The following weeks felt like a fairy-tale. Elliott was showing up in ways I hadn’t known possible, ways Laura had prayed for each day since the accident. Whenever we crossed each other’s paths, we’d both act so nervous. Whenever I saw him, my heart skipped.

Whenever he stuttered, I swore I fell a little more head over heels.

I wasn’t certain what we were, but I was just so happy he was back in my life. Some mornings when I’d arrive at TJ’s, I’d find them in the living room for a saxophone lesson. I’d lean against the doorframe, and they never noticed me, because when those two rehearsed together, they gave it their all. It was a magical experience to watch. I swore TJ had to have been Elliott’s father in a past life, and Elliott his son. They smiled the same way, scolded the same way, and loved the same way, too.

I saw it in TJ’s eyes, too, the way he was slowly but surely redefining his purpose in life. That was the craziest thing about life—sometimes it shifted in directions we never thought it would go, but the greatest thing about humans was our ability to adapt.

TJ might not have been able to play his music anymore, but he sure did hear his sounds through a boy named Elliott Adams.

“You’re going to be late for work.” I smiled toward Elliott after he performed a Stan Getz piece.

He glanced at his watch. “Oh crap, okay. TJ, we’ll pick up where we left off after work. I’ll just leave my saxophone here.”

TJ nodded. “Just work over those bars in your head at work, okay? You’re almost there. You’ll get them.”

I loved watching those two interact.

Elliott walked by me and gave me a gentle grin. “He’s smiling more.”

“Because of you,” I told him. We were all smiling more because of Elliott’s smile.

“I’ll be back around four. Have a good day, you two.”

He headed out of the house, then suddenly came rushing back in. “Jazz, can I, um, talk to you outside real quick?”

“Of course.” I stood and moved to the front porch with Elliott then closed the door behind me. “What’s up?”

He squinted one of his eyes shut and rubbed his hands over his head.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong, it’s just…” He clasped his hands behind his neck and stood up straight. “Let’s go on a date?”

Butterflies swirled in my stomach, and my cheeks heated up. “Is that a question?”

“No—well, yes…well...” He took a breath. “Will you go on a date with me this Saturday?”

“What?”

“You can say no. I just, I’m…” He bit his bottom lip, and his hazel eyes met mine. “I’m crazy about you, and I want to take you out on a date, but you can say no.”

“Saturday is Valentine’s Day,” I told him.

He stuffed his hands into his pockets and swayed back and forth. “Yes.”

“Are you asking me to be your Valentine, Elliott Adams?”

“I am asking you to be my Valentine, Jasmine Greene.”

“Can I dress up?” I smiled.

“Please do.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

We stood there and stared at one another, smiling like we were sixteen years old again. The butterflies and goose bumps from all those years ago remained, and just like he used to do, Elliott blinked once and said, “Okay, well, goodbye.” Then he hurried away.

I walked back inside and sat back down on the couch next to TJ.

“Is everything okay?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“What happened?”

My smile stretched. “He asked me out on a date.”

“A date?” TJ exclaimed, clapping his hands together. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For bringing him back home.”

“It was a mutual thing.” I smiled wide. “He brought me back, too.”

* * *

On Saturday, Elliott picked me up from my apartment, and like the overprotective father he was, Ray was standing right next to me, staring him down. “Are you sure I can’t drive you two to your date like I did back then, Snow?”

I smirked. “I think we’ll pass on that this time around.”

“Okay, but if he gets handsy…” he warned.

My gosh, I hope he does.

“Don’t worry,” Elliott said, staring up at the sky. “I won’t even look at her.”

“Good,” Ray said approvingly. “That’s a solid plan.”

“Oh, also, your new song ‘Walker’s East’ is one of the best songs I’ve ever heard in my life,” Elliott told him.

Ray got his goofy big smile on his face and puffed out his chest. “Jasmine, if you don’t marry this hunk, I will.”

I blushed. “Good night, Dad. I’ll see you later.”

“Have her home by midnight,” he ordered.

I laughed. “We might not be home by midnight. Don’t wait up.” I kissed his cheek and hurried over to Elliott’s car. He opened the door for me and kept looking up at the sky. I giggled. “You two are the two most ridiculous men I know.”

