Paper Airplanes (44 page)

I had to agree with him.

“What do you think Austin will say? Does he know about your letter?”

He shook his head. “No, I didn’t want him to feel rejected if Jean Luc never responded to me. I’ll talk to him tomorrow. I’m sure he’ll want to meet him.”

I nodded. “Good for you, babe. I’m happy for you guys.”

He smiled and leaned across the table and kissed me. “It’s ironic that this day should have been forever marked in my mind as the worst day of my life, but that phone call – and the fact that I’m sitting here with you – kind
of makes it not seem so bad.”

“What do you mean?” I questioned, unaware that he’d had a bad day.

He paused before he said, “Cass, it’s the anniversary of the shooting.”

“Oh,” I said, dropping his hand as I flopped against the back of the booth
, feeling like the wind had been knocked out of me. I blinked a few times at the concerned look on his face. “I didn’t remember.”

Crap, I should have remembered. I felt like a jerk. It was one year ago that Will and Aiden had been taken from my life. How could I have overlooked the date?

In truth, I’d probably blocked it out.

Jared got up and came around to my side of the booth, so I scooted
over and let him sit next to me as he wrapped his arm around me and pulled me against him.

“I know it’s supposed to be a shitty day in our history, and it is, but we’re here because of it,” he said softly.

I nodded. He was so right. We were together because of the shooting, because of how it had affected us and how we were linked together by fate that night. I knew I’d fallen for him for completely different reasons than that, but at the core of it all, at the root of why we’d been drawn to each other, was that night and what we’d gone through together.

Stay with me.

Those three words had been cemented in my brain, subconsciously when I couldn’t remember Jared saying them to me and consciously once I’d remembered everything. And I’d done just that, through it all, I’d stayed with him, and he’d stayed with me.

“Is that why you wanted me to come to dinner tonight?” I asked him, and he smiled.

“Not really. I just missed you. Scott doesn’t cuddle with me when we watch movies like you do, and you’ve been so busy lately. I just wanted to have a night out with my girlfriend.”

“I’m sorry,” I told him, feeling guilty for being so obsessed with school lately. I might have taken on too much – maybe. Or I might have just needed to find my stride.

He shook his head. “Don’t apologize. I love that you’re so involved in school. It’s fine. I’ve been busy too. I just missed you. We’ll have to work on scheduling date nights when we can both get away.”

I looked up into his bright blue eyes and brought my lips to his. “You’re the sweetest boy I’ve ever known, Jared Lansing. I love you.”

“I love you too,” he said against my lips.

When he pulled back he smiled and looked up, signaling for the waiter to come over. Then
he got up and went back to the other side of the booth.

After
I gave my drink order to the waiter and was perusing the menu, I felt Jared watching me.

“What?” I asked him
, looking up to meet his gaze.

He smiled. “I was thinking that after dinner, we could take a walk over to the church on the corner. They have candles that you can light for people. I wasn’t sure if you’d want to, but I figured we could light a candle for the fourteen people who lost their lives at Coleman.”

As he said that, tears sprung to my eyes. I couldn’t help it. At the thought of Will and Aiden and the twelve other innocent people I hadn’t known, I was overcome with emotion.

“I think that’s a really great idea.”

Jared smiled. “I had a feeling you’d say that.”

I watched him as he looked down at his menu
again, wondering how I’d gotten so lucky. He was such an incredible, kind, good-hearted man, and he loved me. He was right, that day, one year ago had been the worst day of our lives, but because of it, we’d had some of the best days of our lives, together.

Jared made me happier than I’d ever been in my whole life. I loved him completely, and I knew sitting across from him, that he’
d made my life amazing. In his own way, he’d built a paper airplane that could fly us away from the pain and heartbreak of our past. He’d held my hand the whole time, and I’d held his, knowing that as long as we were by each other’s side, the past couldn’t come back to haunt us. Because of him, I could face anything, knowing I’d get through it just fine. As long as I had Jared, everything would be okay.

About the Author

Thanks so much for reading
Paper Airplanes
, my twelfth full-length novel
.
I really hope you enjoyed it as much as I loved writing it and developing the characters that helped bring the story to life. If you are interested in reading my other novels, they are also available in e-book format online.

Books have always had a big part in my life, and I probably spend way more time reading than I should, engrossed in the stories that keep me captivated. I am a total sucker for romantic comedies in all forms, because at the end of the day I just want to laugh and see some really great people fall in love. When those stories are mixed with an awesome soundtrack, it just doesn’t get much better than that.

In addition to books, I have a serious love for the Florida Gators and the Boston Red Sox, I am addicted to fashion, and I never go anywhere without my iPod. Give me a grande non-fat vanilla latte from Starbucks and chips and queso from Tijuana Flats, and I am a happy girl.

You can read more about me online at:
http://www.goodreads.com/monicaalexander

Follow me on Twitter: @MonMichelle6

or on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/monicaalexanderauthor

Books by Monica
Alexander

Just Watch the Fireworks

Aftershocks

Broken Fairytales

Buried Castles (Broken Fairytales #2)

Shattered Crowns (Broken Fairytales #3)

Forcing Gravity

Gravity Happens (Forcing Gravity #2)

Searching for Neverland

Work of Art

Only With You

Love is Madness

Paper Airplanes

Playlist

I listen to music constantly, so inevitably songs have a way of working themselves into my stories. Below is a playlist of the songs I hear when I read this book. Some songs I referenced in the book itself, and others are just ones that I felt fit in nicely with the story. Enjoy!

Here’s to Never Growing Up – Avril
Lavigne

Historia
Calamitatum – Rise Against

Innocence Maintained – Jewel

The Monster – Eminem (feat. Rihanna)

Wake Me Up –
Avicii

Heaven Nor Hell –
Volbeat

Out of the Dark – Matt Hires

White Fences – Needtobreathe

Afraid – The
Neighbourhood

Is There Anyone Out There – Toad the Wet Sprocket

Where We Gonna Go From Here – Mat Kearney

I Will Follow You Into the Dark – Death Cab for Cutie

In the Blood – Better Than Ezra

Everchanging
(Acoustic) – Rise Against

Glycerine
– Bush

Fireworks –
Madina Lake

Sex on Fire – Kings of Leon

Lanterns – Rise Against

Black Balloon –
Goo Goo Dolls

Even Robots Need Blankets – Mayday Parade

Silenced By the Night – Keane

Figure 8 – Ellie
Goulding

Slow It Down –
Goo Goo Dolls

Absolutely Still – Better Than Ezra

End Transmission – AFI

Queen of Hearts – We the Kings

Art of War – We the Kings

Here I Am Alive –
Yellowcard

Not Broken –
Goo Goo Dolls

Through the Dark – One Direction

Mouth – Bush

We Are Young – Keane

Luck – American Authors

Something Great – One Direction

I Lived – OneRepublic

Song lyric included in this text is from
Slow It Down
– words and music by Goo Goo Dolls; copyright 2013 Warner Bros. Records Inc.