Jasper

I sat across the bulletproof glass from Sam, staring at him and debating not picking up the phone. I didn’t know exactly why I’d come here to see him. It didn’t make much sense, considering what he and the others had put me through. But maybe that was exactly the reason. Maybe I needed to face him, and to get answers. Mina wanted to come with me, but I’d refused. This was something I needed to face by myself, just as she’d gone to see Jake in the hospital alone.

I’d fought that, but eventually, I’d given in, knowing she wouldn’t go with me and that it wasn’t fair to deny her whatever closure she was looking for. As it turned out, she came home with a big smile on her face and told me they’d chatted for over an hour, until he was exhausted. He’d apologized profusely for his role in things, once again, and they’d found some sort of gray area in which they could coexist with some semblance of friendship. I didn’t know if I’d ever get there with Jake again, but I could see it settled Mina.

Did I hope for the same thing by talking to Sam? I didn’t know, but I needed…something. I finally reached for the phone, and Sam followed suit. “I didn’t expect you to visit,” he said as a kickoff to the conversation.

I nodded. “Neither did I.” I suddenly wished they would let me smoke in here, but that was a pipe dream. I had to find some other way to deal with my anxiety, or I would start fidgeting and getting irritated. “I heard you took a plea deal.”

He nodded. “I copped to kidnapping and assault as opposed to assault with a deadly weapon, plus conspiracy to grand larceny from the original heist. They dropped manslaughter and conspiracy to a second kidnapping. Considering I was looking at thirty to life, I feel like fifteen isn’t such a bad deal.”

I whistled. “That’s hefty. Any chance of early release?”

He laughed harshly. “Highly unlikely, but you never know. Maybe with a word from the hero of the day…” He trailed off, nodding toward me. I didn’t respond, and he leaned on his elbows, staring down at the table. “Look, Jasper, I don’t know what you want me to say. Maybe I was blind. Maybe I let greed get the best of me. Hell, maybe I’ve always been a little crazy, or it could just be the war. We didn’t get the shit we deserved for all we did over there, all the PTSD we came home with. Whatever it is, though, and for what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I forced you into this, I’m sorry your girlfriend had to experience anything like this, and I’m sorry that Eric and Rick paid the highest price.”

I nodded. I felt like a weight had been lifted, just hearing him apologize. I didn’t even care if he meant it. It only mattered that he cared enough about me and our friendship over the years to offer it. “You weren’t responsible for the two of them, Sam. They made their own fate.” Eric had gone off the deep end and failed to care about anything that mattered. He’d practically run into the bullets Sam fired. As for Rick, when he and Tyler had been cornered by the authorities, Tyler had dropped to his knees with his hands in the air, surrendering. Rick had pulled a gun and started running at them. Tyler fell flat to the ground to dodge the fire as the cops shot, and Rick had been down in a matter of seconds. “Tyler made it out alive.”

Sam scoffed and shook his head. “He’s a mess, Jasper. I hear things in here, and he’s not going to make it. He’s looking at ten to fifteen, minimum. I give it five, tops, before he hangs himself.”

I flinched, but there was nothing I could do about it. “Maybe he’ll find something to keep him sane. You never know. I didn’t think I was going to last a year, but I got through okay. And came out better on the other side.”

“You’re a rare breed, Jasper. Most of us? We’ll never be the same, much less better.” I could hear the defeat in his voice, and I hated it. “Do me a favor. I know you don’t owe me anything, but I’d really appreciate it if you could do just one thing for me.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. I could go back and forth forever about what I did or didn’t owe Sam. He’d kept things afloat for me while I was locked away, but then he’d betrayed me. In the end, he’d saved my life, but maybe that made us even, since I hadn’t turned him over to the police in the first place. “What do you want?” I asked, skeptical and determined to make a decision without bias.

“Can you maybe send me a picture now and then, just so I don’t forget what my brother and his woman look like? And so I can see what those gorgeous nieces and nephews look like?”

I blinked at him. “Sounds like you have my life planned out better than I do.”

“Don’t play with me,” he chuckled. “You know what you want. You always have had a knack for figuring that out. And I just want to know that you’re actually living it out. So, if you could do an old man a favor and let me live vicariously, I’d be eternally grateful.”

I smiled. I couldn’t deny him that. “You got it.”

