Breathe (13 page)

“Trenton, you are not dying. Help your aunts carry the food out to the tables.” He was grinning. Trenton looked appalled.

“Why doesn’t he have to carry anything out?” Trenton whined. He stomped over to me, jostled Easton out of the way, and threw his arm around my shoulders. “He stole my girl, and he doesn’t even feel bad! He should at least carry out my share.”

I was officially blushing to the roots of my hair. I wanted to pinch Trenton.

“Trenton, you are making Jasmine uncomfortable. Let the poor girl be.” Easton’s mother scolded him as she made her way over to where we were standing. She opened her arms and gave me a hug.

“It’s lovely to finally meet you, Jasmine. I’m Alexandra Ward. You’ve turned both my boys’ heads, and I can see why. You’re lovely.”

I was speechless. The appeal was not only on one side of this family. Their dad was right behind her. He pulled me away from his wife and gave me a bear hug.

“You’re prettier than these hooligans said. Is my son treating you right? If he isn’t, you just let me know and I will tan his hide.”

I was in a bit of shock. They were so friendly. After the kind of third degree I’m sure my mother put Easton through, I was feeling a bit guilty. I didn’t have to prove anything to this family. They were so welcoming.

“It is lovely to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Ward,” I said, after Mr. Ward let me go.

“Please, it’s Reese and Alexandra. We are just so happy that Easton is finally dating. I was starting to think that he didn’t like girls.” Mr. Ward grinned.

“Yeah, Dad, I have been meaning to talk to you both about that,” Easton deadpanned. “I was just waiting for the perfect girl. Most parents would be thrilled that I’m picky.”

Now I didn’t think I would ever recover from my blush.

They asked me how I liked living in Lafayette and if the transition was difficult. We talked about my family and how they liked it here. I didn’t know much about them, so it was interesting to hear what they did for a living. His dad owned a classic car restoration shop, which explained Easton’s beautiful car, and his mom was an artist. Some of her work was in a gallery downtown. They were very polite, and I felt less nervous than I thought I would.

“Easton, why don’t you take Jasmine outside and show her the rest of the farm. It is so lovely in the fall,” Easton’s mother encouraged.

“I was just thinking that Jasmine has probably had enough of the inquisition, so that’s perfect, Mom.” He leaned over and pecked his mom on the cheek. He pulled me away from Trenton and led me outside. I could hear Trenton complaining to his parents behind us.

“You see! He just stole her, and he doesn’t even feel bad!”

I heard their dad chuckle and say as the door closed behind us, “Son, I’m sorry to tell you this, but you never had a chance.”

I looked at Easton. He was smirking as he grabbed my hand. “I love that kid, and he may have seen you first, but I caught you.” He turned and looked into my eyes. “And I don’t think I’m lettin’ go.”

My breath hitched. This beautiful, perfect boy couldn’t possibly like me this much. I was stunned and scared at the feelings I was having for him. Was this what it was like to fall in love? It wasn’t entirely pleasant. I was nervous, embarrassed, and worried. I thought it would feel good and happy—and it did, but it was much more complicated than that.

He was all I could think about. He was amazing, charming, and so good to me. Besides the fact that he was gorgeous, he was just an amazing person who had an amazing family. They obviously loved him and thought he was as fabulous as I did. The little kids followed him around as if he were the Pied Piper, and I could tell that the adults were all so proud of him.

As we walked out to the backyard, his other family members—aunts, uncles, and cousins—stopped him to ask about school and football, and for an introduction. His uncles and male cousins gave him a hard time about me being there, but he was polite and patient with them all. I felt totally out of my league. It was a lot to process.

The food was served, and we all stood around the picnic tables and held hands while Chase and Finn’s father, Chad, said grace. We sat at a table with Chase and Whitney. I kept an eye on Lily. She seemed to be doing well with all the strangers. I think having all the kids around made her more comfortable. Finnegan was sitting with her and another little girl, who must have been Abby. The girls were doing their best to ignore Finn, while he was obviously going out of his way to get their attention. Easton introduced me to a few of his other cousins sitting at the table. Apparently his cousin Lucy was Whitney’s best friend, and I recognized his cousin Graysen from the pack of football players at the diner. I can’t imagine what it would have been like growing up with that much family.

When we were done eating, Easton said to Chase and Whitney, “I’m going to show Jasmine the rest of the farm. We’ll see you all later.” I was surprised we weren’t going to hang out with them, but when I looked up, Chase and Easton did a complicated handshake. There seemed to be some silent communication going on that I’d missed.

We walked past where all the kids were now playing some carnival-type games on the side lawn, and it all seemed so perfect.

“It must have been so much fun growing up with all this family,” I mentioned as we were crossing a field away from the main house.

“I guess it was. I don’t really know any differently. I love my family, but it has its downside. None of us ever got away with much with as many people watching as we had. Privacy was somewhat nonexistent.” He smiled ruefully. “If we do anything wrong, the whole family knows within hours. Bad grades, a scuffle in the locker room, or if I ever went a hair over the speed limit, someone knew about it and told my parents.”

