Imaginer

46 - Where Girl Agrees

46

         I’d left the two of them for a reason. And I’d met Sam because of it. Was it some sort of twisted joke, to take Sam away and give me back Jacoby and Beatrice?

         A sob rose and wracked my body, and drove me to the cover of the trees. It didn’t help. The darkness only played back a vivid, more accurate version of the night at the homeless shelter.

         I sat there and let it happen and cried like a child for the rest of the night. Oh, Sam. Oh, Sam, oh, Sam. You didn’t deserve that.

         Tears welled in my eyes and I blinked rapidly, wondering how wretched the world could get.

         Sam, you didn’t deserve it, not after how kind you were to me.        

         Jacoby’s voice was growing louder now as he called my name. I ducked behind a tree, wrapping my arms around myself like I could hug the tears away.

         “Jasslyn!”

         I looked out between the low-hanging branches of the tree I was hiding behind. What little light the street lamp could shed was even feebler here, in the middle of the park, but when Jacoby turned and squinted at the trees, I was able to see the agitation in his movements, though it was too dark to make out his flowers.

         “Jasslyn.” His eyes fell on the exact tree I was hiding behind, and I sighed. The toes of my shoes dug into the dirt and I slid until I was leaning against the trunk, my knees bent.

         What would I say to him?

         The cracking and snapping of branches told me Jacoby had found me.

         He sighed when he caught sight of me, and leaned my bags against the tree. He paused and touched my arm. His hands were dry from the cold.

         “Jasslyn?”

         I blinked away my tears.

         He was silent for a moment before shifting, stepping to stand in front of me and wrapping his arms around my body, tears and all.

         I raised my hand and gave his chest a push. He stepped back, complying.

         “Cut it out,” I said, using my other to wipe away my tears. I was so easily set off at the thought of Sam. I thought I’d cried myself dry already, but apparently, that wasn’t the case.

         I tried to glare at him, and that failed, too.

         “I don’t know what happened, and I won’t make you tell me,” he promised. He drew back and reached up to my face. “But I am sorry for going back on what I said when you left, so sorry, and whatever I’m doing wrong right now, I swear I’m not doing it on purpose.” His fingers caught my chin and he coaxed my eyes to his.

         I wish I hadn’t looked.

         His eyes were soft and bright, and in his gaze were all the things he wasn’t able to voice. Everything about how he looked at me shouted an apology.

         Damn right he should’ve been sorry. He’d fed me all that crap about not going anywhere without me, then went and let me leave after a ten-minute talk.

         My eyes filled with tears again, and he inched forward, barely a hands breadth away. He pulled me against him again, slowly, both arms wrapped firmly around my waist. “I’m sorry, Jasslyn,” he whispered.