Page 113 of Rescued
He presses his face into my hair, breathing in deeply. “Let him go, baby boy. He’ll be alright. Give him some space.”
“I don’t even know what’s happening,” I whisper, my voice choked off.
Jasper squeezes me lightly, rubbing his face against my hair. “He’s just having a bit of a hard time. He’ll be okay. Let me drop Nora off on my way to work, and you take a shower and relax.”
I shake my head. “You’ll be late if you take her.”
Letting go of me, Jasper turns me in his arms, then tilts my head back, pressing a kiss to my lips. “It’ll be fine. I won’t be too late. It’s no big deal. I’ll just text Austin and let him know.”
“But what about Salem?”
Jasper searches my eyes. “He’s alright. Let him take the bus. Give him some time to cool off. He’s got his phone if there’s an emergency.”
I nod, my throat aching with the force of holding back my tears, then drop my forehead to Jasper’s chest, breathing in his scent for a second.
“Okay.” I stand up, giving my arms a shake like I can somehow physically shake it all away. “It’s gonna be okay.”
Or at least I fucking hope it will be.
I peek around Jasper to tell Nora goodbye when I realize she’s not in the kitchen anymore.
“She went to her room,” Jasper says.
Fuck. “God, I’m fucking this all up already, huh? I have no clue what I’m doing.”
Chuckling, Jasper shakes his head. “No one does, baby boy. It’ll come with time, okay? Don’t stress it.”
It’s pretty fucking impossible to not stress it. I’ve been working my ass off for a year to get Salem and Nora. It’s all I wanted. Well, and Jasper. I wouldn’t change it for the world.
But what if I somehow fuck everything up more? I don’t know how to be a parent. I don’t even know if I’msupposedto be acting like a parent.
I really just don’t understand. Salem was so excited to come here. He was so ready to move in with me.
What am I doing wrong? Why is this so much harder for him than I thought it would be?
“Fuck,” I breathe.
Jasper cups my jaw, then kisses me softly. He nips my bottom lip, then smiles against me before pulling away. “Go shower. I’ll check on Salem if the bus hasn’t run yet, and then get Nora to school.”
“Alright.” I blow out a deep breath. “Okay. I’ll just—” I gesture toward our bedroom.
Offering me a gentle smile, Jasper nods. “Go on, baby boy. I’ve got this.”
With one more kiss, I leave Jasper standing in the kitchen.
Aftermyshower—andacrying session—I decide to go into town to hang out at the diner.
I’m not good at sitting still, and while I’ll never admit to Jasper that I don’t like being home without him, I do have to admit that I’ve gotten used to being around him all the time. I have no idea how I’m supposed to sleep without him tonight. With any luck, things will be quiet, and I’ll be able to FaceTime him before I go to sleep.
In the meantime, I have to get out of the house.
When I first started working at Daisy’s, I had no idea what it would turn into for me. There was no way for me to know how important this little diner and its patrons would end up being to me.
And more than that, I didn’t know I’d meet Luca. I was surprised when he showed up and started inviting me to things—going with him when he was buying his car, going Christmas decoration shopping.
I was happy but hesitant. Not because I didn’t like him. But because, in my limited experience, people always let you down.
It’s because of him that I have Jasper. He’s the reason I started doing self-defense with them. He’s the reason I knew Jasper had a rough day the night I stopped in at The Pub and talked to him and then went home with him.
