Page 110 of Romeo

Then there was Georgie.

He stood with his arms crossed, his expression caught somewhere between resignation and the desire to commit murder.

“Be careful,” he said quietly.

I wasn’t entirely sure which one of us he meant. Maybe both.

Jasper waited. He didn’t reach for me. Didn’t tell me it was time to go. He simply stood there with his arm offered and let me decide.

A few months ago, that detail might’ve escaped me.

It didn’t now.

I slipped my hand through his arm. “Ready.”

His smile returned.

We walked outside together.

Only when Jasper opened the passenger door of Sugar’s car did I realize she’d apparently surrendered her vehicle for the night too. I laughed under my breath as he helped me inside.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing.”

His eyes narrowed. “Fiona.”

I smiled.

“Just realizing how many people were apparently conspiring behind my back.”

“You’re surrounded by criminals.”

“Sugar owns an ice-cream shop.”

“Perfect cover.”

I laughed again as he closed the door and watched him walk around the front of the car.

This morning, I’d been prepared to spend the night hiding at home because nobody had asked me to prom.

Now Jasper was sliding into the driver’s seat beside me after crossing half the country just to take me.

The difference should’ve felt unbelievable.

Instead, as he started the car and glanced over at me, it felt strangely simple.

For weeks, I’d been searching his texts for proof that I mattered to him. Picking apart every word. Wondering what Cher meant, what Ma Belle meant, what flowers meant, what every carefully avoided answer meant.

Tonight, there was nothing to decode.

He’d shown up.

And maybe that was the answer I’d been looking for all along.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Romeo