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“Could you tell me what happened tonight?” the detective asked, lifting his focus off our entwined fingers without a hint of disgust in his intense gaze.
“Yes.” I swallowed, forcing my mind toward full wakefulness even though the drug-fuzz fought to creep back in. “I was at the hotel—exited out the side into the alley.” The memories cleared as I spoke, my voice gaining strength and volume.
I explained how someone had followed me from the hotel but hadn’t said anything and hit me before I could turn fully to see who it was. Other than a dark blur, I had no description to offer the detective.
“Another man was outside with me around the corner, and we heard Mason holler for help.” Jasper took over, his thumb moving over my hand with gentle strokes that made butterflies come to life in my stomach. “I didn’t get his name,” he continued. “Italian-looking guy. Dark hair slicked back. He chased after Mason’s attacker but didn’t catch him. He returned seconds before the shooting.”
“Shooting? What happened?” I asked, not remembering hearing gunshots while I’d been on the ground.
“I’m not exactly sure, but it sounded like someone fired shots in the hotel,” Jasper explained.
A rush of adrenaline roused my clarity. “Where?” I asked, attempting to sit up, but Jasper pressed on my uninjured shoulder to keep me still. “The Sweet Water Suite?”
The detective shook his head. “There were gunshots, but they originated in the Westford Room. I can confirm there were no casualties, but that’s all I’m able to state at this time.”
Releasing a heavy exhale, I settled back on my hospital bed, attempting to cool my inner anxiety from showing. Micah and his party guests were probably safe since he’d texted me. I would have to give him and Kellen a call later and explain about the assault.
“Can you think of anyone who would want to hurt you?” Detective Jenner asked.
“No. I don’t have any enemies that I’m aware of. I tend to stick to myself.”
The detective had a few more questions, letting me know they would be going through video feeds—and that they’d found a knife farther up the alley. He readied to leave and told me he would like to see me down at the station the following afternoon if I was feeling up to it. He also requested the same from Jasper.
A young man in dark blue scrubs pushed aside the curtain, crossing paths with Detective Jenner as he left. “How are you feeling?” the nurse asked me, moving to my bedside.
“Okay thanks to those pain meds.”
“I’m getting your discharge papers ready, but you’ll need someone to be with you for at least the next twenty-four hours.”
He glanced at Jasper, but I thought of Kellen, one of the few friends I trusted to be in my personal space. Unfortunately, he was heading to Maine in the morning to visit his parents. “I’m sure I’ll be fine on my own,” I stated with an assurance I didn’t feel.
The nurse’s smile appeared forced. “You really shouldn’t be alone, Mr. Thomson.”
“I’ll stay with him.”
I shifted my gaze to my right. Jasper could easily be half my age, I guessed. He had a beautiful baby face, the most lovely I’d ever seen in my life.
Jasper’s sweet, crooked smile appeared again as he turned toward me. His honey-like eyes glanced over my face as though easily seeing behind the mask I’d tried to pull back into place because of the visiting nurse. “I would like to take care of you, Mason—if you’ll allow it.”
Why did I so badly want to trust the stranger holding my hand? Why did I feel as though fate had meant for us to meet? And why did his desire to look after me make my insides flutter and yet melt at the same time?
Jasper didn’t give off hungry twink vibes, even though he appeared the type with his petite build. No—quite the opposite. He might have been twenty-something, but the young man screamed caretaker. Protector.
“Yes,” I offered the answer that radiated through my core while my sense of self-preservation sank into oblivion.
I blamed the drugs.
His smile sent heat rushing through my veins, tingling life through my groin regardless of whatever meds I’d been given to help numb my nerve endings.
Looks-wise, Jasper was the boy my gay heart had been hoping to find since middle school. As for his character, his actions since my attack led me to believe he could very well be the yin to my yang.
But was he even interested in men?
That inner radar spoken of in the gay community hadn’t ever worked well for me, but the way Jasper studied my face made me think he felt the connection I swore wove our spirits together regardless of my underlying apprehension.
Or maybe the painkillers I was onweretoo strong and messed with my brain’s ability to function properly?
Jasper asked the nurse what he needed to do once we got to my apartment—sleep, food, medication—and I didn’t bother trying to listen.
