“So, what do you think you’re doing right now, buddy?” Kai asks irritably, disrupting my moment of peace. He has the tendency to do that these days.
“Whatever the hell I want,buddy,” I answer in my mind, closing my eyes and leaning closer against Greene, who smells like vanilla and honey, as always. Did I already tell her how much I love the way she smells? I hope I did. She deserves to know she smells like a dream.
“Jasper, I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again.” He stands directly in front of Greene and me, blocking my view. “She needs stability. If you can’t provide that for her, you’re wasting her time and yours, quite frankly. This is why I encouraged you to be—”
“Friends,yes, yes, I know, Kai.” Again, I answer in my head, careful not to outwardly react despite how much he is pissing me off. He’s never once asked how I feel about this arrangement. He doesn’t have the first clue about my feelings on the matter. “I willnothurt her.”
Kai processes my answer, then glances at her and sighs dramatically. “Okay, I’ll get out of your hair, but I swear to God, if you do hurt her—”
“Is God even real?” I interrupt his threat, then inwardly laugh at my own quip.
“Um, that’s irrelevant.” He shrugs, rolling his eyes again. “Anyways, I’m trusting you, Jasper. Don’t screw it up.”
In a wild turn of events, Kai actually walks away, out of view.Alone time with my girl, at last.I squeeze her tighter. She turns over her shoulder to regard me.
“Are you planning on holding me like this all night?” she teases.
“If you’ll let me,” I say mischievously.
“Well, trivia is about to begin, and Callie will kill me if I don’t play with her. Care to join us?”
“Sure, let’s go kick some ass.” I let her go, immediately feeling the weight of her absence. We walk over toward the stage together and sit next to each other. I’m feeling especially daring right now, so I rest my hand on her thigh, similar to the way I did in the car the other day. Her breath hitches.
When I was younger, I flirted with a lot of girls. I hooked up with a fair amount of them, too—especially during my college years. I’ve never been interested in pursuing a relationship long-term, though. My longest relationship lasted about a year, and honestly, that was pushing it. She was great, but I never even told her I loved her because I didn’t. I had love for her, but I didn’tloveher. At least, not in the way I think I was supposed to. I watched my parents throughout my childhood, so I’d like to think I have an idea of what love is supposed to look like. I guess I have a hard time allowing myself to fall. I’ve logically concluded that’s likely because my parents forced me to be vulnerable so often during my youth. But with her, it all feels so natural. My life was mundane until she and her guardian angel casually waltzed in.
During trivia, I sober up for the most part. We play three rounds of trivia before we call it a night. I gulp down as much water as possible before we leave to rid myself of the buzz. As I sober up, my thoughts spiral. Have I been coming on too strong to Iris? Despite my doubts, I still can’t stop myself from being near her all night, touching her when possible. Again, it all just feels so natural.
“I cannot believe our team won every round!” Callie cheers as we walk outside. “Jasper, we need you to participate in every Trivia Tuesday from now on. You were our secret weapon! How do you know so much stuff?”
“Eh, I’ve always loved learning new things.” I glance at Iris. She assesses me as a tinge of concern crosses her features.
“Are you good to drive?” she asks worriedly.
“Yes, Greene, I’m good now. It’s been a couple hours since my last swig, and I’ve sobered up significantly. Promise.” She narrows her eyes and takes a deep breath. “Trust me.”
“Please text me as soon as you get home, okay?” she requests. I can’t remember the last time someone asked me to do that. Hell, I don’t know if anyone ever has.
“You’ve got it, Greene.”
She sighs in relief. Callie heads back to her car, letting Iris know she will wait for her before heading out. Iris approaches me, landing inches away from me.
“I can’t lie,” she starts, “it feels weird not riding with you back to your place right now.”
“Who’s stopping you?” I smirk as her cheeks bloom. I love making her blush.
“It’s getting late, and unlike you,” she scrunches her nose, “I can’t sleep in tomorrow, so I should head home, I suppose.” Rejection has never tasted worse than it does right now.
“I understand. I’ll see you soon. Good night, Iris.” I smile. Again. I’ve smiled more tonight than I have in a long time.
“Sweet dreams, Jasper. Don’t forget to text me.” She walks toward Callie’s car. To my surprise, she walks to the driver’s side. I remember Kai saying Iris doesn’t like driving, but I’d assume she doesn’t trust Callie to drive at the moment, so she’s doing it anyway. Iris always looks out for everyone else, but other than Kai, who looks out for her?
Frantic knocking on my front door disrupts my slumber. I glance at the time, seeing it’s just past midnight. Not bothering to put on a shirt, I rush to my front door to see what the deal is. I half-heartedly expect it to be a ding-dong ditching prank, and if that’s the case, I’m going to lose it. I slowly open the old wooden door to see a wide-eyed girl breathing hard on my porch. Not just any girl—my girl. Immediately, I grab hold of her shoulders, scanning her eyes.
“What happened, Greene?”
Tears brim her eyelids as she works hard not to let them fall. “It’s Truman. I’ve been out all night looking for him, and I can’t find himanywhere. I kept walking and ended up here. I guess I didn’t know where else to go.” Her voice breaks as a single tear trails down her cheek.
I brush the tears off of her cheeks gently and look directly into her watery eyes. “We will find him. I promise you.”
