Fire and Freedom - Book One of the Café Latte Trilogy

Chapter Twenty-Nine - Jasper

Chapter Twenty-Nine – Jasper

I gently applied eyeliner to Edward's left eyelid. "And then I told him that I love him."

"You what?!" Edward asked, sitting bolt upright and causing me to smear eyeliner down the left side of his face. "Oh, fuck. Sorry darling, I didn't mean to do that. You were doing such a perfect job as well. Sorry."

"It's fine," I said, gently holding his face still as I wiped at the black smudge. "It's still wet so it should come off. Hold still, I'll use a wipe."

Edward held still until I had carefully removed the black line, and then asked, "How did you tell him?"

I thought back to the previous week and my heart thudded in my chest at the memory. "I just kind of did. He was being all defensive about Harper and me and everyone, and I just sort of replied that he was being a dick, and that I loved him."

"Well, you can't say you're not a romantic at heart," Edward joked. He sat back in his seat and looked at me curiously. "What did he say?"

I shrugged casually, but my blush betrayed me. "He was very reasonable about it."

"He was?" Edward asked, clearly not believing me. "But he's usually so good at flipping the fuck out at everyone - and please don't say a word about my little flip-out at Harper, that was fully deserved."

"I know," I said, and then smiled fondly. "He was very kind. I half-expected him to bolt again."

Edward frowned. "What did he say?"

The words came to my mind as though I'd only just heard them, and my blush intensified. "Uhh, I don't remember," I lied quickly.

"Bullshit," Edward snorted, handing me his false eyelashes. "Now, can you apply these while you repeat it all to me, or will I mess it up again?"

I took the box from him. "You'll mess it up. I'll put them on in a minute." Edward looked at me expectantly, and I said, "I feel like such an idiot repeating it. He said 'thank you. I can't return that. But I know you're sincere, and it's always nice to be loved. It's only right to say that I care about you very much, Jasper, and thank you for coming after me.' It was nice of him."

Edward blinked. "He said that?" I nodded, and he said, "Well, fuck me sideways."

"I mean, I can try, but logistically we might run into some problems," I chuckled. My phone started buzzing in my pocket and I took it out, my face falling when I saw the caller ID. "Uhh, Ed, I've got to take this. You okay to do your eyelashes?"

"I got it handled," he said, taking the box from me and gesturing to the small patio outside his flat. "Go out there, no one can hear you, I swear. My nosy neighbours actively avoid looking at my place anyway, after they saw me fucking Mark – Peaches – on the patio."

"Nice," I smirked, getting up and rushing outside, answering the phone. "Hello?"

"Hello, Jasper."

 I swallowed at the sound of the voice. "Hey, Mum."

"Are you keeping well?" she asked me, sounding a little bit awkward.

"Yeah," I replied, and then cleared my throat, feeling tense. "What about you?"

"I'm okay, thanks," she replied, and we both fell silent. I searched my brain for something to say, but I was drawing a blank. I didn't know what to talk to her about. My entire life right now revolved around things she was pissed with me about.

"Harper," I said suddenly. "Uhh, Harper has pneumonia, he's in the hospital."

"Oh," Mum sounded alarmed. "I... is he going to be okay?"