Page 19 of Jasper

Jasper thanked his alpha again and left, walking across the big private living area and making his way to the surface to get Melody and then meet his friends to plan the night.

He wasn’t sure what he’d say to Melody because he knew she wanted to talk more, and he sure as hell wanted to talk too.

And kiss.

Shit, he could still feel her against him, her soft curves melting so perfectly against him.

Focus, damn it.

Letting out a half-snarl, half-sigh, he jogged across the park after he group-texted his friends to meet him, Joss, and Caesar in the topside employee cafeteria.

There were plans to be made.

Later, he could talk to her about the future.

Because he genuinely didn’t know where he stood with her. She was angry and defiant, and heartbroken still.

Not at all like he’d expected her to be when he saw her again.

Hell, he wasn’t sure what he’d thought would happen. It certainly wasn’t her showing up at night asking for help setting her parents free, that’s for damn sure.

First things first: set her parents free.

Then they’d see what happened.

“Ouch, dang it, stop head-butting me!”

Melody turned down the volume on the TV and rose to her feet. It was nearly four in the afternoon, and after spending a good portion of the morning tossing and turning, she’d camped on the couch and hoped Jasper would come find her.

He still hadn’t.

“I said stop, oh my gosh!”

Curious at the feminine voice coming from outside and whathead-buttinghad to do with anything, Melody walked to the door and opened it.

A teenage female had a small goat on a lead and was dodging its head while it tried to take her out from the knees.

“Jonas!” the girl shrieked with a laugh.

“Are you okay?” Melody asked, leaning against the doorjamb.

“Oh! Hi! I’m okay, it’s just this little guy keeps trying to head-butt me. I’m Luna. Who are you?”

“I’m Melody, a friend of Jasper’s.”Maybe.

“Oh, cool. I work in the petting zoo after school. Mercer and Rhomi work in the petting zoo too, and after Rhomi nearly got taken out by Jonas and his hard-headedness, I thought I’d take him for a little stroll in the secure areas. I can walk all the wayfrom the petting zoo to the apartments and around to the safari tour without coming into contact with any park patrons.”

“Neat. Can I pet him?”

“Sure, just watch out for him—he’s sneaky and a stinker.”

Melody joined the pretty blonde female and the cute little goat, who was black and white with pale eyes. He bleated as Melody squatted down, then tried to head-butt her hand when she petted him.

“Cute,” she said, feeling the coarse fur on his head. He closed his eyes with a little hum and moved closer to her.

“Aw, I think he likes you.”

“I’ve never been to a petting zoo before. I’m sure Jonas is a big hit.”