The house has more lights on it than any other house on the street. He’s got them strung up all over the inside of the house too, including our bedroom. He even put a small tree in our room.

His excitement over the holidays is another thing I love about him. I also love that he’s really thoughtful. He made up a guest basket for my mom and had it in her room when she arrived. I didn’t even know he’d done it until she came out and thanked me for it. I didn’t know what she was talking about. We went in her room, the room that used to be mine, and she showed me the basket, which was filled with bath stuff, a fresh new towel, some herbal tea, a holiday mug, and a box of assorted chocolates.

I couldn’t believe Jace had done all that for my mom. Some people would say he only did it to impress her, but that’s not Jace. He did it because he’s a great guy and wanted my mom to feel welcome. Liam never would’ve even thought to do something like that. Most guys wouldn’t. I really lucked out with Jace.

“Uncle Greg,” Jace says. “Good to have you back.”

A man with dark hair and a neatly trimmed beard walks in. He’s big, like Jace, his button-up shirt tugging at his broad shoulders. This is the first time I’ve met him. He’s hot for a guy in his late forties. I guess hotness runs in the family. Jace’s dad is good-looking too.

I met Jace’s parents last month when I went home with him for Thanksgiving. His parents are really nice. Since they’re divorced, we had Thanksgiving dinner at two different houses. By the end of the day, I was stuffed. Both of his parents are traveling during Christmas, which worked out well because Jace and I really wanted to spend the holiday here.

“You must be Kenzie,” Greg says, coming up to me.

“That’s me.” I shake his hand. “Sorry rent was late last month. I got busy and forgot.”

He smiles. “Don’t worry about it. I don’t mind if it’s late. My property manager says you’re the best tenant we’ve ever had.”

“Want a drink?” Jace asks his uncle. “We made these mint vodka drinks for the holiday, but if you want wine or beer, we have that too.”

“I’ll have a beer.”

Jace hands him one.

“You know, if you two are interested in fixing this place up,” Greg says, “I’d give you a couple months off from paying rent.”

“Really?” I glance at Jace. “What do you mean by fixing it up?”

“Replace the tile in the bathroom. Put in a new kitchen faucet. Fix the deck out back.”

“I don’t know how to do that stuff,” I say.

“Jace does. He could teach you. I’ve got a list of things that need to be done, some easier than others.”

“You sure you want to do all that?” Jace says. “You rent to college students. They tend to destroy shit.”

“Then they’ll pay for the damages. Or their parents will. The improvements need to be made. If I don’t do it now, I’ll end up doing it later. Just think about it and let me know.”

“I’d do it.” I look at Jace. “What do you think?”

He pulls me against his side and kisses me. “You really want to replace tile?”

“Sure. It might be fun. And it’s practice for when we have our own house.”

I didn’t mean to say that. Although I’d love to have a house with Jace someday, we’ve never talked about it. We’re taking our relationship a day at a time.

“I’m going to run back to the car,” Greg says. “I brought some wine but forgot to bring it in.”

Jace waits for him to leave, then turns me toward him, a big smile on his face. “ Our house?”

I feel my face getting hot. “I didn’t mean it that way.”

“What way? Our house means a house we’d share together. It doesn’t really need explanation.”

“Well, yes, but I didn’t mean to assume anything. It could mean houses we have separately.”

“So you’re saying you don’t want to own a house with me someday?”

“I do, but I think it’s probably too early to talk about that.”

“Why is it too early?”

“I don’t know.” I try to wiggle out of his arms, but he won’t let me. “Why are you asking so many questions?”

“Because I’m trying to figure out how you feel about this. You know I want a future with you, right?”

“No. We’ve never talked about it.”

“We haven’t?” he asks, surprised. “Are you sure?”

“We say stuff like it’d be nice to live by the beach or have a house with a big yard, but we never say it in the context of us being together.”

“But you want that, right? For us to be together?”

I nod, my eyes darting away from him.

“Kenzie, look at me.” When I do, he says, “Tell me you want this. Unless you don’t, in which case I really need to know. Like soon. Today.”

Today? Why does he need to know today?

“Can we talk about this later?” I ask. “Your uncle’s going to be back any minute.”

“This can’t wait. Just tell me. Do you want a future with me or not?”

I look at him. “I want that more than anything. I want a life with you. The house, the kids, everything.”

“Thank God.” He hugs me to his chest. “You had me worried for a minute there.”

“But I’m scared.” I push him back. “I’m scared it’ll be taken away from me like last time.”

