Swan Song

Nineteen

& all at once you are the one I have been waiting for
King of my heart, body and soul
& all at once you're all I want, I'll never let you go
King of my heart, body, and soul
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Following the competition, my parents were adamant about taking everybody out for a celebratory dinner and despite my excitement, I was also beyond exhausted as the adrenaline from the day wore off.

Dad cleared his throat and my mom, brother, Jake, Brad, and I all looked in his direction.

"What's on your mind, little duck?" He questioned, noticing that I wasn't myself as I played with the food on my plate. "I thought you'd be excited about placing in your competition."

"Oh, I am," I sighed with a tight smile.

"Then what is it, sweetheart?" My mom asked, trying to keep my squadron from hearing our conversation.

"It's just that Jake and I are moving in together and I wasn't sure how to tell you."

"Moving in? Isn't that kind of fast?" Oliver asked, exchanging looks with my dad and Bradley.

I glanced at Jake and he looked just as shocked as my family. I hadn't even told him I agreed to moving in together but seeing him show up despite lacking an invitation showed me that I wanted him in my life and this seemed like a great step for us, even if it was fast.

"I mean, maybe. But I wasn't asking for permission, just letting everybody know," I replied before chewing the inside of my cheek.

"You're adults," my dad huffed. "Work comes first."

"Of course, sir," Jake chimed in. "I wouldn't let anything happen to her. Odette is a priority to me as well."

As we ate, I accidentally knocked my napkin to the floor and leaned to the side of the table to pick it up. As I leaned down, Jake reached out and put his hand over the edge of the corner, covering it so I wouldn't hit it. As I sat back up, he pulled his hand back and I looked from him to my parents where they were giving one another a look.

From what I could read, they had approved of the gesture that Jake had just made by covering the corner of the table.

"He totally loves you," my mom mouthed to me, making me laugh and shake my head.

Jake and I hadn't even said those words to one another yet, which made it that much more crazy that we were planning to move in with one another. I definitely had to catch myself several times from saying it to him but ever since I had found out about the dance, I kept reservations even though I knew he had told Coyote everything about how he had started to fall for me.

I was desperate to say those words and for Jake to say them back but I wasn't sure if he really did love me or even if it was too soon. I continued to think about those three little words as I poked at my food until everybody was ready to leave.

Rather than make the drive back down to San Diego with Matt and his family, Jake drove us back home and once we had parked in the driveway, we sat in the truck in silence.

"Thank you for coming today. It really did mean more to me than I can explain."

"I wanted to be there more than anything," Jake explained as he reached out and placed his hand on top of mine. "You did amazing, Odette."

I breathed a sigh of relief at his approval before Jake got out and walked around to open my door for me.

"I know you're tired but how about a drink?" Jake offered as we walked inside. "I have a bottle of your favorite wine chilling in the fridge. Go get comfortable while it breathes and we'll toast to a job well done."