“Then I would have stayed forever.”
He blinked, releasing another stream of tears down his face. I wiped them away with both hands and held his face to admire him while he was still here. “Will you ever forgive me?” he asked.
“I already have.”
Cassian slid his arms around my shoulders, resting his face against my neck. “I missed you so much, Sterling…”
“I missed you too,” I said, kissing the side of his head as I wrapped my arms around his waist. We fit together perfectly. I never wanted to let him go.
He lifted his head, his face inches from mine. I leaned closer, hoping he was thinking the same. He gave me the confirmation I wanted, pressing our lips together.
Gods, how I missed his kisses. I kissed him slowly, tasting the salty tears on his lips while I pulled him against me.
He grunted and pulled away, air hissing between his teeth as he inhaled and turned his head away. “I could kiss you all day.”
“I wouldn’t mind,” I said, cupping his face in my hand.
He giggled, a rosy blush tinting his cheeks. “Jasmine is waiting outside. You better put on a shirt,” he said, patting my bare chest.
“She can wait a little longer.” I kissed him one more time, and he smiled dreamily. “And don’t pretend you want me to put on a shirt.”
“I don’t…” he admitted. “But I have to do something about my traitorous cousin.”
“All right. I’ll help you bring her to the station,” I said.
Cassian hesitated. This would clearly be hard for him, which was probably why he came to me instead of the Force headquarters. “Thank you, Sterling.”
“Anything for you, Cass.” I dressed myself in normal daytime attire so Jasmine wouldn’t become suspicious, and then I returned to Cassian. He was pacing the main room, wringing hishands with a furrowed brow. “Hey,” I said, scooping him into my arms again. “It’s going to be okay.”
He shook his head. “What if we’re wrong? What ifI’mthe traitorous cousin?”
“We aren’t. You aren’t.”
“Do you promise?” he asked, his expression softening at my words.
I kissed him. “I promise. We’ll tell her you and I made up and we’re all going out to celebrate. It’s not really a lie.”
Cassian nodded. He held my hand as we left my house to stand in the empty, icy street. We took turns looking down each end of the street, but we were alone.
Jasmine was gone.
Chapter Thirteen
CASSIAN
“Where did she go?!” I asked, stepping into the street. “Jasmine! Where are you?” I yelled.
Sterling stepped up beside me. “She must have heard us.”
No matter where I looked, she still wasn’t there. But Sterling was. “Where do you think she went?” I asked.
“She couldn’t have gone far,” he said.
“Should we split up?”
“That didn’t go well for us last time,” he said.
Even in this urgent situation, he made me smile. “No more splitting up, then.” I took his hand.
