“It’s funny. When you first came here, I tried to drive you away, as you probably noticed.”
“Is that why you were so mean?”
“Yeah. I knew what he had done to my mom, and so I tried to make you leave on your own, in my own little way.”
“So what changed?”
“You were obviously different. I heard you talking to Oliver. I heard you give him shit for being a creepy douchebag. And I knew you could take care of yourself. And that was what I found sexiest about you. So after that, I stopped. I knew I wouldn’t manage it, and I knew that no matter what, you’d be fine.”
“And that’s why you protected me that day.”
“To be honest, no matter who it was, even if I really did hate you, I still would have stopped him. If there’s one thing in this world I can’t stand, it’s men who hit women.”
I rested my head on his shoulder and asked “so what happens now?”
Jack shrugged underneath me.
“I don’t know. I guess we’ll see if my father meant it or not when he said he’d disown me if I said anything. I’ll probably go soon. I’m not going to stay here anymore, even if it means getting kicked out of the University. I’m going to get out of here pretty soon.”
“That’s probably a good idea. I should get back to the wedding, too.”
“Yeah, you should.”
“Do you want me to come by and see you tonight? Where are you going to stay?”
“I have some friends I can stay with. Don’t worry about me.”
“I’ll text you if I hear anything important.”
“Thanks, Jules.”
Jack leaned over and planted a soft kiss on my mouth. My insides raged at his touch, wanting more, but I knew now wasn’t the time. I leaned into his kiss and let it wash over me.
I couldn’t believe Jack had just told me he loved me. And I’d said it back! I’d meant it, of course. Did that mean we were going to take our relationship to the next level? Go public, no matter what people thought? After all, we couldn’t keep our love secret forever.
Those were questions for the future. Right now, I had to get to the wedding, and see how much trouble I was in for going after Jack.
Chapter Twenty One
By the time I got outside, the sun had already set. Going by the sounds of laughter and chit chat, along with the DJ playing David Guetta’s latest hit, I figured things had gone back to relative normalcy. Lanterns hung along the side of the wooden walls, casting light upon the hundreds of people, now dancing away in the clearing.
The DJ was where the banquet table had been, and as the song ended and Pharell’s “Happy” came on, I looked for my mom.
Finding her among the crowd, mingling with some people I supposed must have been important, she caught my eye and excused herself before coming over to me.
“Where on earth did you go?” she asked me. “I needed you.”
“I’m sorry mom. I really am. I just had a lot of questions, after Jack’s outburst.”
“That’s understandable I guess. You missed the cake cutting.”
“Oh mom, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. I saved you some cake. I know how much you like it.”
“Are you ok mom? You’ve never encouraged me to eat cake before in my life!”
This at least elicited a laugh from my mother.
“I’m fine, sweetie. I was just worried about you. Don’t worry about those lies Jack told.”
“That’s the thing mom, I don’t think they’re lies.”
“Well I love John, and he loves me. Don’t think for a second that there’s anything wrong with us. If I felt like I was in danger, I would leave. Ok?”
“Yeah. Thanks mom.”
“Now, get out there on the dance floor, show me those moves you’ve got!”
With that I did the robot awkwardly towards the dance floor, my best Tina-Fey-in-30-Rock impression, making my mom laugh like crazy. John came over a minute later.
“There she is, my new daughter. Would you do the honour of giving me this dance?”
“Oooh, how can I say no to a man with such manners?” I asked, giving him my hand with an exaggerated gesture, like I was in a Jane Austen novel. I was definitely not what one would call a “good dancer”, and John quickly picked up on it, so we just moved slowly, more like stepping in tune to the music than dancing. He had one hand very lightly around my waist and held my left hand with his right.
“I hope you didn’t believe anything Jack said during the speeches,” John told me. “It is true that Laura left me, and I was too ashamed to tell the truth. I shouldn’t have done that, but I never hit her. She left me for another man, one of the men that worked in the house. Jack has always blamed me for his mother abandoning him.”
“That must be so hard,” I replied. I had seen Jack in the house. I knew he was telling the truth. But I wasn’t going to make an enemy out of John if I didn’t need to.