“Yes.”
“Tell me you love me.”
“I love you.”
“Will you ever fuck anyone else?”
“Not without telling you first.”
“Brat.”
“Fair is fair.”
“Will I always be your favorite?”
“Unfortunately, yes. Yes, Jameson, you will always be the best.”
“Good.”
Tate cleared her throat, drummed her fingers on his chest.
“And what about me?”
“Don't be fucking stupid.”
“You're stupid.”
“Watch it.”
“What about me?”
“What about you?”
“Jameson.”
Jameson pressed his hand flat over her fingers, stilling them.
“I'm not the one who has trouble admitting what we are to each other. I shouldn't have to tell you what I think of you, or how I feel, because I've made it perfectly clear.”
“Your idea of perfectly clear and mine are two very different things.”
“Tatum Elliot O'Shea, sometimes I think you are the stupidest goddamn person I have ever met. Sometimes I think you're crazy. Sometimes I think I hate you. Sometimes I think you're a psychotic bitch, sent from hell to drag me back. But always, ALWAYS, I think you are the best thing that has ever happened to me.”
Tate smiled up at him, her eyes filling up with tears.
“See?”
“What? Jesus, are you crying again?”
“Almost sweet.”
“Say you love me again, that usually cheers you up.”
“Get fucked, Kane.”
“Close enough.”
~17~
Tatum leaned between the front seats of the Bentley, staring out the windshield. Why they had chosen to drive to Arizona was beyond her, and Jameson refused to fly back with her and leave Sanders to make the drive. So there they were, driving across the country. She reached out to fiddle with the GPS and Sanders slapped her hand away.
“Please stop. Last time you touched it, we wound up lost in Albuquerque for hours.”
“Honest mistake.”
They had stayed in Tucson for a week. She saw Nick every day. He wasn't exactly happy, but he wasn't exactly mourning her, either. She was glad. Even Jameson came down and shook his hand once. She hadn't even asked him to, he had just done it. When she asked him why, he explained that even though he was Satan, he could recognize and appreciate a gentleman when he saw one.
Ang was beyond excited when she said she was coming home, and he got even more hyped up when she informed him that she had made up with Jameson. She pointed out that there had been a time, not too long ago, when he had been trying to drive them apart. He pointed out that she never bothered listening to him, anyway, so why was she bothering now? Satan obviously made her happy, and Ang only ever wanted that for her.
They pulled into an underground parking garage for a Hilton hotel. She stretched across the back seat and made herself comfortable. They were all driving in shifts, in order to get back to Boston as quickly as possible. But Sanders refused to go a day without showering. He was renting a hotel room for a day, just so he could spend a couple hours showering and getting cleaned up.
“Sandy?” she called out. He twisted in the front seat.
“Yes?” he asked.
“Think of me, while you're up there,” she winked at him.
“Always.”
She didn't stop laughing till he was halfway across the garage.
Nobody had been happier than Sanders about Tate's change of heart. He had almost cried. That first night, she had fallen asleep halfway on top of Jameson, but she woke up in the middle of the night and snuck to Sanders' room. He needed an apology as well, so she spooned up behind him and wrapped her arms around him. Whispered to him, promised him, that she would never leave him again. No matter what the future held for her and Jameson, she and Sanders were forever.
“You're my soulmate,” she whispered, and he had nodded, holding her hands.
“Yes.”
So even though the stop was unnecessary, and added several hours to their trip, she didn't give him too much trouble. Her departure had been hard on him, she could tell. Harder than he had let on, during their phone calls. She had a lot of ground to cover, trust to build. She sighed and propped her feet up against the passenger side door.
“Maybe the real reason you came back was for Sanders,” Jameson snorted from the front seat. Tate laughed.
“Maybe.”
“How long are you going to wear that thing for?” Jameson asked, turning around in the front seat and looking down at her.
“What, this?” she asked, pressing her hand to the necklace he had gotten her. The first time she had tried it on, the cheap clasp had broken. She'd had to tape it closed, and hadn't taken it off since. Made showering interesting.