“You should probably get going,” he says. “It’s not safe.”
“You’re right,” Omar says. He steps away then looks back one last time. “You’re a cute couple. I hope there’s someone like that out there for me.”
“There is,” I say. “I promise.”
“I’ll hold you to that.”
And with two steps Omar is gone, disappeared behind the streams of travelers making their way to their destinations. Jasper gives me a second before coming to stand by my side.
“He’ll be okay,” he says.
I try to wipe an errant tear away and pass it off as if I’m scratching my face with the back of my hand. “I know.”
“We should get moving too,” he says. “I need to figure out how to explain all this to my dad.”
“Right.”
From Grand Central we walk across town back to the packhouse and Jasper’s apartment. For most of the journey we walk in silence. I know Jasper must be trying to figure out the exact way to tell his dad that one of his closest advisers has betrayed him, not to mention that we broke a confessed criminal out of the packhouse’s holding facility and knocked out a whole battalion of wolf guards. But I’m also worried about what he suspects Omar might mean to me.
When we approach his block I can’t take the suspense anymore.
“Hey, I just want you to know what you did back there—I really appreciate it. And just so you know, with Omar, I—I do care about him, but it’s not like what I have with you—it’s not like—”
Jasper stops walking, a small smile threatening to turn into a bigger one on his lips.
“You don’t have to explain,” he says. “I trust you. And I trust your judgment. Omar is a good man. And you’re allowed to care about other people.”
“So you’re okay?”
“I’m fine. In fact, I’ve never felt more certain about things—things I’ve been torn up about for a long, long time. That’s because of you.” He slides his hands into mine. “And back there, I felt connected to you in a way I never had before. Nothing can take that away.”
“Good,” I say. “Because I feel the same, I feel like we were really a team.”
“An amazing team.”
“Yeah we actually sort of kicked butt.”
“We slayed.”
I can’t help but laugh. Did Jasper just sayslay?
“Okay, slay,” I tease. He laughs and blushes something stupid. “You’re very cute when you’re embarrassed, did you know that?”
“No I didn’t.”
“Well, you are. Like, incredibly.”
“You’re cute all the time.”
“Well.” I shrug like I just can’t help it.
We walk a little farther.
“Jasper, I want you to know I’m ready now, to be a part of your life and everything that entails, but also I want to do more, I want to use the gifts I have to help people. No more running away. I want to stay and be in it, really in it.”
“Me too,” he says, stopping once more to lean in and kiss me.
“I love you, Max,” he says as he pulls away.