I left feeling better. I didn’t know if I got what I wanted, but what Sam gave me was enough. He’d admitted his faults, and he’d humbled himself. I couldn’t ask for anything more.

Part of me was tempted to go see Jake, ask him about his conversation with Mina at the hospital and get his side of what actually happened that made him let her go in the middle of everything. He’d ended up in a mental institution, sentenced to inpatient treatment for PTSD and various other conditions for at least a year. I was okay with that. He didn’t need to be out on the streets, considering his volatile nature, but at this point, I’d decided I was grateful to him for, as Mina put it, saving her life. It could easily have gone the other way, and I would have been devastated. My life would have ended with hers, I was sure of it.

But I hadn’t spoken to him since the day he showed up at my apartment and I smashed my knuckles into his face. I wasn’t ready to apologize for that, and I thought it might be too soon for us to face each other. Instead, I climbed on my bike and headed home, where I knew Mina would be waiting for me. She’d gone early to work out, and she’d probably be showered and dressed in a pair of shorts that showed off her long, shapely legs and a tank top that emphasized the swell of her breasts. It was early afternoon, and I figured I’d find her making lunch, which was almost as enticing as the idea of pushing her up against the wall and stabbing my cock into her with desperate need.

She’d all but moved in with me, no longer wanting to stay in her house. She said it was big and empty without any warmth to it, and I could understand. That house and everything in it had a stigma now, a bad memory or a reminder of what other people might do to take it from her. She had talked about selling the house, finding a museum to donate her father’s collection of art to, and I told her I’d support her no matter what decision she made. In the end, I had a different goal anyway. I just hadn’t managed to manifest it yet.

I was surprised to see her sitting on the couch, pouring over some papers from a file spread across the coffee table. She looked up at me with bright eyes and a devastating smile that broke down every defence I had. I never maintained a shield with her, always wide open. I couldn’t keep her out if I wanted to, and I didn’t want to. I wanted to bask in her glow, in the love she offered. I’d missed out on so much in life already, and I refused to miss a single ounce of the greatest thing that had ever happened to me.

“What are you doing?” I asked, sitting next to her and kissing her soundly. I motioned to the mess in front of her.

“It’s an offer for the house,” she said happily. “I’m trying to go through it, but I’m failing miserably at understanding all the legalese. I think it’s a good offer, but there are so many stipulations, like furniture they want to keep, that I think I’m going to have to let a lawyer look at it.”

“I didn’t expect this to come so soon,” I told her honestly.

She frowned. “I can find an apartment, if you want. I don’t have to stay here. To be honest, I’d sell the place for a penny, just so someone would take it off my hands.”

I shook my head. “That’s not what I meant. I love having you here. I would love to have you move in officially. I just hoped to get my hands on a bigger place first. I want you to have what you deserve, and I think you’d enjoy a place bigger than a mailbox.”

She laughed. “You know, I wouldn’t mind a little more space, but I’m happy here, Jasper. All I’ve ever had is an enormous house that never felt warm and welcoming. Your apartment might be small, but I feel like I belong here, and I feel like we fill it with love and happiness.”

That thrilled me. The truth was, I wanted a house we could grow into, maybe have a family someday, but I didn’t want to push her too hard just yet. At the same time, I wanted her to know I was serious about us and our future. “Wait here.” I went into the bedroom and dug into my sock drawer, finding what I wanted and carrying it back into the living room. I sat down again and held out the small box to her, watching her features morph into a mask of shock. “I guess if you’re ready to move in with me officially, then maybe I’m ready to ask for more.”

“Jasper…” She trailed off as she opened the velvet box to see the white gold band with the solitaire, emerald cut diamond. It was simple, but she didn’t wear gaudy jewelry, so I had tried to choose generously without going crazy.

I slid to my knee, wanting to do this right. “Mina, would you do me the honor of being my wife?”

She laughed and threw her arms around me, the box falling on the couch. “Yes! It would be my honor.” She kissed me all over my face until my stomach hurt from laughing, and I held her still long enough to slide the ring on her finger. It fit perfectly, as I’d hoped it would, and I kissed her softly, with all the love that was exploding in my heart. “I love you, Mina. You are my world, and I never want to lose you.”

She pushed my hair back from my face, her eyes liquid with emotion. “I love you, too. Forever.”