For me, though, it seemed like a fantasy. I had lost hope that I’d ever be free from this place.
Still, I liked seeing the pictures.
Jace leaned in closer to me, bringing his phone between us so we could both look at the screen. It was currently showing us a picture of a few small plants lined up on a windowsill.
“Do you like them? I thought you might like takingcare of them, seeing them grow. The one on the end there flowers, so that’ll be fun.”
“They’re pretty,” I answered, getting a soft smile from Jace in return.
“Just like you, cherub,” he said. With his free hand, he traced my jaw with his fingers. I soaked in the little flutters of warmth while I could, since he couldn’t touch me for long. What he’d just done was pushing it.
His touch quickly disappeared, and I almost sighed at the loss.
Refocusing on his phone, he swiped to the next photo, asking if I liked the color of the towels he’d chosen.
Before I could answer, there was a soft knock at the door.
Jace glanced up. “Yeah?”
The door opened, and Patel stepped in. He wore a button-down with the sleeves rolled up. He carried bags in one hand and a cardboard drink holder in the other.
“Delivery,” he said, walking further into the room. “Hi, Elior.”
I nodded at him, unsure what to do with the flutter of something in my chest. “Hi.”
Patel had been here a lot. Almost every day. Usually, longer than Jace was allowed to stay. I didn’t know how I felt about that, only that it was complicated and tangled and made my stomach ache in a different way.
He’d told me to call him Aarev, but the one time I’d said that in front of Jace, he’d gotten upset. I think he’d been trying not to let it show, but it still had. He’d been trying harder ever since that night he’d gotten on his knees and begged for another chance.
Jace stood to take the drinks from him. “Thanks,” he said,less edge in his voice than there used to be when they spoke.
Patel shrugged. “I was already on my way here, so it wasn’t a big deal to make a quick stop.”
“Still, thank you.” Jace set the drink holder down on the small table.
Patel nodded at him, then pointed at one of the cups. “Strawberry banana smoothie,” he said, before moving on to the others. “This one’s a vanilla bean frappe, that’s a—shit, let me think—oh yeah, it’s mango and papaya, with some protein powder mixed in. Then this one’s just a black coffee.”
My eyes drifted back to the first cup without me meaning them to. The light pink color stood out sharply against all the white and beige of the room.
“And,” Patel added, setting down a paper bag, “a couple of brownies and those sugar cookies with the frosting that’s probably ninety percent butter. Not the healthiest, but I thought maybe you’d like them.”
Jace arched an eyebrow. “I asked for a smoothie and coffee. You’re trying to bribe him into liking you with all this extra shit, aren’t you?”
“Absolutely,” Patel said easily, winking at me with a grin.
Something tugged at my mouth then—not quite a smile, but close enough that it startled me.
Jace noticed, and a glimmer of hope appeared in his eyes.
“Does any of that sound good, baby?” he asked, his voice soft.
I bit my lip for a moment, then murmured, “The pink one, please.”
He smiled, then carefully picked up the smoothie and held it out to me. “You want to try a sip?”
My hands felt slow, disconnected, but I reached out andtook it. The cup was cold against my fingers.
I brought the straw to my mouth and took a tentative pull.
