"God, don't make this about me and what I am," she bit out suddenly. "I know you hate me for what I did but just put those feelings aside for a minute and think about this. It's not too late. Jasper's going back tomorrow. Please. Just tell him," she pleaded.
I hated that too. The way she cared about him. No wonder he found it so hard to let her go.
I looked her straight in the eye and shook my head. "No," I said firmly. "Stay away from my family. You and Jasper can ride off into the sunset for all I care. But just leave us the fuck alone."
****
Chapter Twenty-One
Jasmine
I drove back to the hotel after my meeting with Skye, feeling way too wound up for my liking. I needed to chill the fuck out. And then do something which could turn out to be either really amazing or really terrible.
I was going to tell Jasper the truth.
I'd tried to give Skye that chance, tried to be good and considerate.
Well fuck all that.
It was time to be the bad guy again. This was beyond ridiculous. Two years already spent crying over his mistakes and now he was going to spend the rest of his life in that hell.
No. I wasn't going to send him back to that. That was for me. Jasper didn't deserve it. Jacob didn't deserve it. My best friend felt like he had nothing left to fight for so he was giving up. I'd give him a reason to fight now. I didn't care who hated me for it.
He was doing push-ups on the floor when I went into his room; part of his exercise routine after the whole cholesterol thing.
"Jasper. Do you have a minute?"
He rolled over after a few more sets, breathing hard and sweating profusely. I threw him a towel.
"Please can you get up and sit on the couch? This is really important," I said.
He looked up at me curiously.
"Should I be scared?" he murmured while wiping his sweat.
I was so on edge. Fuck. There wasn't much time. What if Skye decided to take Jacob and just disappear? I needed to tell him. He wasn't getting up so I lit a joint, took a few hits and then told myself that I could do this. I could handle this properly. I could do one thing right in my life for my best friend.
So I went and planted my ass down on the floor in front of him and he looked at me through hooded eyes before finally getting up in a sitting position to drink from his water bottle.
"How much do you love Skye?" I asked him suddenly.
Jasper almost choked on that water. Lowering the bottle, he gave me an irritated look.
"Are you like writing a book or something? Why do you keep doing this to me?"
"Why are you so infuriatingly uncooperative?" I muttered and grabbed his bottle and towel to throw it away. "Do you love her enough to forgive her if she ever hurt you the way you hurt her?"
His features tightened in pain. "I can't imagine her ever hurting someone like that."
I sighed. "But if she did," I went on. "Would you forgive her?"
He shifted so that he could extend his long legs beside me. "If Skye ever did anything to hurt me, she'd have a good reason for it. She's not vindictive. And yes, I would forgive her."
I smiled at him a little. This was going well. "So you can't ever hate her, right?"
"Jasmine, what is this about?" he snapped impatiently, scowling at me.
"Just promise me that you won't ever hate her, no matter what. That you won't ever do anything to destroy her."
He grimaced at my words. "I believe I've already done enough. What is going on with you these days? Since when have you started to become so concerned about other people?"
I made a face at his bluntness. "Ouch," I replied lightly before moving closer to him. "So I can trust you right? You'll keep your word? You won't hate her?"
His eyes narrowed when the realisation came to him that I was trying to tell him something important. That I wasn't just yapping away like I usually did.
"I can't ever hate Skye, Jas," he said earnestly. "I don't have it in me to do that and she will never deserve it either."
I nodded, finally feeling convinced. I could trust him. He was Jasper. He would understand.
"You can't go back to Ireland," I whispered.
He was losing his cool. I could tell. Jasper didn't like this. People telling him what he could or couldn't do.
"Are you getting sick of me?" he hissed in annoyance. "Is that why you keep forcing me to stay? If that's the case, just say it, Jasmine and I'll get out of your life."
I made a sound of frustration and looked towards the ceiling. He could be so pig-headed sometimes. No wonder Skye found it hard to forgive him.
"You can't go back...because you have a reason to stay," I began slowly.
He exhaled impatiently. "Not this again."
"Just listen," I argued and placed my hands on his shoulders. "You have a wonderful reason to stay. I know you feel like you're not needed but...you are. You're not going to go through life a broken man, do you hear me? You have something here that belongs to you," I said. "Something nobody has the right to take away from you."
He frowned at me in confusion. "I don't understand."
I bit my lip and my heartbeats raced like a thousand galloping horses were inside my chest. This was so, so delicate...this situation...he said he wouldn't hate Skye but what if he did? Not
