I stop directly where I am and watch as she sways those perfect h*ps back up his body. Her eyes are still fixed on me, even when Eli puts his hands on her h*ps and pulls her body closer to him. His head turns towards her ear. He must say something because Jaylinn licks her lips and nods her head. Eli turns in my direction, giving me a head nod and acknowledging that he knows I’m aware of their dancing and then he spins Jaylinn gracefully into my direction. My arms open and Jaylinn lands right up against my chest. I inhale deeply as the smell of her perfume swirls in the air around us.

“Jay,” My voice comes out husky.

“Baby,” Jaylinn purrs.

Her body starts to sway to music and I feel myself doing the same. The song slowly comes to an end. Cole stands and walks to the mic, “We’re going to slow things down for a few minutes and play a favorite song of mine. There’s a couple in the house that knows this song fairly well and I think it’s appropriate that I play it for them.”

Jaylinn’s head snaps to the stage, seeking out Cole. “Are Mason and Hailey here?” She asks, standing on her tip toes and looking around.

I cup the side of Jaylinn’s face, completely forgetting the fact that I was beyond pissed seeing her dancing with Eli. While I was gone I had walked over and asked if Manny could get a message to Cole for me. I requested that he play the song that meant just as much to Jaylinn and I as it does Mason and Hailey. I know Jaylinn was upset that I was blowing her off but it’s what I needed to do, I just have to make sure she knows she a huge part of my life and always will be.

A piano is rolled out on the stage and Cole takes a seat behind it. He hits the first few keys to “Changed By You” by Between the Trees, and Jaylinn looks to me with a sea of emotion in her eyes and I’m drowning in it.

Her arms slowly reach up around my neck and I bring her body flush against mine. She lowers her right hand and places it on my chest, just over my heart, and rests her head on my shoulder.

Our bodies sway back and forth as a hold her close. “I know this is Hailey and Mason’s song but the words are fitting and I need you to understand how I feel about you.” I kiss her cheek. “You’ve been there for me when my life felt out of control back in school. Classes and baseball were taking up all my time but you were always there. Half the time I never even acknowledged that you were there, but I knew. You never missed any of my games, not even in high school, unless you had one of your own. Even now when I told you I was thinking of quitting you didn’t push me to stay with baseball. You were trying to figure out a way for me to do both.” I take a long deep breath, needing a little courage to continue. “When shit went down I blamed myself, I still do, but for some reason you’ve stuck around.”

Jaylinn lifts her head and begs me with her eyes to understand that it wasn’t my fault. “Cooper you aren’t to blame. You couldn’t have stopped what almost happened.”

I bite on my bottom lip, feeling my shoulder sag. “If I didn’t bring you, you wouldn’t have had to worry about anything. I feel like you left BU because of me. You left your friends and teammates behind to transfer to Georgian Court.”

Before I can keep going Jaylinn stops me by placing a finger to my lips. “I didn’t transfer because of you. I transferred because I wanted to. Nothing I wanted was in Boston anymore.” The last part comes out more of a whisper.

A small part of me still feels like she’s fooling herself. If I could have stayed in Boston she would have continued to go to school there. The ass**le that caused all of this shit was no longer an issue because he was kicked out of school for reasons that she doesn’t know, but her mind was already made up.

I claim her warm sweet lips. They part and I slip my tongue inside, sending a shiver of desire racing through me.

The rest of the night we spend dancing, drinking and talking. We seemed to have lost Eli after their little show on the dance floor and that’s fine by me. I’ll have to talk to that f**ker tomorrow and set him straight, but for now I’m here with my girl.

A few weeks ago, Mason and I went to jewelry store in the mall and I found the perfect ring for Jaylinn. It’s a blue diamond infinity ring, a symbol of my trust that I will always be there for her. She needs that from me. Plus, it was Mason’s constant rambling in my ear that persuaded me to buy her the ring.

Jaylinn didn’t want her mom to spend Christmas morning alone so she slept at her house and is on her way over now. I woke up a few hours ago with doubt lingering over the gift that I had picked out, thinking she wasn’t going to like it.

The alarm on the front door beeps, notifying me that she’s here.

“Coop?” Jaylinn calls out.

“In the kitchen.”

She comes up the stairs and runs into my arms. “Merry Christmas, Baby.”

I tighten my arms around her, “Merry Christmas Twinkle Toes.”

She shakes her head at the nick name I had given her a few years ago. The things that girl could do with her feet still amazes me. She is a beast on the soccer field and I’m glad she was able to transfer teams so she can continue to play.

“So can I open my gift?” she asks, bouncing up and down, barely able to control her excitement.

“You’re like a little kid on Christmas morning.” I laugh at her enthusiasm and my stomach tightens at the thought of giving her the gift.

Jaylinn pouts and I pull her back to me and kiss the pout from her lips. “No pouting.”

“Then don’t make me wait.” Jaylinn quips back.

I shake my head and walk over to the fridge. Reaching into the cabinet above it, I pull out the small wrapped gift.

“Son of a bitch! That’s where you hid it?” Jaylinn shrieks.

I look over my shoulder at her like she’s lost her damn mind. “Um, from your reaction, it’s a good thing I did hide it in there. I can’t believe you were snooping around.” I say with amusement. She really is like a big kid.

Jaylinn rolls her eyes, “You mean to tell me you never went snooping around for your gifts?”

I place the box on the counter next to where she is leaning. She eyes it skeptically before her hand starts to reach for it.

“Don’t.” I say with a little more force then I wanted. I’m sweating and nervous. I never get nervous. I can be up to bat at the most important game of my life with the bases loaded and not feel anything like I do right now. I don’t want her to get the wrong impression and screw up what we have. I’ve got to explain it as she opens it.