“I think Jasper wants to spend time with you,” I said, pressing on.
James hid his eyes in the hollow of his arm, preventing me from seeing his reaction. I did see him swallow though. “I need to sleep. Get out.”
“Take a shower and come downstairs, please,” I ordered.
“Do you think you can order me around, White?”
“It’s just a suggestion,” I corrected him. “Do you think you can keep going with this bad-boy act? Give it a rest. Your brother needs you.” I left his room before taking a projectile to my face.
>> <<
“Is the popcorn good?”
Jasper nodded, giving me a hint of a smile. I dug my hand in the still-warm bowl.
We fought over the rest of the popcorn over Netflix.
“You sure you’re not still hungry?” I asked over the now empty bowl. Jasper motioned that he wasn’t. I checked the time on my phone. It was eight and I needed to get back home.
James still hadn’t come down.
“I gotta go. When’s your dad coming back?”
I saw him shrug and keep watching TV, oblivious to my question.
“Do you prefer that I stay or . . .”
Up until now his answers were hard to interpret, but this time his answer was clear. He wanted me to stay. He made it clear by putting his head softly on my shoulder.
“Fine. But just a half hour more.”
It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see that Jasper needed love.
And his brother couldn’t even take care of himself.
“You’re still here?”
Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.
James finally emerged in a gray hoodie and gray pants.
“Jasper just went to sleep. I was afraid I’d wake him.”
An intense scent of sugar and vanilla filled my nostrils. It was a refreshing fragrance, as if James’s body was still covered in shower gel.
“Okay.”
James came closer with a surly expression on his face.
For a moment I didn’t know what he was going to do, but when he leaned down to Jasper and lifted him up off me, I felt relieved. He carried his brother up to his room. I followed him silently. In Jasper’s room, James laid him down gently on his bed before I tucked him in so he wouldn’t get cold.
“Did he eat?” asked James inquisitively
“No. I mean, we shared some popcorn. To tell you the truth, I ate almost all of it, and—”
James cut me off with a hostile tone. “Don’t dodge the question. Tell me why the fuck you do it.”
I looked up to meet his eyes, which were still big and bright. “What are you talking about?”
