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I merely nodded, needing to be close to him. Needed to feel his arms around me, if just for the night. Ten minutes later, I was sliding into his bed and his arms. He turned off the lights and we lay together in the darkness.
“I can’t believe they’re gone, Jase.”
His fingers stroked my back slowly. “I know. It doesn’t seem real.”
We hadn’t spoken to our foster parents since the day I’d turned eighteen. Jase had left the house seven months before me, after they’d told him he wasn’t welcome to stay past his eighteenth birthday. They wouldn’t be getting any checks for him anymore, and he certainly wasn’t remaining in their home on their dime.
I’d cried for days, lost without him there. I’d snuck out as often as I could to see him, but he’d gotten three part-time jobs and was busy a lot. I’d missed him so much it was like a black hole had taken up residence in my heart, and our daily texts and phone calls on the cheap, pre-paid cell he’d bought me hadn’t been the same.
But we made our plans to move to New York City and become business partners. Build the very empire we now owned.
I’d snuck out just after midnight on my eighteenth birthday. I didn’t bother waiting until morning to say goodbye to Gary and Angela. They’d already taken in two new foster children to replace me and another teenager who’d be leaving the following month.
Jase had been waiting for me on the corner of their street, and I’d run in the darkness straight into his arms. I’d finally been able to breathe again after seven months of feeling suffocated. We’d gotten in the car and headed straight for New York City to fulfill our dreams.
And as we lay in his enormous bed together, we only had to look at our surroundings to know we had not just fulfilled our dreams but surpassed them.
Despite everything, I still ached inside. Still felt sadness over their deaths, although I couldn’t say why.
“Try to get some sleep, sweetheart.” He kissed my head and encouraged me to turn over before wrapping his body around mine. I held his hand, reluctant to let him go.
And thanked God it hadn’t been Jase I’d lost.
I couldn’t live without him.
