Page 3 of Jasper

“There’s no love lost between my grandfather and me. He didn’t want to take care of me when I was a kid, and I didn’t want to live with him. When I came into some of my inheritance as a teenager, I wanted something he’d have to look at all the time. Something to remind him of the fact I might be under his thumb, but he wouldn’t be able to direct which way to go.” He sighs heavily. “Only I didn’t think he’d care about it, ya know? Which was stupid on my part. If I care about anything, he makes it his position to hate it. Now? He’s threatening to cut off the money that makes it run.”

“Which would kill you, right?” I shrug, pulling my bottom lip in between my teeth, trying not to care.

“It will, not just because I want to see my parents name whenever I drive by that building, but because so many children count on it, Daisy. It gives a place for less fortunate and low-income kids to go after school. So that they don’t have to count on themselves. I needed a program like this when I was a kid. There was nothing to help me, and…” He stops talking, holding his hands up. “It means a lot to me. It's been my life's work, helping with it. It's what I was always doing when you'd ask me how I was spending the weekends and nights I wasn't with you. It's been the biggest joy I've been able to hang on to. My grandfather..." He beats his hand against the nearest wall. "My grandfather has decided that in order to keep it running, I need to marry, and I need to provide an heir within the next twenty-four months after the wedding. If those stipulations aren't met? I can kiss the foundation goodbye, which is the one thing keeping the memory of my parents alive. He will re-direct the money by way of some little-known clause in my parents’ will. I had it checked over by another attorney. He can and will do this."

My heart breaks for the child who lost his parents, who has counted on this tangible piece of his life to connect his past to his present. "What can I do to help you, Jasper?"

He turns to me, a slight smile tilting his lips. "I need you to marry me. I need you to have a baby with me. I can't promise you the love you deserve, but I can promise I'll be faithful to you. I was faithful to you back then.”

“The fuck you were, Jasper. I know what I saw. Pictures and videos don’t lie.”

“Yes, they do,” he roars. “They lie when I need for them to. I asked those girls to kiss and rub up on me. The pictures and videos were real, but not the feelings behind them. I asked them to post and tag me in them, wanted to break your heart because you were falling for me. I did it so you'd fall out of love with me. I knew, even back then, I wouldn't be able to open my heart to anyone else, and I didn't want you to waste the rest of your life on me. It wasn't fair to you."

What a fucking martyr. He’s still not taking my feelings into account. He might believe he is, but the way bile rises up in my throat and the wave of doom that washes over me says more than anything. Anger wells and I let him have it. "But now it's okay?" I fire back at him, my stomach hurting as I realize he's just using me again. "When you need something, it's okay to ask me?"

"You're right." He holds his hands up in surrender, face dropping from the look of hope he'd had previously. "I shouldn't have asked you. I'm sorry."

My mind is going a thousand miles a minute, trying to figure out what the hell he's actually saying to me. When he turns around to leave, it hits me. My chest splinters apart as I think about all the conversations we'd had on those long weekends together. "No. I always told you, you could trust me. If you were in trouble, you could come to me. You've done that, and I'm not going to let you down, not like everyone else in your life, Jasper. Are we allowed to divorce? When do we have to get married?"

He clears his throat, voice hoarse as he begins to speak. "As soon as possible and after fifteen years. There's a stipulation that says we can divorce after fifteen years, but you walk away with absolutely nothing."

"I don't want anything of yours, Jasper. All I ever wanted was your heart, and if you can't give that to me? I don't want anything else. But the fact of the matter is, I do love you. I have loved you, and I know I'm always going to. So if this is what you need, I'm going to do it for you." I blink quickly, trying to remove the tears from my eyes before he sees them. Deep in my soul, I know if I can make him see how deserving he is, I can convince him of what we could have together.

"Why would you do that for me when I've been so shitty to you?" His voice is soft and rough as he asks the question.

"Because sometimes loving someone means loving them more than they deserve, and even more than loving yourself," I whisper, knowing exactly what I'm getting myself into, but scared to death I'm not going to be able to survive it.

CHAPTER TWO

Daisy

This isn't how I envisioned getting married, ever. I sure as hell didn't think I would be getting married to Jasper either. Yet here am I. At the local Broken Falls courthouse, wearing a white dress, and holding a bouquet I grabbed at Kroger.

My parents aren't even here. Not that my mom would be either way. She and I have no relationship to speak of. My dad, on the other hand, wanted to be here, but couldn't because of work obligations and the fact I sprung this on him less than eighteen hours ago.

God, less than eighteen hours ago my life looked much different than it does right now. What is this timeline I'm in? Definitely not the one I imagined when Jasper broke my heart in college.

I'm standing at the back of the room next to Jasper, waiting for our names to be called. It looks like there are a few couples in front of us. Each of them look in love. One is sitting close to each other with their heads tilted together, sharing a laugh and a smile. Jasper and I have barely looked at the other since we got here.

I sigh heavily, more out of nerves than anything.

"Thank you," he whispers. It's so soft I almost convince myself I've imagined it. "You didn't have to do this. If I were you, and you were me, I wouldn't have. You know I don't believe in second chances."

He told me that so often when we were together. He was of the thought that we'd have one chance to get things right. Little did I know he'd be the one to mess it up. But this? This is my revenge. I swore to myself when he broke my heart that I'd find my happiness with him one day. Not because I'm a martyr, but because I've never loved anyone as much as I loved him. Still love him. If this is how I can have him, then so be it. "I shouldn't even be entertaining the idea." I clear my throat. "Shouldn't have said yes to you, but the truth is you've always been the one who got away for me. In the back of my mind, I've wondered what could have been had we gotten the chance to grow up. Now I can see."

His dark eyes roam my face. "I worry I'm going to disappoint you the way I did before. I sabotaged us, and I'm scared to death I'm going to do it again."

If there's one thing about this man, I know he doesn't say anything he doesn't mean. I must believe these words are true. "I won't let you." I reach out and grab his hand. "We'll be happy, Jasper. It might take us a while to get there, but we'll be happy."

"I wish I could believe you." He gives me a sad smile.

Leaning in, I press my forehead to his just like I saw the couple in front of us do. "I believe enough for the both of us." I always have.

"You told me to step on a Lego," he jokes, with a crooked grin, voice low and full of gravel.

I shrug, closing my eyes on a scoff. "Character flaw. You hurt me, I have to hurt you, too."

"I deserved it."

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