did you find out?”
“We’ll discuss it tomorrow. You need to rest,” he whispered. He placed me gingerly on the bed, kissing the palm of my bandaged hand.
When he tried to pull away, I squeezed his fingers with mine. “I was worried. I drove here prepared to beg you back.”
He laughed once. “In what alternate universe would you ever have to beg me back?”
“I’ve had to rip out two microphones and nearly freeze to death in the pouring rain to get you back before. Driving to your apartment and knocking on your door isn’t the most extreme measure I’ve taken.”
Jared’s expression was pained. “I noticed your car out front. I’m sorry I had to leave without an explanation. I didn’t have a choice.”
“It was better than the alternative,” I said, my grin fading as I considered the possibilities.
Jared touched the side of my face, and then left me to walk toward the stairs. I sat up to protest, but Jared paused. “I’ll be right back,” he assured me.
Relaxing against the bed, I listened to his footsteps jog down the steps, silence when he reached the couch, and in the next moment climb the stairs again.
He sat beside me and held a small red box in the palm of his hand. “Don’t get too excited. It’s nothing major.”
I smiled and took the box from his hands, pulling on the small silver loop on the top. I looked at him, raising my eyebrows in surprise.
“It’s to make up for tonight. So? What do you think?”
Hanging from the lid was a shiny silver key.
“To the loft,” he explained. “Next time something comes up, you won’t have to wait outside in the cold.”
“When did you have time to do this?” I asked, still processing the shiny object spinning around from a thin red ribbon.
Jared shrugged. “I had it made a few days ago. I’ve been meaning to give it to you, but you haven’t needed it until now.”
“You’re giving me a key?” My eyebrows lifted in disbelief.
Jared nodded and then his brows pulled together. “I promised you I would never leave you. I meant it. If something like this happens again, come here. Wait for me.” He touched his hand gently to my cheek. “I’ll earn your trust back.”
“I trust you,” I said, mimicking his expression.
Jared leaned over and pressed his lips to mine. “And I trust you. Nice work in your room today.”
I cringed. “You heard that, did you?”
Jared chuckled. “All of it. I think it’s going to take me by surprise every time I hear you say my name in perfunctory conversation. It’s a good thing Ryan….”
“It’s a good thing Ryan what?” I asked, leaning over to bring his eyes to mine.
“It’s a good thing I have patience,” Jared said, looking everywhere but my eyes.
“You have a lot of patience, but that’s not what you were going to say.”
Jared’s eyes bounced from me to the floor to other things in the room, uncomfortable with where the conversation was headed. “It has to do with what I told you we would discuss later.”
“Claire’s training has to do with Ryan?”
Jared sighed. “You’re not going to wait now, are you?”
I shook my head slowly, not sure what to expect. The two names seemed to be on different sides of the universe.
Jared leaned his head down, looking at me from under his eyebrows. “The night at the pub, when you first met Claire, Ryan put his hands on me.” I nodded and Jared continued, “When she grabbed his hand, she felt something. She felt his pain.” Jared patiently waited for me to comprehend.
“Ryan is Claire’s Taleh?” I whispered, knowing she could hear me, anyway. I couldn’t believe it, and at the same time I felt excited, like I’d just heard a juicy bit of gossip. “But, when we were mugged…,” Claire was talented, even among her kind. She wouldn’t have let Ryan be hurt in that way.
“That’s why the situation went farther than I normally allow. Claire had them targeted. It would have just taken a second to take them out, but when Ryan jumped in, Claire couldn’t get a clear shot. She couldn’t risk it. That’s when I decided to intercede.” Jared’s eyes began to cloud over. The worst was coming.
“Why didn’t you want to tell me?”
Jared leaned over and kissed me. It was urgent and deep, the way he kissed me before I left him to speak with my mother; as if he were kissing me goodbye forever.
He reluctantly pulled away to look at me. “It was for purely selfish reasons. I wanted to wait so you and I could…so you could get to know me better.”
“You lost me.”
“Remember when I was explaining the Taleh, you mentioned how convenient it was that Gabe protected Jack, and I protected you?”
I nodded. “Yes, you said that angel groups tend to stay in families or those that are connected somehow.” Now that he’d brought it to my attention, it made more sense. “Claire is Ryan’s protector because he’s a friend?”
Jared sighed and shifted nervously beside me. “Claire being Ryan’s protector means he is supposed to be in your life. Permanently.”
I smiled and shook my head. “So what are you saying? That Ryan’s going to be family somehow?” Jared waited and my eyes widened in disbelief. “You think I’m supposed to marry him? Oh, c’mon! That’s ridiculous!”
“That would be the only explanation,” Jared said, his expression grave.
“You’re not serious. There’s no way for you to know that. It could be any number of things.”
“I thought that if you didn’t get to know me first, then you’d want to be with him. He is supposed to be your husband one of these days. I would understand why, armed with that knowledge, you might feel differently. And he’s a good friend to you. And he’s…persistent,” Jared said, his face twisting into an annoyed expression.
I held his face in my hands and looked directly into his eyes. “Quit it. I’m in love with you, Jared. There is no me without you.”
He watched me for a moment. “I’m sorry I kept it from you.”
“You don’t have a single thing to worry about. I promise,” I said.
Jared switched off the lamp and crawled over to his side, pulling me to him.
“I missed you,” I said, settling into his arms. “It’s going to be hard to go back to the way it was when my hand heals. I could probably start staying at Andrews this weekend.”
“You don’t have to leave,” Jared whispered in the dim light.
I buried my head into his chest. I had never wanted anything more, but Ryan’s words about moving too fast came to the forefront of my mind.
“I would love that…someday,” I said, hoping to preserve his feelings.
“Someday,” he repeated, sighing. “I understand. It’s too fast.”
“Maybe just a little,” I smiled, kissing his chest.
The next morning, I woke up in Jared’s arms. He was awake, patiently holding me against him. My smile faded when I realized it would be our last morning together for awhile.
“What is it?” Jared asked, sensing my disappointment.
I sucked in a deep, disheartening breath. “It’s Friday,” I breathed. “I’m going back to Andrews tonight.”
“You have a key. You can use it whenever you’d like.”
“That’s right,” I said, looking up at him with a smile. “That’s comforting.”
Jared brushed my bangs from my face. “I’m going to miss seeing you like this in the morning…especially in my shirt. It would have had a whole new significance had I known that one day you would be lying in my arms with it on. An interesting choice, I might add. That’s my favorite one.”
“I heard,” I smiled.
“Take it with you. I want you to have it.”
“But it’s your favorite shirt!” I argued, pulling away to look at him.
