Page 11 of Until Forever
Latoya is facing me now, but she’s trying hard not to acknowledge me. “Sorry, Jas.” She clears her throat. “Jasper. I have to go.”
Then she goes and calls me by the name I only allow her to say—Jas—and like a lovesick teenager, my gut flips at the sound of my name on her tongue. Sure, she corrected herself, but her first instinct wasJas.
She’s not over me. Or is it all in my head?
She steps away, glancing back for a brief second, only to hurry down the hall to the patient she isn’t assigned to. When I turn around, Harmony’s watching me. Her brows knit together, and I can tell it’s because she’s trying to pinpoint where she knows me from—that and whatever secret messages the two of them passed between each other a second ago.
Harmony shakes a finger at me. “I know you.” She nods.
I sigh and give a half-smile.
“You used to hang out with my brother, Bax.”
I silently agree. “It’s good to see you, Harmony.”
Her eyes beam brightly. “My goodness. You—she—” she stutters. “I never would have figured thatherJasper was the big-headed boy who ate up all our food.”
I laugh as she makes her way to this side of the desk and immediately wraps me into a hug. We break away, and she playfully punches me in the shoulder.
“God. It’s been, what, ten or eleven years since we last saw you? How have you been?” she asks.
With a raised brow, I sway as I answer her. “Twelve. It’s been twelve years. But I’m good…really good. How are you? How’s the family?”
“Great. Mom and Dad are still crazy in love. Bax hasn’t changed.” She smirks with a shrug. “You know how he is.”
We share a laugh.
“Yeah, that’s our boy, though.”
She nods. “I’m married now…with a little girl named Ava. She’s two and is the spitting image of my dad.” Her eyes sparkle when she says that, and the reaction has a domino effect within me.
There’s movement to the right, and we both peek in that direction. Latoya exits the room but retreats when she notices us watching her. A part of me is disappointed, and the other part is eager to walk in there and stay until she speaks to me.
“S-so,” Harmony mutters, pausing until our eyes meet again. “You and Toya?”
I sigh.
“When was the last time you saw her?”
There’s something about the way she asks that tells me the question is loaded. I’m not an idiot, and to think Latoya has never told her friends about me would be just that—idiotic. It’s what girls do; they talk about their first heartbreaks and how hard it was to get over them. So, I know Harmony is aware, but there’s something else that I can’t make out. It’s almost like she’s torn; she’s known me most of my life, and despite not seeing me for twelve years, I still matter to her. And then there’s the fact that Latoya is her friend.
I drop my chin to my chest and stare at her through my lashes. Her shoulders are slumped, and a mixture of concern and curiosity clouds her face. I prepare to answer her, but she glances around, and I follow her gaze.
Two men of different heights and races but equally suspicious. One has a scar on his left cheek, and the other has teardrops inked under his right eye. They don’t strike me as the type of men to visit a hospital; they look more like the kind of guys who put people in them. I frown when they enter my father’s room, but Harmony touches my shoulder, distracting me.
“Who are they?”
“No idea.” I turn back to her.
From my peripheral, I notice Latoya exiting a guest’s room. She disposes of her gloves in a waste bin and fills her hand with sanitizer. My breath hitches when she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, and I find myself wishing I could touch her. Yearning to stroke her cheek and tell her how much I’ve missed her, how much I regret leaving.
Latoya is writing something in the chart and inching her way toward us. But then she looks up and sees me. Her shoulders collapse in on themselves, and the spark seems to leave her. She takes a breath, and I think she’s going to approach us.
I’m wrong.
Latoya shuffles awkwardly in the opposite direction.
Harmony stops me from going after her. “Hey.”
