Page 18 of Bitter Sweet Love

All I could think about was Dez’s goods.

Dez’s brows rose. “No guy’s junk needs to be on display for her to take pictures of.”

“What about your junk?” she challenged.

“Wait. What?” I belatedly got in on the conversation. “Can we not talk about guys’ junk?”

He grinned as his gaze collided with mine, and I knew he was thinking the same thing I was. I turned before my cheeks burned off my face, and was tackled by my sister.

She hugged me tight enough that I squeaked. “I’m going to miss you,” she cried, head buried in my shoulder. “But have fun. Okay? And be safe. Promise?”

“Promise.” I blinked back sudden tears. Since Danika had been born, we hadn’t been separated longer than a handful of hours.

Danika stepped back, her smile wobbly. She ducked her chin as Dez strode into the room and picked up my suitcase. Together, we followed him to the ground level.

Herding two small children into the kitchen, Claudia glanced up with a tired smile as she passed us by. One of the toddlers was in his true skin; the other had only phased one wing. I stopped, watching them as the little one hopped, got some air with its one wing and then landed a second later, laughing in high-pitch squeals.

“Kids are frightening,” Danika murmured.

“I don’t know.” I smiled. “They’re kind of cute.”

Our father waited inside the foyer. As Dez disappeared outside with my suitcase, I walked up to him. He smiled, and I noticed how deep the skin crinkled around his eyes. He looked weary but happy.

He placed his hands on my shoulders, heaving a long breath. “Tell me I’m making the right decision by letting you travel with only him.”

“You are.” A knot moved into my throat. I was itching to get out of this house, but there was a part of me that hadn’t been prepared for the emotion behind leaving my family, if only for a little while. “I’ll be okay.”

“I know you will.” He sighed again. “I trust Dez. He’s a good Warden and I know he won’t let anything happen to you. He cares for you deeply, always has.”

I glanced out the open steel doors, watching Dez shut the back hatch on the SUV.

“Answer a question for me, sweetheart.”

My gaze returned to my dad. “Yes?”

“Do you still have feelings for him?” he asked.

I started to reply but stopped. Everything about Dez was complicated, and how I felt about him even more so. There was such an ugly, messy ball of hurt that had lingered after he’d left, but just thinking about him made my heart jump and my stomach tumble. “I do, but...”

“But he left?”

I didn’t respond, but he knew. Dad had been there during the worst; the days and weeks immediately following Dez’s unexpected departure. How many times had I asked Dad why? There had never been an answer.

My father pulled me in for a quick hug that felt good, grounding. I would miss him, my sister and my clan, but as he pulled back, I knew I was getting a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

He smiled as he patted my cheek. “Go easy on him.”

At first I thought that was a strange thing to say, but then suspicion rose. “Do you know why he left?”

Dad nodded. “I do, Jasmine, but it’s not my story to tell. It never has been.”

Chapter Eight

The couple-hour drive down Interstate 87 was blissfully uneventful and also very beautiful. The rolling hills were a lush green, the trees thick and stately, but the almost pristine wilderness gradually gave way to buildings larger than the tallest trees as we neared the city. My face was practically planted against the side window the whole time as I soaked in everything I saw.

“You haven’t been this far south?” Dez asked, and I looked over at him. One hand on the steering wheel, the other on his thigh.

I shook my head.

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