“Well, Ray looks like the type to kill me, and I don’t want to lose my life before I take you out.”

He hadn’t given me any clues about the date, had just told me all I had to do was show up, and that’s just what I did. We drove for a while, and when he parked the car, I looked around, confused. “Where are we going exactly?”

“You’ll see,” he replied, hopping out of the car then racing over to the passenger side to open my door. “Oh, and please don’t take this as something more than it is right now, because it’s just a part of the act for tonight.”

“The act?” I asked as he took my hand and helped me out.

“Yeah.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring. “You gotta wear this on your ring finger.”

I knew he’d said not to read too much into it, but I was a female, and we read into everything—and once we finish reading too far into something, we reread it five more times.

“Why am I wearing a wedding ring?”

“It’s fake,” he assured me as we started around the corner. “And this is why.” He gestured toward the building, and I couldn’t stop laughing.

“Seriously?”

“Yes. Today we are fake-engaged and we are going to try thirty-four different vanilla frostings at Cake & Pie Bakery.”

“Oh my God, dreams do come true!” I exclaimed, jumping up and down. “Wait, I thought you didn’t eat sugar?”

He shrugged. “I’ll do it for you. I’ll try anything with you.”

“Careful what you say,” I warned. “Because I like food, and you might get a little fat hanging around me.”

We walked up to the door and before we entered, he turned to me. “Okay, so we’re planning a wedding for the first weekend in June. The theme is rustic. We’re super excited and can’t wait to tie the knot. I think that’s all you need to know. And, Jasmine?”

“Yes?”

“Act like you love me.”

Easy enough.

We walked into the bakery, and we tried every single vanilla frosting they had in the place, along with six different chocolate frostings. The time with Elliott seemed effortless. When we laughed, we laughed loud, and when we were quiet, it was peaceful. We ebbed and flowed just like we had as kids.

It was so easy to be around him and fully be myself.

“My favorite was twenty-eight,” I told him.

He grimaced and shook his head. “They all taste like a heart attack waiting to happen.”

I leaned over, took his leftovers of thirteen and fifteen, and licked them up out of the cups. “Or they taste like heaven on earth.”

“I don’t know if I should be turned on or disturbed by you licking frosting from those little cups.”

I picked up his chocolate number four and licked it dramatically slowly, twirling my tongue around the edges. “Mhmm,” I moaned. “This is my favorite kind of chocolate.”

Elliott huffed and cocked an eyebrow. “Really? That’s your favorite kind of chocolate?”

I snickered at his comment. “I’m just saying, one night I tried to taste a different form of chocolate, and the supplier said the store was closed that night.”

“It must’ve been around Christmas, because a lot of businesses close on Christmas day, but don’t worry”—he leaned back in his chair—“I hear you can get candy half-priced after the holiday,” he said with a smolder to his voice.

I cracked up laughing. “Wait, time out, sorry, just to be clear, we’re talking about your penis, right?”

He nodded. “Yeah, sorry, did I take this the wrong way? Because I was ninety-nine percent sure we were on the same page.”

“Oh yeah, I was definitely talking about your penis.” I continued to giggle, wiping tears from my eyes. “It’s just…you literally just said your penis was half-priced after the holiday season. Like, what’s a full-priced penis of yours like? Do you charge for the meal before dessert? Is the tip included in the fees? How many customers a year sample the chocolate? What’s the return policy? Did you know selling this form of chocolate is illegal in all states but Nevada? In the movie Pretty Woman, Julia Roberts sold white chocolate and had such a hard time with it. Does your penis have Yelp reviews, and if so, what is its star rating?” I couldn’t stop the tears from flowing down my face.

Elliott bit his bottom lip and shook his head back and forth. “Jasmine?”

“Yes?”

“Can you stop saying penis?” he asked, a small, wicked smile on his lips.

“Yes, sorry. I swear I’m a grown-up.” I cleared my throat, looked around the space, and then whispered, “Penis.”

“Thanks,” he joked. “I was trying to have swag, and you just killed all my c-cool points.”

