Forever Starts Tonight (Wilder Family #4)

Chapter 34

Jax

Somehow, approaching my best friend’s house for this visit was no less nerve-wracking. Less scary in some ways and more in others.

I’d expected his disappointment before. And now … I wasn’t quite sure how he would react. All I did know was that the woman sitting beside me was worth it.

Worth everything.

Poppy’s hand was firmly clasped in mine, and she sat in the passenger seat of the truck, a content smile on her face as we drove down the curved driveway past her mom’s house and back toward Cameron’s.

Both Cameron and Ivy’s vehicles were there, and Poppy gave my hand a tiny squeeze.

“Just make sure you knock really loudly,” she said.

Looking over at her, I quirked an eyebrow. “Why’s that?”

“Walked in on them once.”

I winced. “When?”

“It was before this,” she answered, gesturing vaguely at her stomach. “I saw my brother’s ass, and I swear, if there has been anything in my life that might warrant therapy, it was that.”

“Noted,” I said, fighting a grin.

Through the massive windows framing the front of his home, there was movement in the family room as I parked behind Cameron’s truck, and I exhaled long and slow as the front door opened and the two of them came out onto the front deck, also hand in hand.

Poppy unhooked her seat belt and gave me an impish smile. “Do you know how hard it is not to kiss you right now and let that be their sign?”

I hummed, eyes locked on her soft lips. “Don’t tempt me.”

The air hummed too, something thick and delicious building between us. She blinked dazedly. “Goodness,” she whispered. “This has to ease up sometime, right?”

Since they couldn’t see my hand, I eased it from hers and slid it down the firm skin of her thigh, my fingertips spreading wide until my pinky brushed underneath the hem of her dress. She exhaled a shaky laugh.

“Don’t count on it, angel,” I whispered. “Hold that thought until we’re gone, yeah?”

Poppy’s throat worked on a swallow, and she managed a jerky nod. “Top of my list.”

I held her gaze and curled my pinky along the edge of her underwear. “Is it?”

“Yup. Do Jax Cartwright.” Her eyes glowed. “Code red on the color scale.”

I was still chuckling as we exited the truck, and Cameron watched me with a thoughtful expression on his face. Ivy was tucked into his side, her arm wrapped around his back.

“Wasn’t expecting any visitors,” he said, smiling curiously at his sister as she shut the truck door.

“Imagine how happy I am that you’re fully clothed,” she said.

He rolled his eyes. “That was one time, Pops.”

“Personally, I love it when you’re not clothed,” Ivy stated.

“We know, Ivy,” Poppy sighed, hand over her belly as she came around the hood of the truck. Her eyes flicked to mine, and I saw the question there.

It wasn’t a question of why now or why not her. It wasn’t a question of whether we were going to do this.

She wanted to know how we were going to do this—the last big step into this new part of our life together. No secrets. No lies. No doubts.

No more fear and no more hiding.

With a hammering heart, I waited for her by the deck steps, slowly extending my hand when she came closer. On the deck, I heard the slight catch in Ivy’s breath, but I didn’t take my eyes off Poppy.

Her smile was wide and beautiful and that was all it took for the hammering to slip gears—something slow and steady and sure. Poppy’s fingers wove easily between mine, and when I stepped forward, Cameron’s eyes were locked right on that telling gesture.

Ivy’s face broke open into a massive, shit-eating grin. “I knew it,” she hissed under her breath. She smacked his chest. “Pay up, Wilder.”

Together, we ascended the steps, and Cameron’s frame expanded on a deep breath, his face unreadable. At my side, Poppy was a warm presence, glancing up at me with trust and love in her big brown eyes.

God, what a sight. And she was all mine.

My eyes closed a second, and I tightened my grip on her hand in a brief squeeze. When I opened them again, I was facing her brother.

“I’d like a word with you, if that’s okay,” I said to my best friend.

Slowly, he nodded, then glanced down at Ivy, who was still smiling. His face softened.

“Pops, how about we go inside?” Ivy said. “I have a new cookie recipe I tested out. You can be the first to try them. ”

Poppy’s smile tightened at the edges, her voice taking on a forced brightness. “Oh. Great.”

Cameron smothered a grin.

Before she walked away, I tugged on her hand, and when she tilted her chin up in my direction, I leaned down and brushed a soft kiss over her lips. Her cheeks were pretty and pink when she pulled back. “All right then,” she whispered. “Guess you were tempted too.”