“I’m scared of that too, but then I remind myself it’s not the same. My relationship with you is completely different than my relationship with Nikki. And your relationship with Liam was nothing like your relationship with me.”

“Not even close.”

“So stop comparing the two. It’s different this time, for both of us. We’re good together, Kenzie. We love each other. We’re best friends. That’s why we’re going to last.”

I hug him. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Kenzie, do you have a safety pin?” I hear my mom say.

Pulling away from Jace, I see my mom coming down the hall.

“I don’t think so,” I say. “What do you need it for?”

“This dress.” She points to the neckline which shows a lot of cleavage. “When I bought it, I didn’t know it’d be so revealing.”

“Mom, it’s fine. It looks great on you.”

“Are you sure?”

“She’s right,” Jace says. “It looks great.”

“Thank you.” She smiles at him.

Greg comes back in with the wine. “Jace, I noticed the garage door is missing some screws. Think you could fix that for me?”

“Sure. I’ll do it this week. Uncle Greg, this is Judy, Kenzie’s mom.”

I glance at my mom, who’s staring at Greg like he’s the hottest guy she’s ever seen. My mom’s never looked at a guy that way. Or maybe she did when she met my dad, but I wasn’t around back then.

“Nice to meet you,” Greg says, staring back at my mom. He hands Jace the wine bottles and walks up to my mom. “You’re stunning.”

She blinks a few times. “I’m what?”

“Stunning.” He smiles as he picks up her hand and kisses it. “You’re stunningly beautiful.”

“Oh, um, thank you.” Her eyes bounce all around like she doesn’t know what to say, or how to respond. My mom is really pretty, but she never goes out so she’s not used to getting attention from men. And I doubt she’s ever had a man kiss her hand. Jace’s uncle is quite the charmer.

“Would you like some wine?” Greg asks, letting go of her hand. “It’s a Tempranillo. I brought it back from Spain.”

“You were in Spain?”

“I taught there last semester. I’m a professor. I teach in the business school at the college here in town. I was offered the chance to teach in Spain last semester as part of our exchange program.”

“How interesting.” My mom’s beaming. This is her dream man. Handsome. Charming. A professor. “I just returned from a semester in South Africa. I teach as well, but at a community college. They recently opened a school in South Africa and I too was part of an exchange program.”

“How did you like it?”

“I loved it! It combined two of my favorite things. Teaching and traveling.”

“It seems we share some common interests.” He motions to the living room. “Perhaps we should go sit down.”

She glances at me. “Honey, do you mind? Or if you need help with dinner I can—”

“Go ahead. Jace and I can handle dinner. Do you want some wine?”

“Oh, yes. That’d be wonderful.”

“I think you’ll enjoy it.” Greg leads my mom to the couch to sit down. “I’ve had that particular wine several times. It’s one of my favorites.”

As they continue to talk, I go up to Jace, keeping my voice down. “What’s going on with those two?”

“My uncle wants your mom.” He smiles. “And I’m pretty sure she wants him. I think she’s glad you didn’t have that safety pin.”

I look over and see my mom turned toward Greg, sitting up straight, pushing her chest out, showing off her cleavage. She’s smiling as he talks, gazing into his eyes.

“Oh my God, my mom’s flirting. I can’t watch this.” I turn away.

Jace laughs. “You should be happy. My uncle’s a great guy. It runs in the family.”

“If he’s like you, then yeah, my mom would be lucky to have him.”

Jace gets the corkscrew out to open the wine. “Let’s hurry and get dinner ready so we can eat and those two can get out of here and have some alone time.”

“Alone time? It’s Christmas. Where are they going to go?”

“Back to his place. He has an awesome house. It’s big and open and has a huge stone fireplace. Really romantic.” He winks at me, smiling.

“I don’t think I’m ready for this. I’ve never seen my mom date.”

“Never? She hasn’t been on one date since the divorce?”

“If she has, she didn’t tell me about it. She didn’t go out much, and when she did, it was with me. It’s hard to date when you have a kid.”

I hear my mom laugh, not her normal laugh, but a flirty laugh in a high pitch.

“What is going on with her?” I whisper to Jace. “I’ve never seen her act like this.”

“Maybe she’s in love,” he says, pouring the wine.

“She’s not in love. They just met.”

“I loved you the moment we met.”

“No you didn’t.”

“I definitely felt something for you.”

“You felt sorry for me. Because I was a crying mess on your doorstep.”

“It was more than that.” He leans down and kisses me. “The moment I saw your beautiful face and those beautiful eyes and heard your beautiful voice, I felt something. I felt it in my heart. It had to be love.”

I smile. “You’re so romantic.”

