of anger so powerful it had actually scared me at the time.
“She made me uncomfortable,” Jasper continued. “I tried to tell her I was with you, but she steamrolled right over me. I think she believed we were role-playing.”
“Why didn’t you say something?”
Jasper’s muscles tightened. “Because you didn’t give me a chance. You … you just assumed I was interested.”
There was no way to deny it. I had believed he was interested, and I’d accused him of wanting her, refusing to listen to reason.
His voice was softer when he said, “You hurt me that night, Ransom. More than anyone in my life ever had.”
I swallowed the hot ball of emotion that formed in my throat, but before I could say anything, he continued.
“I’d already been battling my emotions because I couldn’t understand why you wouldn’t introduce me to your sister. Why I had to be your dirty little secret. It never made sense, it—”
Stopping him cold, I said, “She was the secret, Jasper. Not you.” I propped up on my elbow, rolled Jasper to his back so I could look in his eyes. “I wanted nothing more than to introduce you to Braelyn, but … I couldn’t take that risk. Not with my parents looking for us.”
“You could’ve told me,” he said, his eyes boring into me. “I would’ve understood.”
“You weren’t even supposed to know I had a sister,” I bit out. “No one was. Until Talon, no one with the exception of Zeke knew. The only reason he did is because we were friends in high school. He knew before.”
For fuck’s sake. Had this all been a ridiculous misunderstanding?
“I loved you,” Jasper whispered. “More than anything. I was so young, so naive. I didn’t understand why you wouldn’t let me into your life.”
I had wanted to. More than anything, but I couldn’t. Not at the time.
“It broke me when you accused me of wanting someone else,” he stated. “I used that, though. The excuse. I let you think that, because deep down, I was angry that you kept me at arm’s length.”
“Why’d you leave the hospital?” I asked, remembering how I’d gone there in an attempt to salvage what we had. They’d told me he no longer worked there.
“Dr. Dunn,” he said, swallowing hard. “She stalked me after that. When I refused her, it got ugly. I told her I would report her if she didn’t stop. Before I could, she went to the chief of staff, told her I’d been stealing meds.” His eyes went hard. “I was a fucking intern. When I tried to argue my case, no one believed me. The only saving grace was the fact no meds were missing. She hadn’t thought it all the way through, I guess. The chief gave me a choice to go to another hospital. So I did.”
“You didn’t leave because of me?”
His eyes held firm to mine. “Not initially, no. You were the reason I opted to leave Chicago. It took years for me to get over you.”
I brushed my knuckles over his cheek. “You did better than me, then. Because I never got over you.”
The tears that sprang to his eyes shocked me. I’d never seen Jasper cry, and it brought out my protective instinct.
“Don’t,” I commanded, wiping one stray tear with my thumb. “It’s the past, Jasper.”
He nodded, held my gaze.
“I love you,” I said. “Always have. Always will. Regardless of…” I motioned around the room, not sure what I was encompassing.
“I don’t want to be part of a triad,” he said softly. “It was fun for about a minute, but it’s not what I want.”
“I know.”
He frowned.
“I’ve been waiting for you to tell me.” I gripped his jaw with a firm hand. “You owe me that much, Jasper. We owe that to each other. If we can’t communicate…”
We both knew how that sentence ended, so I didn’t bother finishing it.
“Why do you think I clued Gideon in on what Cody wants?”
His forehead furrowed. “You did that?”
I nodded. “Figured I had to get him out of the way, or we had no chance of figuring this out. I wasn’t sure you were going to be straight with me.”
He didn’t say anything.
“Would you have?” I prompted, shifting so that I was lying on top of him, urging his legs apart with my knees. When he did what I wanted, I sat up, retrieved the lubricant that was still sitting on the nightstand after last night’s encounter.
“Yes,” he rasped, his gaze following my movements as I squirted lube