I was out of breath, laughing so hard at the situation. I was sure it had taken an awkward turn for Elliott, but watching him get nervous and seeing that playfulness in his eyes was so worth it.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” I exhaled, still wiping tears.

“Keep doing that,” he told me with his smirk.

“Doing what?”

“Laughing. It’s my favorite sound.”

His comment made my laughter die down, and butterflies shoot to my stomach. “Stop it.” I blushed, twisting around in my seat.

“Stop what?”

“Staring at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like you’re crazy about me.”

He grinned, but he didn’t say a word.

The owner of the store, Carol, came over to our table with the cheeriest voice. “So how was everything?” she asked as she collected the cups from the table.

“Out of this world amazing,” I told her.

“That’s good to hear. You two are adorable to watch together. How long have you been together?”

“Since we were sixteen,” we said in unison.

His smile met mine, and it felt so good.

“That’s so sweet. Well, listen, if you’re interested in setting up a cake order, I’d be happy to help you out with that.”

“No, we—” I started.

“Yeah, that would be great,” Elliott cut in.

“What?” I asked.

“Just bring over the form and we’ll fill it out together,” he said with a completely straight face.

“Absolutely. And when you called in you said it was a June 2^nd wedding date, right?” Carol asked enthusiastically.

“Yup,” he told her.

She hurried away.

“June 2^nd is my birthday,” I stated, confused.

He nodded. “I know, I remember. I just figured, what’s better than your favorite kind of frosting on your birthday cake? It’s something to look forward to come June.”

I was in awe of him.

“Stop staring at me like that,” he said softly.

“Like what?”

He held his hands out to me and took mine in his hold. “Like you’re crazy about me.”

We placed our order for our fake wedding cake, and the butterflies that showed up in my gut refused to leave.

“Well, thanks for coming in.” Carol grinned. “And if I can just say, I’ve been doing this for thirty-seven years, and I’ve never seen people who looked more in love than you two. I can see that you’re wild about one another.”

Elliott smiled and took my hand into his. “Yeah, she’s a good thing.”

We thanked Carol for letting us con her out of frosting, and then Elliott guided us to our next location. When we stopped in front of the Steamboat Natchez, my chest tightened.

“Really?” I asked, knowing I’d only been on that steamboat once, and it had been with him.

“I thought it would be nice. They’re having a Valentine’s cruise with live jazz music and dinner.” The cruise was exactly like the time before, but this time there were many more people onboard to celebrate love.

We danced all night to the music, letting ourselves go and fully embracing one another’s company. The live music was electrifying, and the crowd was lively. It seemed as if the wall Elliott had built up over the years was finally crumbling, and seeing the grown man he’d become was one of the best things that had ever happened.

Toward the end of the cruise, Elliott walked me to the edge of the boat. As I held on to the railing, he stepped behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. The city of New Orleans was lit up as the boat moved down the Mississippi River.

When it reached the graffiti building we’d viewed as teenagers, Elliott’s mouth gently brushed against my ear and he whispered, “You are be… You are…” His breath against my skin made my heart rate increase. I listened to the deep breaths he took before holding me closer. “You. Are. Beautiful,” he said softly, making me turn around to face him.

“Eli…you said it. You said beautiful,” I exclaimed. “You couldn’t ever say that before.”

“Well, yeah. I did practice every day for the past six years.”

And there it was.

So small, so tiny, so real.

Love.

I knew I was young, and I knew it was stupid, but in that moment, I began to fall in love with a quiet boy who quietly cared for me. The boy who was scared and still strong. The boy who not only sheltered me but cared for me when he didn’t have to at all. I hadn’t known much about love, I hadn’t known how it looked, felt, or tasted. I hadn’t known how it moved, how it flowed, but I knew my heart was tight and currently skipping a few beats. I understood the goose bumps covering my arms. I knew this stuttering boy who was sometimes so scared, was someone worth loving for the second time ever.

I knew Elliott Adams was love, and I was falling into him so fast.

Truth was, I had never fallen out of love with him.

Only this time, unlike before, I refused to let him go.

“Jasmine?”