“I am, aren’t I?” He gives me a smile, then brings the glass of wine to my mom.

“Thank you.” She takes the glass, then turns back to Greg.

Jace remains there. “Hey, do you guys mind if we start the present opening a little early?”

“I thought we were waiting until after dinner,” I say from the kitchen.

“We are, but I’d like one of them to be opened now.”

“I don’t mind,” my mom says.

“Go ahead,” Greg says.

I look over and notice Greg putting his arm up along the back of the couch, behind my mom. He’s already making a move! And my mom’s loving every second of it. It’s strange to watch, and making me a little uncomfortable, but it’s only because I’m not used to her dating. Greg seems nice, and I want her to be happy, so if she likes him, I think she should go for it.

“Kenzie, could you come over here?” Jace asks. He’s standing by the Christmas tree, which is next to the couch.

“What about the potatoes?” I point to them. “Shouldn’t we get them started?”

“We will later. Would you come over here, please?”

“Yeah, okay.” I meet him by the tree.

“Today is Christmas,” he says, glancing at the tree.

I laugh. “Yeah, I figured that out already, but thanks for the reminder.”

“Christmas is my favorite day of the year. Did I ever tell you that?”

“No, but I knew you liked it, especially all the lights.”

“Jace has always loved Christmas lights,” Greg says with a laugh. “When he was a child, he put lights up everywhere, even the bathroom. His mother thought it was a bit much, but every year she let him do it.”

“That’s very sweet,” my mom says.

“I always thought Christmas would be my favorite day,” Jace says. “Until a day last August took its place as my favorite.”

He pauses and I feel my eyes tearing up.

“I was having the worst day of my life,” he says. “Broke up with my girlfriend. Lost one of my best friends. It was a really shitty day.” He takes my hands. “But then I opened the door and saw this girl. This really beautiful girl. Turns out she’d had a shitty day too. I did everything I could to make her feel better, and oddly enough, doing that made me feel better. Just seeing her smile made me feel better than I’d felt in a long time. And from that point on, all I wanted to do was find more ways to make her smile.”

“Jace,” I say, smiling at him.

“That’s my new favorite day. The day I met you. It changed my life, and made every day since then better than I could ever imagine. I never want that to end. I want every day with you, Kenzie. For the rest of my life.” Keeping hold of my hand, he gets down on one knee, his other hand reaching down to get something from under the tree. He pulls out a small gold box with a red bow on top.

I hear my mom gasp, but I don’t look over at her. I keep my eyes on Jace.

“Kenzie.” He holds the box in front of me. “I love you with all my heart.” He opens the box to reveal a diamond ring. “Will you marry me?”

“Yes!” I say, tears falling as I lean down to kiss him.

He slides the ring on my finger. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Jace jumps up and takes me in his arms.

My mom races over to me. “Honey, congratulations! I’m so happy for you!” She hugs me, then hugs Jace. “Welcome to the family!”

Greg is right behind her. “Well, this is certainly a surprise.” He smiles and gives Jace a hug. “But a wise decision. She’s a great girl.” He turns and gives me a hug. “You sure you want to marry this guy?”

I laugh. “Yes. Definitely.”

After more hugs and showing off of the ring, Jace gets the champagne he was secretly chilling in the garage and we toast to our engagement.

Engagement. I’m engaged! I didn’t think Jace would propose this soon. I thought it’d be months from now, or years. I wasn’t even sure if he’d ask, given that we’d never talked about it. Now I understand why he kept pressing me to tell him I wanted a future with him. No wonder he looked panicked when I didn’t answer right away. He was about to propose and didn’t know if I’d say yes.

A few months ago, I wouldn’t have imagined saying yes. Not after what happened with Liam. But Jace isn’t Liam. Even if Liam hadn’t cheated, he was never right for me. We never would’ve lasted. His relationship with Kat didn’t last either. They broke up in September, just weeks after I found her with Liam. Poor Kat. She thought Liam loved her, but he cheated on her, which I didn’t find out until recently. I found out from Kat herself. She stopped me on campus a few weeks ago and asked if I wanted to hang out sometime. She wanted me to commiserate with her and swap stories about what an ass Liam is, but I have no interest in that. I’ve moved on. I declined Kat’s offer and haven’t seen her since.

As for Nikki, she’s single again. After her break-up with Carter, she dated a guy on the baseball team, then a soccer player. Both guys dumped her after a few dates. I think word is spreading that she uses guys for money and popularity. Andrea told me Nikki hasn’t had a date in weeks.

