Page 27 of Jasper

Lucius frowned. “It’s really late. Shouldn’t you be resting with your family?”

She stared at him in silence, until he fidgeted and said, “All right, I’ll take you to the cafeteria and call Jasper. If he says he won’t see you, though, I’ll need to bring you back here.”

“Thanks for taking me to Jasper.”

“Don’t thank me yet. I don’t know if he’s going to answer.”

She met him and they started off toward the cafeteria. “I bet he will,” she said. Because she was very sure that he wasn’t asleep right now.

Jasper saton the couch in the dark, staring at nothing. He was exhausted but wide awake, his wolf twitching under his skin until he thought he’d go insane.

He should be asleep right now, andnotthinking about Melody or how complicated everything was.

Hell, what he definitely should be doing was tumbling in bed with her the way he’d been dreaming about for seven damn long years. He actually had her back in his life like he’d wanted, but he’d walked away tonight.

He just didn’t trust himself right now. Because what he really wanted to do was make love to her and mark her like he should have done, take her into his arms and tell her he was sorry for leaving her behind. That he should have fucking taken her away despite what Grimes had threatened, and trusted that he could keep her safe no matter what.

But he hadn’t done that, and she’d been left adrift.

They’d both been screwed by Grimes and his antiquated beliefs, and clearly her parents had played some part in keeping them away from each other as well, and he wasn’t sure what to think about that.

Rubbing his eyes, he sighed from the depths of his soul and wondered what the hell he should do.

His phone buzzed on the table.

“Jasper.”

“Hey, it’s Lucius.”

“What’s up?”

“Melody wants to see you. I brought her to the cafeteria topside. Do you want me to take her back to the apartment?”

“I’m not going back there, damn it!” Melody’s voice was heated with anger and he could picture her violet eyes flashing with fury. “I want to see Jasper now.”

Her voice cracked a little at the end, and he could tell that she was near her breaking point.

“I’m on my way.”

He ended the call and stood, then strode from his house. He wasn’t sure what to expect when he got to the cafeteria, but he was glad that she’d come to see him. There really was too much between them to let things go on any longer than they already had.

Seven years was about to end tonight.

One way or the other.

When Jasper came into the employee cafeteria, he wasn’t sure what to expect, but finding a frazzled-looking Melody pacing and staring down at the floor as she walked wasn’t it. She waved her hand dismissively when Lucius spoke to her, not even sparing him a glance.

Lucius looked at Jasper as he walked in. With a nod, the male headed outside and left them alone. Melody froze and spun, facing him with her violet eyes bright with emotion. Her face was red like she’d been crying, and his heart ached at how very beautiful she was, and how much he’d missed her.

She took a step toward him and then paused again, and he could see the uncertainty on her face.

“I thought you’d be asleep by now,” he said, closing the distance between them. The lights in the cafeteria were bright, but no one could see inside because the windows were one-way glass.

She sniffled and shook her head. “I couldn’t sleep. Not after I talked to my parents. I couldn’t even really be in the apartment with them.”

He reached over and pulled a chair out for her, then pulled one out for himself. It was a struggle not to hold her, but he felt like if he touched her, then he might not stop and they wouldn’t really be any better off than they were right now.

Their history was filled with bullshit and lies mixed up with misunderstandings and who the hell knew what else. Focusing on this was more important than his wolf’s desire to haul her over his shoulder and take her to his place.

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