“Yes, Elliott?”

“I’m going to kiss you?”

I laughed lightly. “Is that a question?”

When his lips met mine, he gave me the answer I’d been wanting to receive. He kissed me slowly at first, tasting every part of me. He kissed me harder, and this time I tasted his hope. The more we kissed, the more my love grew. His arms wrapped around me, and he pulled me closer to him, deepening the kiss.

I kissed his lips as my hands fell to his chest, and I discovered his heartbeats.

After we headed home, we walked up to his apartment. We didn’t say a word, but we stood in front of one another knowingly. As Elliott unbuttoned the cuffs of his shirt, I stepped out of my high heels. As he removed his shirt and revealed his toned abs, I let my hair down. I turned my back to him and moved my hair to the left side of my shoulder.

“Unzip?” I asked.

He did as I requested, his hands resting against my sides as he leaned in and nuzzled the curve of my neck. It was so faint, the feel of his lips against my skin. His kisses were whispers of a forever we’d always dreamed of.

The dress dropped to the floor, and I slowly drifted around to face him. His stare didn’t dance across my body. His eyes were locked with mine. “You are beautiful,” he said as he breathed out. His hand landed on my hip, and he drew me closer to him. “You are beautiful. You are beautiful.”

His eyes were dilated, and my heart was beating wild as he brushed his lips against mine. He gently sucked on my bottom lip and chills raced down my spine. I was nervous, but it wasn’t a bad nervous. It was the best kind of nervous, the kind of nervous one felt when dreams were coming true.

I inhaled sharply as he whispered to me, “I want you tonight, and then I want you in the morning. Say yes?”

My hands wrapped around his neck, pulling him down slightly. “Yes.”

He placed his palms beneath my ass, lifted me up, and carried me to his bed. As he laid me down, he stepped back for a moment, taking me in. His eyes surveyed my body, and he took in every single inch of me as he unzipped his slacks and slid them to the floor.

He slowly lowered himself, his hands wrapping around my left thigh, my heart racing with anticipation as he touched me. His mouth fell against my inner thigh, where he rolled his tongue against my skin. He worked his way up, taking his time, making me twist, making me turn, forcing me to fall victim to my moans. When his mouth met the edge of my panties, he slowly pulled them down my thighs, tossing them to the side of the room.

“Please,” I begged as his tongue slowly swept against my core, making me thrust my hips toward him.

“Eli…” I muttered as he slid his tongue deep inside of me. As he tasted every part of me, I cried out, feeling two fingers slide into me, making me twist even more.

“Eli, please…”

He slid in another, moving his tongue to my clitoris as he licked and sucked and fucked me with his mouth. My body reacted each time he deepened his touch, thrusting his fingers into me fast and pulling them out slowly. My heart was insane, my mind blurred. I wanted him more than anything as he built me up closer and closer…

Fast, slow, fast, slow, fast…

“More,” I begged, unable to keep quiet, unable to want him any more than I did in that moment. “Yes…”

He reached up and grabbed my breast with his free hand while his other took even more control. His breaths were growing wilder, his want matching mine.

“I’m going to…I’m going…” I breathed out, feeling a tremble down my back, my desires building to an uncontrollable level.

“No,” he told me, pausing his fingers inside me. He moved up to my lips and kissed me hard, tugging my bottom lip between his teeth before he spoke. “Not yet.” His pupils were huge, and I saw the way he craved me, how he wanted me, how he needed me the same way I needed him.

“Elliott…”

“When you let go,” he whispered, positioning himself over me, sliding his tongue against the curves of my breasts. “I want to feel it. When you let go”—he breathed heavily as he slid his hardness deep inside of me—“I want you to tremble against me.” His growl made me cry out in pleasure. “When you let go, Jazz,” he hissed, grazing his teeth against my earlobe, “You better fucking scream.”

As he slid into me, I felt every moment of happiness, of ecstasy, of bliss, of love.

He proceeded to have his way with me until my voice went hoarse.

It was still there, fully intact: our love song.

Our love existed in every second, and every touch we shared.

My mind was dazed as he pulled my hair. My heart was his as he thrust deeper and deeper into my body, into my mind, into my spirit.

