DREW
His taxi was there when we pulled up.
Jake threw his bag into the car boot. Not angry. He just looked defeated.
My stomach dropped.
If he got in that car, he wasn’t just going to Australia. He would be gone for good.
From me. From us. Fromeverything.
‘Jake!’ Sarah jumped out of my car at a run, darting across the street toward him.
Jake turned. There wasn’t a flicker of warmth on his face. I followed, his bloodshot eyes on me.
‘What are you doing here?’ His words dripped with loathing. Or maybe something deeper. Regret.
‘Stopping you. We can’t let you leave without trying.’
The taxi driver looked at his watch as if our desperate display was merely an inconvenience.
Sarah reached him first, grasping his wrist like she could hold him there against his will.
‘All we want is you,’ she choked. ‘Not rugby player Jake. Not Eloise’s perfect son. Just you. The perfectly imperfect version we fell for.’
Jake’s Adam’s apple bobbed hard.
Still nothing but silence.
I moved in. Losing him would hurt more if I didn’t even try to keep him.
I’d never forgive myself.
‘I’m sorry, for everything. For blackmailing Sarah. For manipulating you. For treating Sarah like she was nothing more than a pawn when the truth is…’ My eyes burned. ‘I love you.Both of you. And I was too much of a coward to say it until I’d already fucked it all up.’
Jake blinked at me as though he didn’t dare trust what he’d heard.
‘This started twisted,’ I said, my breath ragged. ‘But it’s the happiest I’ve ever been.We fit. You both complete me. Please, Jake. Don’t walk away.’ Suddenly, I felt like the one who belonged on the floor.
‘Please,’ Sarah echoed. ‘Don’t leave us.’
Jake’s jaw tightened as he took one long, shaky inhale.
‘If I go,’ he said, ‘will you two just…be together without me?’
The pain in his question cut me in half.
‘No. You’re the centre. The glue. Without you, we aren’t complete. Without you, there’s nous.’ I dropped then, my knees hitting the ground as I knelt before him. Supplicating myself for him.
‘We love you,’ Sarah said with a fierceness that hit me.
Jake ran a finger over my jaw, his perfect face cracking into a broken grin.
‘I wasn’t innocent either. I said yes. I wanted it too. I kissed Drew behind your back.’ His eyes moved to Sarah. ‘We were all in the wrong. And I–’
‘Jake.’
The slam of the front door ripped through our moment. Eloise’s heels cracked against the drive like gunfire.
