Page 82 of Behind the Bars

As he walked away, he said one last time, “That Jasmine girl’s beautiful, though, Elliott—like, out of thisworld.”

I didn’t reply, but I knew he wasright.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Jasmine

The next afternoon,I headed back to TJ’s corner. He was already there playing, and I sat down on the curb, taking it all in. When I closed my eyes, I could feel the hairs on my skin standing up. I felt his music in every inch of my being, and when he stopped playing, I just wanted him tocontinue.

“It was that bad, huh?” TJ asked, sitting besideme.

“Do I look that defeated?” Ijoked.

“Just a little. I’m sorry it didn’t go the way you wanted it togo.”

“It’s okay,” I told him. “Nothing lost but atry.”

“Did he give you anything at all? Any kind of…greeting? ‘How are you?’ ‘Where have you been?’Anything?”

“He kissed me,” I told him. TJ’s eyes widened, surprised by my confession. “He kissed me, and I kissed him back, and we were great, and it was real, and it reminded me of why this city changed me in the best ways. And then, hestopped.”

“What? He just…stopped?” His brows lowered. “Out ofnowhere?”

“Completely out of nowhere. We were good—great, really—and then I told him I was so sorry about what had happened to Katie,and—”

“Ah,” TJ cut in. “You brought up Katie, the kiss of death—or well, ironically, the death of the kiss. Any time Katie is brought up in a conversation, he shutsdown.”

“How do I get him to open upagain?”

He shook his head. “You don’t. Once you dip your toe into the pool of Katie apologies, you’re pretty much done for. Do you know the last time I sawhim?”

“No.”

He frowned. “Me neither. Same with his mom. He answers when she calls, but she cannot recall the last time they saw one another, and he’s never the one to pick up the phone and ring her. It’s strange, really, how when Katie died, part of Elliott did,too.”

“He was there last night,” I swore. “I saw him. I saw him behind those hazeleyes.”

“It comes in sparks,” he told me. “And seeing you probably ignited the flame he’s spent so many years trying to extinguish, but the moment he felt anything, he had to put it outagain.”

“That’s sostrange.”

“And sad. My favorite memories include him. I taught music for all my life and teaching Elliott was the highlight. He just understood things I never said. Plus, my wife and I always wanted children but couldn’t have any of our own. Caring for those two kids was so fulfilling for us, and it broke my heart to lose themboth.”

“I’m sosorry.”

“It’s okay. It’s just odd, getting older. The older you get, the lonelier and longer the days seem. That’s why I like coming here to play. It gives me a bit ofmeaning.”

“What do you do when you’re not hereplaying?”

He smiled and stood back up. “I sit at home, waiting toplay.”

That broke my heart, the idea of him just sitting and waiting for nightfall tocome.

“Don’t frown, young lady. It’s really okay,” he said, trying to comfort me. “Life happens. Sometimes you just have to go with thewaves.”

I believed that, too, but sometimes the currents just seemed toohigh.

I listened to him play for the rest of the evening, and when he finished, I stood up and thanked him for hismusic.

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