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I nod and move toward the front door, but before I can get too far he stops me, a hand on my arm. “I can stay here if you want to go alone. I don’t want to impose.”
But the thought of going alone makes my stomach clench. For some reason, I need him to come with me. Even if that means he’s just there in the waiting room. It’s selfish, but I want it. He’s given me strength. I need it.
This has nothing to do with Kristy and her not wanting Jasper here.
This has everything to do with me.
“Come with me,” I say softly, and he eyes me intently before tilting his chin down.
“Okay, come on,” he says, taking control of the situation, and damn, but I like that.
I mean, I hate it too, but I also really fuckinglikeit.
We move out to the truck, and I watch as Jasper eyes the driver’s side.
“You want me to drive?” I ask since he drove all the way out here last night and it’s the least I can do.
“Fine. I could totally manage, but you know the roads better than I do,” he says, moving past me and toward the passenger side. I watch him hop up inside, and I ogle his butt for a little too long before moving up into the driver’s seat. I have to move the seat all the way back before starting the truck. Then I back up and make my way down the long dirt driveway.
“Samantha will head up to the city with Bridgette later, so we don’t have to stay long,” I tell him, and Jasper just bobs his head, his eyes on the extensive, flat landscape before him.
“No worries. You can stay at the hospital for as long as you want.” It’s silent for a bit and then he says, “Can I make an observation?”
“Yep, observe away.”
“It’s very flat here.”
“Yeah, it is. It’s not like San Diego,” I reply, and Jasper pulls out his phone, glances at the screen, and then sighs again.
“Ugh. Forgot. No signal. Such a bizarre place…Kansas.”
I snort a small laugh as we bump along on the road leading into town and ultimately the hospital in the city.
“You get used to it,” I say and then fiddle with the radio.
Jasper bites down on his fingernail and shifts in his seat, his lean frame dwarfed by the truck.
“I can’t believe you grew up out here,” he says after a beat of silence. “What did you do for fun?”
“Burned shit.”
“Burned shit?” he asks, his eyes wide, and a chuckle bubbles out of me. God, it feels good to laugh.
“Yeah, like any kind of stuff. We’d just burn it. It’s fun. Make a big ole bonfire, pull up some chairs, and watch it burn.”
“Like anything? Like…I don’t know…plastics?”
“Sure why not? Except that shit does smell when it’s on fire.”
“Bennet, that is terrible for the environment. What the fuck were you thinking?”
“Wasn’t thinking much back then.”
Jasper rolls his eyes. “Don’t do much thinking these days either.”
“Well, that’s true.”
“And that’s all you did? Set fire to things?”
