Page 60 of Jasper

“I said it’s nothing,” I snap, standing abruptly. My pulse races. I can’t sit here anymore. “I’m going to the main house to see if Rowie wants to color.”

I don’t wait for him to respond. I turn and walk toward the door, needing distance between us. Needing air.

“Stop,” he booms.

My hand hovers over the doorknob.

“Turn around.”

I do, slow and stiff. My eyes sting. I blink furiously, refusing to let him see the tears.

“You’re supposed to ask permission before leaving the house,” he reminds me. “And I don’t appreciate you brushing off my questions.”

I cross my arms, anger and sadness tangling in my throat. “Why does it even matter?”

He raises a brow. “It matters.”

“We agreed this was temporary,” I bite out. “That once I left, it’d be over.”

“Yes,” he says calmly. “We did agree.”

“Well, I’m still here, but not for long.” My voice cracks at the end. I hate that I can’t hold it together. “You fixed my car. That’s what you wanted, right? For me to be able to leave?”

His expression shifts, confusion crossing his face, but he lifts his hands slowly, palms out. “Come here.”

I shake my head, my bottom lip trembling. “No.”

“Ariana,” he repeats, softer now. But still that edge of authority beneath it. “Come. Here.”

I stare at him, everything inside me buckling. But my feet won’t move.

Then his voice drops.

“One…”

The word pierces through me like a blade. My eyes burn.

“Two…”

Tears slip free, tracking down my cheeks. My whole body trembles.

“Don’t make me say three, Little girl.”

I turn back toward the door.

“Three…”

The word cracks through the air like a whip, sharp and final.

My chest seizes, lungs locking tight. A desperate kind of panic blooms in my ribcage as the blood rushes in my ears. I don’t have time to think or prepare before he’s up from the couch—his boots thudding heavily across the floor, a storm in motion.

Then he’s in front of me.

His hands close around my waist, lifting me off the ground like I weigh nothing more than a feather. I gasp, a startled, broken sound tearing from my throat as my legs kick wildly and my fists press against his chest.

“Jasper!” I cry, breathless. “Put me down! Let me go!”

But he’s silent. His grip is iron, steady and unshakable, his arms locked around me like I belong there. Whether I want to or not.

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