I’d asked him his last name before. Somehow, we’d always gotten off on another subject. I didn’t even notice until I realized the next time that I still didn’t know his last name. “You’re Jared Ryel? Gabe’s oldest son?”
Jared nodded slowly.
“Why didn’t you just tell me at the bus stop?”
“It’s … complicated.”
“Because of my father?” I asked.
“I’d hoped to get into this a little later in the evening.”
“Well, we’re here now. What does this have to do with my father?”
“He’s part of it, but there’s more. And I need to tell you before we … before this goes further. You need to know what you’re getting yourself into.”
“What I’m getting myself into?” I set my fork down. “Tell me everything.”
Jared lowered his chin. “You’re not going to like it.”
I felt tears burn my eyes. “There are few things—when it comes to my father—that I like these days.”
So, I listened. To Jared’s childhood, about his training, Claire and his baby brother Bex’s training, and how Jared had been assigned to me. That’s when he paused, waiting, watching for my reaction.
“So, you’re saying you’ve been … watching me.”
“Yes.”
“Before the bus stop. For a while now.”
He winced, closing one eye. “Yes.”
“I don’t understand,” I said, processing the last bit. “If my father didn’t want you anywhere near me, why did he assign you to protect me?”
Jared sighed. “Because he knew no one could protect you like I can.”
“And why does my father know that.”
He inhaled and nodded, preparing for something. He exhaled, then. “There are layers to this, Nina. And I feel like… I’d like to tell you in a way that will be easiest for you to digest.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. I wasn’t sure what or who to trust anymore. Mostly I just wanted my legs to work so I could get up and leave.
“Remember,” he began quickly, seeming to read my thoughts, “when I brought those sweet potato fries with all the sauces, and you thought I was nuts?”
“Vividly.”
“I asked you to trust me.”
“Apples and oranges, Jared. I’m not trying a new food.”
“It comes down to trust. I’m about to tell you something that will be hard to hear. That may even seem impossible. I just need you to trust me.”
“Trust you,” I said. I twisted my father’s gift to me around my finger while staring into Jared’s blue-gray eyes, knowing now why his face had seemed so familiar. Those same irises that I’d gotten lost in more than once while I healed were begging me to have faith in him.
“You being here with me every day. Is that because it’s your job?”
He stood up and knelt next to me. “Out of everything I tell you tonight, please believe this. I thank God every day that it’s my job to keep you safe. But, Nina, being able to talk to you, for you to see me, to hear my name come from those lips…” His gaze paused on my lips. “I have to remind myself that it’s real.”
I tucked my hair behind my ear then leaned toward him with my eyes closed.
“Nina,” he breathed, “there’s more I need to tell you.”
“Oh, you will,” I breathed.
I rested my fingers on each side of his neck. My thumbs grazed his jawline, and I pulled him closer and pressed my lips against his. He cautiously returned my kiss, but as I worked my mouth against his, he relaxed. His arms wrapped around me, and although I could tell he was being careful, he pulled me closer. A quiet hum of satisfaction escaped my lips, and his mouth grew more urgent. He sat up taller on his knees to tighten his grip, and his hand clutched the back of my neck. My breath became ragged as his mouth parted, and his outstandingly warm tongue found its way to mine.
He groaned in frustration, and then his grip tightened, and he held me away a few inches.
“What?” I asked.
“We still have a lot to discuss.”
“I’m done talking,” I said. I pulled on him, but he didn’t budge.
Jared pulled the chair to him and sat, and I pouted at the distance. He was more than amused at my fortitude.
“I’m a little jealous,” I said. “I was hoping with all the training you did you hadn’t found time for girls. But when you kiss like that…”
He breathed out a laugh. “I beg to differ. I’m not an idiot. It’s not a difficult concept.”
“I have kissed boys—some of those boys more than once—who never kissed like that.”
He leaned in, cupping my cheek and running his thumb along my bottom lip. “That’s because you kissed boys, sweetheart.”
“So, not even one?” I asked, feeling intoxicated by him.
“By the time I was interested in girls, I was already in love with you, Nina.” He said it flippantly, like it was so mundane to him, and then he looked like he’d nearly swallowed his tongue.
“You’re in love with me?”
The pain looked on his face made me worry about what he’d say next.
“I’ve loved you for a very long time.”
I exhaled.
He scrambled to explain. “I know. I know it’s a lot to take in, but you have to remember you’ve only known me for a couple of months, and I’ve always known you. Your father didn’t want you to be afraid, so your protection had to stay secret. He felt it was best.”
“So why did you sit next to me on the bench?”
Jared looked down, searching for the right words to say. “I couldn’t stay away from you any longer.”
“And Jack has just allowed you to continue coming around?”
Jared swallowed. “He’s allowed it.”
“Why?”
He cleared his throat. “Nina, what I’m about to tell you is going to sound impossible. You might even think I’m crazy, but I need you to trust me.”
I watched him, seeing the pain, the worry, the love in his eyes. I could have him wheel me back to my room and refuse to see him, have my father assign someone else, but I didn’t want to. I’d fallen in love with Jared Ryel in that hospital room down the hall, and whatever he told me, I was going to listen, believe, and find a way to keep going. We couldn’t change the way we’d been thrown together, but we had control over what happened next.
I reached for him, and he slid his fingers between mine. “Sweet potato fries?” I said with a smile.
His shoulders relaxed, and he grinned. “Sweet potato fries.”
Epilogue
Eden
Immortality was a trip. Mortality was worse. Watching my mother wave at my aunt who was once my mother … well. There was no way to explain that.