Page 50 of Bulletproof Love

I can tell she’s thinking about what we did up on that dais. It runs rampant through my mind too. “Nevermind. How about this? We each have to answer a question?” I offer.

“Fine, but you go first.”

Shit. I want to make this good, but I haven’t thought ahead. There’s so much I want to learn about her.Everything.I’ll keep it fairly light though, considering what we went through tonight and the vibe in the air. “How did you get into hacking?”

Her brows raise, and she tilts her head. “That’s really what you want to ask?”

“I’m genuinely curious.” I flash a smile, the kind that I know lovingly annoys her.

“It’s kind of a long story,” she starts, and takes a breath. “I’m adopted. I won’t get into the whole thing of how and when, but basically when I was about fourteen, I got really into trying to find my birth parents.” She drums her fingers on the dash, collecting her thoughts. “At first, it was just normal stuff—searching adoption records, birth certificates, all that. But everything was sealed tight. The more doors that closed in my face, the more determined I got.”

Now I’m even more curious. “Could your parents help you? Your adopted ones, I mean?”

“I tried to get information from my dad, but he was always super vague. My mom passed when I was nine, and my dad wasn’t much of a talker. He told me where he found me, how they ended up adopting me. So I started spending lunches in my school’s computer lab, or using friend’s computers so my dad wouldn’t get suspicious. I taught myself how to dig deeper.”

“Did you ever find them?”

She shakes her head. “Not then. But I found this whole world of puzzles and barriers that were just waiting to be solved. Each new skill I learned opened up ten more possibilities. Before I knew it, I was spending more time learning about network protocols than actually searching adoption records. It became less about finding my birth parents and more about proving I could get past any obstacle. Every secured system was like a personal challenge. Taunting me, telling me I can’t. And well...” She grins. “I’ve never been good at taking no for an answer.”

Hearing that story connects the pieces I already know, forming a clearer picture. Those gray eyes light up when she talks about her skills and I can’t blame her. She’s worked hard for everything she’s learned and done it all through sheer determination. I’m even more intrigued.

“You said you didn’t find them then. Does that mean you ended up finding your parents later?” I ask.

Wagging her fingers, she says with a smirk, “The deal was one question, cheater.”

“Can’t help myself. You’re so very mysterious.”

“I’m really not, but I’ll let you think I am,” she says. Her eyes stray toward the window.

“Thinking about your question?” I wonder out loud.

“You could say that.” She gets quiet again, drawing shapes in the window’s condensation, little swirls and stars.

I want her to ask me things—about my life, about what makes me who I am. Something real… beyond the surface. I can’t force her to want to know me though, and maybe that’s for the best. It’s safer if she just sees Jasper the jokester, the charmer who can get out of anything. If she looks too closely, asks too many questions, she’ll see how broken I really am. How I failed Bailey and how it fucking kills me everyday. How I’m barely holding it together most of the time.

No one wants to knowme. Who I wanted to be before everything fell apart… Who I am now. Maybe we’re all as lost as I feel, but it doesn’t hurt any less knowing the woman breaking down all my walls has nothing personal to ask me.

“Look, I?—”

A flash of blinding lights in the rearview cut off my words. We turn, shielding our eyes, and are greeted by the roar of a snow plow.

“Thank fucking God,” Falin says. “I know we’re in bumblefuck but I really didn’t think they’d take this long to plow.”

She’s excited to get home… to get space from me. Understandably. Can’t help the lump in my throat from forming anyway.

Once the truck passes us, I pull out and follow a few car lengths behind. The ride back is silent except for the squeaking of Damon’s wipers and the low melodic tune of my mellow playlist.

Dawn breaks as we pull off the parkway, early light glinting off the Hudson to our right. As the skyline comes into view, it almost makes it easier to pretend the past twenty-four hours weren’t real. That Falin and I could go back to how we were before the gala. She taps her fingers on the car door to the beat of the music and that small gesture has me smiling. There’s no going back for me. The walls are crumbling, and Falin’s the only one I want to let in.

CHAPTERTWENTY

ALEXANDER

The momentI saw her face on that news clip, everything clicked into place. Blake Hyland. The girl who fucked up my life has been right under our noses the whole time. And there beside her, that platinum blonde I’m sure helped ruin everything we’d built right along with her friend.

I’m grateful that I happened to be scrolling the news that night. I’d never have put two and two together. Never would’ve spotted her.

Here she is again, being nothing but a thorn in my side.

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