A part of my soul had thought he’d move on after I left, but a bigger part of me knew the kind of love we had wasn’t something that could ever be abandoned due to distance and time.

That night we did exactly what we’d always wanted to do—we became our own song. We made love in every room, in every corner, in every way. I loved him more and more as his breaths fell against me, as he whispered my name.

Every second, every touch…

“You are…are…you are my world,” he promised with tired breaths, lying beside me in his bed. “You are my fucking world.”

And he was mine.

My lover, my friend, my beginnings, my ends. He was everything I wanted to have and everything I had thought I’d never witness again.

I loved how we physically connected that night, but my favorite part was after the sex, when we lay there, tangled up in one another’s arms.

Our eyes were heavy, but we couldn’t let go of the feeling of bliss we discovered. I couldn’t stop running my fingers across his chest, and he couldn’t stop gently kissing my skin as we shared stories with one another. My favorite stories were the ones he shared about Katie. Before, he couldn’t even speak her name, but now, when he shared with me, he smiled. It was as if the memories weren’t destructive flames anymore. They were sparks of love, and he honored her name by speaking those memories out loud.

“She loved fried salami sandwiches. She sucked at cooking them, though, so they were really burnt salami sandwiches, but I swear she’d slather them with mayo and eat them all the time. There was a time she ate them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for three weeks straight.” He laughed heartily.

I smiled. “That’s actually pretty disgusting.”

“Yeah. Our house would smell like burnt salami for days. Mom would come home from work and holler, ‘Katlyn Rae Adams, if you ever get married, please never cook for your husband. You’d be the death of him.’”

“It must run in your family—TJ tried to get me to eat peanut butter and roast beef once.” I groaned. “Disgusting.”

“Hey, don’t knock it till you try it. Same with the ham and jelly sandwiches.”

“Oh my gosh.” I shook my head back and forth. “You hang out with him way too much.”

“My mom hated his sandwiches but would still eat them all the time because it made TJ smile.”

“Your mom is one of the kindest people I’ve ever met.”

“She’s too good for this world,” he told me. “She’s a saint.”

“Does she date?” I wondered.

“Nah. She has a hard time getting close to people after my dad. He really did a number on her. I think she gets lonely, though. I asked her about it once and she told me she’d rather be alone and lonely sometimes than in the wrong relationship and sad. She was convinced that being in a bad relationship was ten times lonelier than actually being alone.”

“Any person would be lucky to have her.”

“I agree. If it happens someday, he better love her like it’s his last breath—or else I’ll kill him.”

I smiled at how much he loved his mother. She loved him the same exact way. They were lucky to have one another.

“I’ve been a shitty son,” he confessed, rubbing the back of his neck. “My mom would give up her world for me, and I spent the last six years trying to stay away for selfish reasons because I wasn’t strong enough.”

“What do you mean?”

“She looks just like her,” he explained quietly. “Every time I see my mother, I see my sister too, from her curly dark hair to her smile…from her small figure to the way she laughs, the way she cries. So, I’ve avoided her.”

“But that sounds like such a blessing,” I told him, moving in closer. “Being able to see your sister in your mother’s smile. It’s almost as if she cheated death somehow. It’s almost as if a part of her spirit lives on in such a beautiful way.”

“I’ve never thought about it like that.”

“Sometimes it’s hard to see things in a different light when you’ve become so accustomed to the dark.”

He pressed his lips against my forehead. “Jasmine?”

“Yes?”

“I love you. More than words can say, I l-love you.”

The way he stuttered over the word love matched the skipping of my heartbeats.

“I love you too, Eli.” I’d always had. I’d loved him when I was sixteen, and even though time passed, I had never let that love go.

That was what the key around my neck stood for to me.

The key was Elliott, and for all those years, he stayed right beside my heart.

He was home to me.

We didn’t sleep together again that morning, but I felt his soul against mine. My favorite thing about Elliott was how he could make love to me with only his stare.

I loved how he loved me so quietly as our eyes drifted closed, giving way to sleep, and I loved how I knew he’d love me the same when we awoke.