Power Forward (Chicago Thunder, #4)

by Jodi Oliver

Jackson Wilde has always been the one who got away. The one who was the reason why I could never completely hand my heart over to my ex-wife, Zara. It was because he still owned it. Even now. Almost fourteen years later, he still has a tight hold on me.

We went from being inseparable to becoming strangers, and sometimes you don’t truly know the significance of that loss until they’re standing right in front of you again. Like a mirage of someone you once knew.

there’s the saying that you don’t forget your first love. That they leave an imprint on your soul. And maybe it’s true, but that also goes for emotional scars, and they can run just as deep.

Those intrusive thoughts became suffocating, and the voices convinced me that I was the one who had to end things first because then I was in control. He couldn’t break my heart if I broke his first.

I might be broken, but I’m not stupid enough to throw away his heart for a second time. If I’m so lucky enough to catch it again.

“And what about you?” I find myself asking. “What about me?” “Will I make you proud?” His eyes shine with so much adoration my breath hitches. “You’ve always made me proud, Jackson. You make me proud by simply being you.”

“I won’t fail you a second time, Jackson,” I whisper, carding my fingers through his hair. “I swear to you, I’ll be loving you every day for the rest of my life.”

“He was running from himself, I think.” My voice cracks slightly. When I look back up, Ethan’s smile is sad. “It makes sense. Sometimes our biggest demon is our own minds.

We’re conditioned to believe that we’re strong, and emotions are for the weak, but ultimately, the only people we’re hurting by doing that is ourselves.”

“I love you, Hayden Issac Cassidy. I’ve always loved you, and I will continue to love you. I’ll love you so fucking hard you won’t ever question it.”