All the Wrong Choices by C.A. Harms

Chapter Forty-Five

Jonah

"You look happy,"Avery leans into my side and whispers. We were all sitting outside on the back patio, the lights around the pool lighting the space perfectly. The game plays on the flat-screen just beneath the covered awning. Danielle's head rests on my shoulders. Her body tucked in close at my side. She'd fallen asleep long ago, and I remain perfectly still, not wanting to wake her.

I love when she curls up with me, holding on to me in her sleep like she needs the security of knowing I'm there to sleep peacefully.

"I am," I finally confess. More than happy; I've never been this content. My life has been good, my friends and family, it's all been great. Before Danielle, I thought I had it all, but I was wrong. She's the most magical part. She is my purpose. I've never loved so intensely, never craved so uncontrollably. She is my everything.

"I see what you see in her," Avery adds, and I finally look away from the TV to find my sister looking at me. "I'll admit before when you shared with me how things were between you two, I wasn't a big fan. I wanted you to find happiness with Heather or anyone because this girl Dani didn't deserve my big brother. She was the girl who took advantage of his kindness and his need to forgive and forget. I hated seeing you so torn up over a woman who wasn't smart enough to figure out what a catch you are, but I was wrong. I'll admit it."

Avery looks from me to Dani and then back to me again. "She loves you, Jonah, and I'm not just talking about an infatuation. I'm talking about an all consuming love that you are still the greatest man in her life kind of love, no matter what. Last night, when Heather walked up and introduced herself to Dani, I half expected her to be all catty and bitchy, but she wasn't. Instead, she looked Heather in the eyes and said it was nice to meet her. Even when Heather decided to try talking about you like she knew you more than Dani did, I think I got angrier than Dani. Heather was trying to push Dani's button, which seems surprising because I didn't think Heather had that side to her, but I was wrong. I was about to go to your rescue, but Dani once again amazed me."

"How?" My chest felt tight just thinking of Heather attempting to intimidate Dani, and I know right then and there all communication with Heather is off. No one does that shit to my girl.

"Dani looked at her and told her she was in love with you the first night she saw you, and no man has ever made her feel so loved and so protected. She put Heather in her place without actually being a bitch about it." I hug Dani to me a little tighter. "She's incredible, Jonah, honestly."

"I know," I've never met anyone like her in my life.

"So what's next?" I know what my sister is asking, and I've thought of it often. I've pictured our lives and where I want to be in five years. I've imagined our kids. I've dreamed of it all.

"I'm going to love her," I confess, feeling my heart swell. "I'm going to make her happier than she's ever been, and if you're asking me if I plan on marrying this woman, then my answer is yes, I do. I love her, Av, so much that the idea of losing her makes me feel hollow. She's who I want; she's my dream."

Silence falls over us as I hold Dani in my arms, my lips resting on the top of her head. Tucker fully invested in the plays and was utterly oblivious to everything else but the game on the screen. But for me, all I can concentrate on is Dani. Every breath she takes, the way each exhale tickles my chest, and her hair blowing in the soft breeze that filters through the patio; she is all I can see.

These are the moments I want to fill my life with, sharing a quiet moment with the woman who holds my heart in the palm of her hand—holding her and kissing her until we fall asleep.

* * *

"I can't believethat ending play," Tucker groans, still irritated that his team lost. Stepping inside through the back door, music playing through the surround sound speakers.

In the kitchen, Avery and Danielle move around the space, cleaning up from dinner. They are talking and laughing, and Tucker, still complaining about the game, fades away. All I can see is how happy Dani is.

I realize my happiness comes from her happiness.

She looks up from drying a plate to find me watching her, and she winks. It's a simple response but one I feel throughout my entire body.

I recognize the song playing, and she too, must remember the last time it played when we were together because she bites her lip and again locks her eyes with mine. I glance down at the living room rug in front of the fireplace. I can almost picture her laying there, naked and begging me for more. My body reacts immediately, and I know now is not the time, so I fight the desire I feel for her.

We make our way to the kitchen, and I step up behind Dani to lean in over her shoulder and kiss her cheek. "Need help?"

"No," she says looking back at me, I take the opportunity to kiss her lips but only for a few seconds. I love my sister and Tuck, but honestly, I'm ready to be alone with Dani. "We've got it but thank you."

I don't leave, and I slowly start to sway behind her as I hold onto her hips. She gives no resistance and leans back closer to me, letting her head fall to my shoulder. "I thought we could skip the pool," I talk low near her ear so only she can hear. "Maybe we could roll around in front of the fireplace instead." She bites her lip. "That song made me think of how you look on your hands and knees, looking back at me over your shoulder." I have to stop there because, again, I'm growing hard.

"I'm good with that."

Nipping at the side of her neck, I wait for the rush of lust to pass because if I move now, there is no way to hide how my body reacts to Dani's.

The music on the radio changes to a more upbeat song. Tucker starts to dance with Avery, and the sound of her laughter fills the kitchen. I take it as my cue to turn Dani around and grab her hands. She, too, laughs, her head thrown back, the sounds only driving me more.

I spin her and pull her back to me as I move against her, and she presses one hand to my chest. I'm so incredibly in love with Dani, but when she looks at me with such happiness in her eyes, I fall just a little more.

I end the song by dipping her backward, and I look up to find Avery smiling at me knowingly. She gets it, she sees, she understands the depth of my love. She feels the same things for Tucker, and at that moment, I know the two of us are going to be okay without a doubt. We've watched our parents only love each other stronger and deeper every year. We were raised never to let those around us feel like they weren't the most important people in our world. Our parents never hid from us how truly in love they are and have always been.

Avery and I have found that kind of love. We've found the people we can dance in the rain with, or this case, my kitchen. We've found our true loves.