I licked my lips as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and kept my eyes locked on her as she walked away.

Ivy shook her head, immediately hustling Poppy inside the house as she peppered her with whispered questions. Over her shoulder, Poppy gave me one last look, and I smiled gently in return.

“Holy shit,” Cameron breathed when the door clicked shut. “I think you better start talking now.”

We took our same seats, me opposite of him with a table between us. But this time, my soul was completely at ease, any of the initial nerves were gone, and I met his gaze evenly.

“I love her,” I told him simply. “And I wanted you to know.”

Cameron sat back in his seat, studying me intensely. “When did this realization come about?”

I let out a deep breath. “The first trip I took was the day after Poppy’s twenty-first birthday. Do you remember that?”

His gaze sharpened. “Vaguely. You didn’t stay long at the bar that night,” he said slowly, like he was still retrieving the memory. “You came back from getting a drink and…”

Instead of saying anything else, I let Cameron come to his own conclusion.

His jaw went slack, and he exhaled a quiet, incredulous laugh. “What are you saying, Jax? That trip was about my sister too?”

I merely stared back at him, eventually giving him a slow nod in answer .

Cameron’s brow furrowed, and his throat worked on a visible swallow. “Why are you telling me this now?”

Bracing my elbows on my thighs, I sat forward and clasped my hands between my legs. “I can’t go to your dad for his blessing,” I said quietly. “I know I could talk to your mom, but I have a feeling you’ll be a tougher critic than she will.” Cameron’s eyes cut down to the ground for a moment, then lifted to mine again as I kept talking. “You’re my best friend,” I told him. “And I love her. I think I’ve loved her a lot longer than I ever wanted to admit.”

He swiped a hand over his mouth and stared at me with a tight jaw as his hand dropped back into his lap. “What would you be asking my dad right now, if he was here?”

If this was hard for me, I couldn’t even imagine what it felt like for him—the sense of responsibility he’d always felt to take care of his family, the weight he’d carried for years, even when he didn’t need to.

“I’d ask his blessing to marry her someday,” I said, emotion tightening my voice. “Not right now. But someday. Poppy and I are adults; we don’t need permission to be together, but it’s important to me—for her sake—that her family supports us. I’d want to know that he trusted me to take care of her. I’d want to know if he could rest easy knowing I’d love her in the way she deserves,” I said brokenly. “You know I’d never say those words if I didn’t mean them down to my fucking bones. Because I will, Cameron. I’ll love her better than anyone ever has, I swear that to you.”

Cameron’s eyes were red, and he pushed his tongue against the side of his cheek while he glanced away and blinked a few times.

Slowly, he stood, chest expanding on a deep exhale. He held out his hand.

I stood too, and when I clasped his hand in mine, he pulled me in for a tight, back-bruising hug.

“I know you will.” Then he pounded my back with his fist as we pulled apart. His eyes were clear. “Blessing granted,” he said thickly. “Because I know he would’ve given it to you a long time ago.”

Any remaining pressure banding tight around my chest snapped, and I let out a sharp puff of air. “Thank you.”

Then he smiled, small and restrained and genuine, clasping my shoulder with one hand and holding my gaze steadily. “I’m glad it’s you, Jax,” he said firmly.

The casually spoken statement had my throat closing up tight again, and I couldn’t find the words necessary to try to answer, so I managed a short nod while I struggled to keep myself in check.

“If you cry, Ivy will never let you live it down,” he said wryly.

I exhaled a laugh. “Don’t I fucking know it.”

Right on cue, the door opened, and Poppy came out first, her eyes locked on mine. I held my arms out, and she walked straight into my embrace. I sighed as my arms folded her close to my chest, allowing my chin to rest on the top of her head.

Ivy dabbed at her eyes as she watched us, and the flash of a large diamond on a very meaningful finger had me narrowing my gaze.

“Is that what I think it is?”

She froze, trading a sly glance with Cameron, who looked down at her like she hung the damn moon. Poppy was contentedly snuggled against me, so they must have talked about it inside.

“We would’ve gotten there eventually,” Ivy said. “I’m tempted to believe he proposed to distract me from making him try my cookies, but I can’t argue with the results. And I didn’t want to steal your thunder when you walked up. We’ve only been waiting how long for this announcement?” she said, gesturing between us.

Poppy looked up at me and grinned. “Some of us have been waiting longer than others,” she teased .

I quirked a brow. “You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?”

“Not a chance, Cartwright.”