Page 114 of Exposed

Jasmine swipes her cell phone off the dresser and calls 9-1-1. Noah, Hope, and their baby girl Zuri are out of town visiting Hope’s parents. Our nearest neighbors may not see the fire until the whole house is engulfed in flames, so we have no one to help us.

I quickly hop out of bed and grab Simon out of his toddler bed that’s still in our room.

Yes, I’ve been harping on Jasmine that we need to get him in his own bedroom before the baby comes. Also yes, I’m immensely thankful now that she’s said no every time I tell her it’s time.

“You’ve got this, Jasmine. We’ll be fine. You, Simon and Peanut get out of here. I’ll get Rafe and meet you outside.”

She nods and takes our sleepy Simon from my arms as he rubs his eyes and wakes up.

“Momma?” He asks, covering his ears from the alarms.

“It’s okay, baby. We need to go outside. We’re going through the window? Won’t that be cool?” Even with tears streaming down her face, Jasmine shifts into mommy mode, making sure Simon doesn’t feel afraid.

All of the bedrooms are on the second floor. Simon flaps his hands and starts to cry from the loud noise as Ipull the emergency escape ladder out from under the bed.

I hurriedly open the window and latch the ladder onto the windowsill. I give it a hard tug to test it, then cup Jasmine’s face.

I give her a quick kiss, memorizing her face in case I never see her again. I pray to God that isn’t the case. I have to make it out of here with Rafe.

“I love you,” she says, tears falling down her beautiful face.

“See you soon, princess.”

Fuck, I hope I do. The thought of never seeing her again has my stomach twisted in knots and my chest physically hurting.

“It’s okay, Simon. The noise will stop once we’re outside.” Jasmine creates a quick makeshift carrier, putting Simon in a pillow case, then uses a sheet to wrap him around her.

“I don’t want to drop him. Seems safer to have him tied around me,” Jasmine shouts above the blaring fire alarms as she secures Simon to her body. “Hold onto me, Simon. Don’t let go, and Momma won’t let go of you.”

“Momma,” Simon cries. She wraps his tiny arms around her, then secures one arm around him before she swings her leg over the windowsill.

She’s crying as I give her one more glance and smile at her.

“Yours forever,” I call to her.

“I love you,” she mouths. She probably speaks, but I can’t hear her over the wailing of the smoke alarms.

Shani is losing her mind barking. She jumps back and forth from me to the window where Jasmine is fleeing.

“Yeah, girl. They’re getting out of here. Help me find Rafe, and we’ll get out of here.”

I put a hand on the doorknob, but hiss and pull back when the metal burns my hand. Wrapping a blanket around my hand, I hurriedly jerk open the door.

Shani whimpers and backs up as a rush of heat blows towards me. The sight before me is horrendous. Bright flames lick up the walls and arch over the ceiling.

Our home.

I’m down on my knees and crawling in a second. How in the hell did this spread so fast?

“Shani, follow me,” I shout at her.

“Rafe!” I scream, then try to breathe into the sheet I brought as I make my way toward his room.

Shani is still whining in my bedroom.

“Now, girl. We have to find Rafe,” I command, and she reluctantly follows.

The staircase is on fire, and a hallway separates the master bedroom from the other bedrooms.

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