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I left my room to try and make peace. I also didn’t want to be alone and was going to offer to show him his surprise, but when I heard him on the phone and the name Candace was mentioned, I couldn’t help but listen in.
A soft knock sounded on the door. “Piper, let me in.” The doorknob jiggled. “Please, baby. We need to talk. It’s not what you think.”
“You don’t know what I’m thinking,” I muttered, sliding down the wall until I landed on the floor.
“I promise it’s nothing.”
“Nothing? It’s nothing?” I jumped to my feet and unlocked the door before opening it. “How could you say it’s nothing?” I demanded, giving him a shove and glaring up at him. “If I only just got home and another man called me, you would search him out and light his house on fire.”
“Fuck.” Jaron raked a hand through his hair. “That’s not…” He came into the room, shutting the door behind him. “I didn’t know she was going to call me. Her and I…”
“Her and you…what?”
Jaron looked away.
“You had a thing?” My stomach clenched when he didn’t respond. Of course he had other women before me. I knew he did. It wasn’t like I had been a virgin either when we first slept together but knowing that a woman he hada thingwith, called him, didn’t make me feel any better.
“I just blocked her number. You and I need to work through us. I don’t want any more issues. You have to believe me.”
I looked at Jaron then. I wasn’t sure what I was looking for. Maybe a sign that he was lying. Or some indication that he was going to throw his hands up in the air, say screw it, and leave us.
I slumped onto the edge of the bed. “Did she go see you in jail?”
“No.” He shook his head for added effect. “Not at all. Only my dad came, Cyrus, Sammy, and a couple of the other guys. If she tried to visit, I don’t know about it, but I made it very clear to the guys that no one was to show up unless it was them. I didn’t even see my mom that whole time.”
“That must have been hard,” I said softly.
“It was.” He showed me the screen to his phone. “See? I blocked Candace’s number.”
“You didn’t have to show me. I believed you but thank you.”
“I missed you.” Jaron dropped to his knees in front of me. He covered my hands, placed soft pecks on my knuckles, and rested his head on my lap. “I missed you so damn much. I don’t want anything else to come between us.”
“I missed you too.” My stomach flipped at his confession.
He lifted his head, giving me a small smile. “I know.”
“Thank you.” I cupped his face. “Thank you for saving me.” My mind went back to that night. It felt like just yesterday that I was attacked by someone who was supposed to be a friend. Jaron walked in and stopped it from going further than what it did. But it still fucked both of us up.
“No.” Jaron kissed the tips of my fingers. “That was nothing. I would do that over and over again, go back to jail, stay there for the rest of my life, if it meant keeping you safe.”
“God, Jaron. I can’t…you’ve only been back not even a day yet and I feel…” My eyes welled. Damn him for making me cry. Again.
“Hey.” He pulled me off the bed and onto his lap, wrapping his arms around me. “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere and I’m sorry for not letting you come visit me in jail.”
“It hurt too much.” I sighed, my chin quivering. “I get it. But I needed you. I had everyone here, but I still felt so alone.” I picked at a fuzz on his hoodie.
Jaron leaned his forehead against mine. “I know that feeling. I have to say that this is unnerving. It’s so damn quiet. I’m not used to this.”
I leaned back, searching his face. I never once thought how he would feel since getting released. I just assumed that he would be fine and could go on with his day-to-day life. “I had no idea.”
He shrugged. “I had no idea either. No one tells you how it’s going to be once you’re out. It’s why a lot of people who have been in jail for years, end up committing suicide. The world has changed for them. Technology is more advanced. The world is faster. Their loved ones are no longer there for them. It’s hard.”
“That’s sad.”
“It is.” He ran his hands up and down my arms. “I met a guy who was getting released a month after I had been there. He was in jail for over thirty years and didn’t want to be released, so he ended up killing a guard to get more time put on his sentence.”
“Wow. I can’t imagine what that must have been like.”
