Page 139 of Romeo

Charlie trusted me.

He didn’t know anything about the decisions I’d made before he was born or why I’d made them. He only knew that when I was there, my arms were safe.

Jasper had spent months trying to give me that same certainty, and I kept one of the biggest pieces of myself tucked away where he couldn’t touch it.

Not because he’d given me a reason not to trust him.

Because too many other people had.

“I have to tell him,” I said.

Nash nodded. “Yeah.”

“What if…”

“No what-ifs.” He squeezed my shoulder. “Tell him the truth. Then let him decide.”

I looked down at Charlie again.

I’d made the hardest decision of my life because I loved him enough to put what he needed ahead of what I wanted. Jasper didn’t know that. He didn’t know what came before Charlie or everything that came after.

If I wanted whatever was growing between us to become real, I couldn’t keep asking Jasper to trust a version of me with entire pages missing.

“Okay.”

The word barely made it past my throat.

Nash smiled. “You got this.”

I wasn’t convinced.

But for the first time, I knew I was going to try.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Fiona

My phone buzzed on the nightstand at eleven-thirty Tuesday night.

I’d been lying in bed for almost an hour, staring at the ceiling while Nash’s words from the graduation party refused to leave me alone.

You can’t build something real on secrets.

Every time I thought I was ready to tell Jasper about Charlie, my mind supplied another reason to wait. Better to tell him in person. Better after we’d defined whatever this was between us. Better when I knew exactly how he felt.

There would always be a better time if I kept looking for one.

I reached for the phone, expecting Melanie or maybe Josie checking in before bed.

Instead, Jasper’s name filled the screen.

Jasper: Settle an argument.

Despite everything circling through my head, I smiled.

Me: With whom?

Jasper: Myself.