Andrea is still dating Troy on and off. She says it’s not dating, but it seems like it is to me. They act like a couple. Jace and I go out with them a few times a month. I can’t wait to tell her about the engagement. She’ll be so happy for us. I’m going to ask her to be one of my bridesmaids.

Tori will be my maid of honor. We decided that a long time ago, when we were much younger and dreaming of our weddings. I always thought she’d get married first, but she works so much she never has time to date. She’s coming to visit next month. Maybe I could set her up with one of Jace’s friends.

“What’d you think?” Jace asks as we collapse on the couch.

It’s evening now and Christmas dinner has been eaten, leftovers put away, and dishes cleaned. It was exhausting, but I loved hosting Christmas here. And I loved seeing my mom so happy with Greg. The two of them left an hour ago. I assume she’ll be home later, but Jace thinks she’ll stay at Greg’s house tonight. I’d be shocked if my mom didn’t come home, but I’m not going to judge. She’s an adult. She can do what she wants, and I really do want her to be happy.

“It was a good day,” I say.

“Just good?” He pulls me in for a kiss. “Did you forget about the gift I gave you?”

I smile. “Not at all. It was the best gift I’ve ever gotten.”

“I was really nervous when I picked it out. I wanted to make sure I got a ring you’d like, but we never talked about it so I was afraid I’d screw it up.”

“I love the ring. It’s perfect! But that wasn’t the gift I was talking about.”

He pauses to think. “Oh, I know. It was the bacon maker, wasn’t it? I knew you’d love it. As soon as I saw it, I bought it before they even got to the part where they throw in the egg cooker for free. But the lady on the phone was nice and let me have it anyway.”

Jace and I gave each other infomercial products for Christmas. It was meant to be a joke, but some of this stuff is really useful. Like the bacon thing. It cooks bacon in the microwave without splattering grease everywhere. I tried it, and it actually works!

“It’s not the bacon maker, although I really like it. Great choice.”

“I know what my girl likes.” He smiles. “So if it’s not the bacon maker, then what is it?”

I snuggle up beside him. “You.”

“Me?”

“You asked me to marry you, which means you’re mine. I get to keep you. Forever.”

He chuckles. “Not sure if that’s a gift.”

“It is.” I kiss him. “It’ll always be my favorite one.” I yawn and put my head on his shoulder.

“Wait. Let’s get comfortable.”

We lay down on the couch and I rest my head on his chest.

“Remember when we did this the night we met?” he asks.

“Yeah. I kept thinking we shouldn’t. It didn’t seem like something roommates should do.”

“Then why’d you do it?”

“Because it felt right. You were basically a stranger, but I felt comfortable around you, even that first day we met.”

“I felt the same way. I told myself it was because I missed Nikki and saw you as a replacement, but that wasn’t it at all.”

“How do you know?”

“Because it felt different with you. It felt right. Like you were the one I was supposed to be with. I never felt that way with Nikki, even after two years of dating her. I was always questioning myself, wondering if she was really the one. I never did that with you. I never doubted how I felt about you.”

“Then why’d you wait so long to date me?”

“I didn’t. We were dating the whole time. The laser tag? That was our first date.”

“No it wasn’t. We didn’t even kiss.”

“I wanted to, but told myself I shouldn’t. And just because we didn’t kiss, or do more than that, doesn’t mean we weren’t dating. We did plenty of flirting. Texting. We spent all our free time together. And we did eventually have sex, so we were definitely dating.”

I smile. “Okay, we were dating.”

“Which is why I was pissed when you dated Dan.”

I lift my head up. “It was one date! And it was when we were avoiding each other. That doesn’t count. Oh! I forgot to tell you. Dan proposed to Maddie last night. She sent me a text.”

Maddie and I became friends soon after that day I ran into her while I was out walking. She got back together with Dan that day, and then called me later that week to see if I wanted to meet for lunch. We met and found out we have a lot in common, which explains why Dan was drawn to me. I’m a lot like his girlfriend, except that he’s in love with her and sees me more like a sister. I’m friends with both of them now and so is Jace.

“That’s great!” Jace says. “But not surprising. Dan told just about everyone he was proposing. He just didn’t say when.” Jace points to the TV. “Check it out. That thing turns vegetables into pasta.”

“Wow! That’s amazing. Should we get it?”

“Probably not. I like regular spaghetti, not carrots made to look like spaghetti. But if you really want it, we can get it.”

“Let’s keep looking.”

We scan through the channels, stopping on all the infomercials, just like we did that night. The night we met. The night we knew we were more than just roommates.

It was the worst day of our lives… that ended up being the best.