Joy approaches me with a friendly smile and asks, “Have you ever been here, Jasper? My cousins host events here every now and then.”
“Yeah, I’ve been to Marble Grove several times, but this is actually my first time entering the venue,” I say. As we’re chatting, I notice Iris staring, but she’s quick to avert her eyes after I catch her.
“Well, we have about forty-five minutes before we need to head back to town,” she announces, all smiles, interrupting my riveting conversation with Joy. “Feel free to wander the home and familiarize yourselves with the layout so we can determine how to stage the masquerade best.”
I can’t lie. It is wildly attractive watching Iris in her element. The way she carries herself with such confidence and grace bewilders me. It’s clear she’s hosted multiple events here before. Suddenly, Joy reaches down and grabs my hand, tugging me to follow her.
“Come on, we can walk around together.” She has a flirty look in her eyes, so I stop following her.
“Hey, I’m good for now, Joy. I’m just going to stay in here a bit longer.”
“Oh.” She pauses. Joy isn’t a stranger—she knows how I was in my younger years. Young Jasper would have followed her to find a quiet space to mess around in a heartbeat.
“Okay, sounds good.” She smiles and walks away, catching up with the senior events planner. I turn back around to see Iris slipping outside through the ballroom doors. She’s venturing out into the picturesque courtyard.
“You wanna join us?” Kai asks. I stride past him, following her lead into the courtyard. The spacious courtyard leads to an old-fashioned rounded white gazebo with overgrown vines and lavender encircling each supporting pillar. Surrounded by freshly trimmed bushes, magnolias, and trees, the gazebo stands out. Just beyond the gazebo rests a pond filled with lily pads and koi fish.
Leaning over the gazebo railing, Iris seems to be drifting off into her own world. Little does she know, her guardian angel has found a spot right next to her. I move to stand on her other side. Now that I’m closer, I hear the faint sound of music coming from her phone. Still, she stares into the pond and simply says, “As you may have noticed, I’m not comfortable with silence.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that. A lot of people aren’t,” I reassure her, following her gaze.
“I just figured you deserve an explanation, seeing as I’ve subjected you to it. I’m really sorry.” She tugs on the edge of her puffy sleeve.
“You don’t owe me or anyone else anything, Greene,” I say, cutting Kai a glance. To my surprise, he stepped away, walking around the courtyard behind us instead.Right, he’s taking a hands-off approach. At least, this time, he is still in sight.
“You know, my parents and I used to visit Marble Grove Park once a year to have a picnic,” I say, changing the subject. “We would feed the ducks homemade bread—my mom felt like they deserved something better than store-bought bread every now and then. My dad was a hardass, but he never failed to take us to Marble Grove to feed little ducks every year.”
“That is so wholesome.” She softly smiles, finally looking into my eyes. I stare into her twinkling irises, unable to look away for a moment. “Your parents sound so cute. My parents and I haven’t ever been close like that.”
“What do you mean?”
Iris pauses, carefully contemplating before answering, as she always does. “My mom and I have never been able to see eye-to-eye, and my dad follows her lead, so he never really gave me much of a chance either, to be frank.”
I break eye contact, glancing back at the glistening pond to avoid outwardly reacting. She continues. “I’ve never been too outgoing. In fact, as a child, I struggled to talk, often bracing myself for people’s reactions to what I shared aloud, too. My parents, particularly my mom, struggled with that. They apologized for me constantly. They insisted something was wrong with me because I couldn’t formulate my sentences well and never fancied being the center of attention at their gatherings.”
She shares this in such a matter-of-fact tone that my chest tightens. How could anyone apologize for their child, especially for someone like Iris?
“Thankfully, though, every time my parents kicked me down, my brother was there to lift me up. So I never really felt fully alone.” She releases a quiet sigh, glimpsing up at the clouds in the sky.
“I’m glad he was there for you. I can’t imagine how that felt.” I clench my jaw. The idea of anyone hurting her affects me far more than I expect it to. Suddenly, it makes sense—the way she constantly feels the need to apologize. “You do not, under any circumstance, need to ever apologize for who you are, Greene. Your parents have no need to apologizeforyou, they should apologizetoyou.”
Her breath catches as she looks back into my eyes, emerald pools swirling with emotion before me. Her eyes drop to my lips, flickering back up to my eyes in one fluid motion. She checks her watch, noting the time. "Thank you, Jasper." She checks her watch, noting the time. “Well, we should probably get going.”
“Shall we?” I reach out my arm for her to interlink her arm into mine, and my eyes linger on her supple lips. She looks conflicted, so I let out a laugh. “Friends, right?”
“Right.” She nods, linking her arm to mine. Something tells me having a friend of the opposite sex is as unorthodox for her as it is for me. I’m still trying to figure it out, and her body's enticing curves aren’t making this any easier.
After we completed the visit, Iris and I went our separate ways for the work day. I offered her a ride home, considering Soi is on my route home anyway, to which she accepted without challenging the offer for once. I pull into Soi’s parking lot to see Kai and Iris waiting for their ride. Talk about a package deal. She jumps in, whereas Kai just appears in the backseat out of thin air. I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to his teleportation gift, but I’m mad jealous of that power—I’d be unstoppable.Literally.
“Yeah, it’s pretty nice,” Kai says from the back seat, smirking at me in the rearview mirror. “I legitimately teleport everywhere every day.” He leans back, cracking his knuckles. “Another cool thing about being dead: I don’t have to wear a seatbelt.”
I snicker, nearly spitting out the gulp of water I just took. Iris peers at me, more confused than ever. “What’s so funny?” she asks, curiosity filling her eyes.
“Oh, I was just thinking about how serious it is to wear a seatbelt,” I say while looking at Kai in the rearview mirror. “Can you imagine not wearing a seatbelt? Wow, it’s honestly so exhilarating to think about.”
Kai huffs. “Alright, alright, I mean, yeah, it’s not like the coolest thing about being dead, you got me.”
Iris stares at me. “Yeah, that’s so funny.” She grins in an encouraging “Are you okay?” type of way. Under any other circumstance, I’d cringe, but I find myself not caring much at the moment.