I laughed. “I can see how that might cramp your style a little.”

He nodded. “It’s part of why I haven’t dated until now. You see how they are. I’m glad we’re here and not at my house. My mom would have brought out the baby pictures.”

I smiled. “I would love that!”

He grimaced. Those pink spots on his cheekbones were showing again. “Why did I say anything?”

We laughed a little, trading my-parent-is-more-embarrassing-than-yours stories.

“Is that really why you haven’t dated until now?” I was dying to know.

“Well, pretty much. I just hadn’t met anyone who was worth going through all that… until now.”

“Well, I’m pretty sure your friend Lisa has other ideas. I’m a little worried about turning my back around her. She’s a bit scary.” I grinned.

He pulled a face. “Yeah, uh, sorry about that. She’s a little intense.” Those spots got darker. “And you wonder why I hadn’t dated until you arrived?”

He had a point.

We came to a pond at the end of the field. There was a small dock, and we walked out to the end and sat down. It was a beautiful secluded spot with weeping willow trees surrounding it. You wouldn’t even know it was there if you weren’t looking.

“Jasmine, I brought you out here for a reason.” He looked out at the water. “I’m not really sure of the right way to ask you this.”

Uh oh.

“When I first saw you—”

I sighed. “You mean when I fainted like an idiot?”

“Jasmine, hush. Let me do this.” He glared at me to be sure I wasn’t going to interrupt him again. I grinned at him and nodded. He smirked and continued.

“When I was holding you in my arms, you opened your eyes and I thought, ‘This is it.’ Of course, you ran away, and I didn’t want to look like a complete stalker, so I didn’t follow you around Wal-Mart like I wanted to. It’s a good thing too. Your momma would have had me arrested.” He nudged me with his elbow.

“Then when Trenton came home the next day raving that he found you at school and how he thought he had a chance with you, I…” He looked down and smiled. “I’d never been jealous of my brother in my life, until
that
day. I grilled him about what you said, what classes you had, everything he knew. Then I told him that you were it for me, and I was going after you. As you heard earlier, that didn’t go over so well. We didn’t speak for a few days. We finally found a way to resolve it, and then you ran me down in the hallway. I knew I was right. You were even more fascinating than I thought. I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I dreamed about you at night. I worried—before I knew what was going on—that something was really wrong, and I wanted to help. I’ve never felt about a girl the way I feel about you, Jasmine.” He looked at me.

I think my brain stopped functioning around the time he said he had been jealous of Trenton. He had to be joking. I couldn’t even process everything he had said. How did they resolve it? I was fascinating? He obviously didn’t know me well enough. I was the most boring person on the planet. Before I could take it all in, he continued.

“I’m falling for you, Jasmine. I want to be with you all the time. I want you to be my girlfriend.” He blew out a breath.

I must have looked shocked.

“Are you okay with that?” he asked.

I nodded.

His smile was slow and beautiful. He started to lean toward me, and right before his lips brushed mine, he whispered, “You can breathe now, Jasmine.”

I breathed out slowly, and his lips touched mine—just a brush, and then more pressure. It felt nice. Soft. He turned his head and opened up a little. I couldn’t believe he was kissing me and I hadn’t made a complete idiot of myself yet. I returned the pressure and relaxed.

After a few moments, he pulled back and smiled. “I’ve wanted to do that for the longest time.”

He grabbed my hand and rubbed my fingers with his thumb. I realized that it didn’t matter if I was scared or worried or embarrassed. I really loved this boy and wanted to keep him.

“You haven’t said much.” He looked concerned. “Are you okay?”

I looked at him. I couldn’t be a coward. He had risked telling me how he felt. Now it was my turn. “I’m just so shocked that someone as amazing as you even wastes their time with someone like me. I don’t know how I’m fascinating. I—”

He scowled at me. “Jasmine, are you trying to ruin a perfectly romantic moment?”

I knew he hated when I spoke of myself in this way, but truth is truth. “I know that you don’t want to hear it, but it’s how I feel. I don’t say much because it feels like I am going to wake up any moment and none of this will have been real. I’ll open my eyes and be in the parking lot at Wal-Mart with a big goose egg on my head. I’m afraid if I say too much, you’ll realize I’m not who you think I am and it’ll be over.”

I looked at him. He was quiet and looking out over the water again. I realized I still hadn’t told him how I felt about him. “Easton, I care very much about you. I love spending time with you, and I’m excited and thrilled to be your girlfriend.”

He put his arm around me and pushed my head on his shoulder. We just sat quietly looking out over the water. The sun was setting, and for just a moment my world and everything in it seemed perfectly in place. I was glad I couldn’t see what was coming.

Monday morning was hectic as usual, but I didn’t care. Easton had asked if he could drive me to school from now on, which led to dropping Caedan and Lily off at their school also. I would have been fine with them still taking the bus, but he offered. Of course, Lily thought that was a grand idea. She especially loved the part in which she would be dropped off at school in Easton’s classic Mustang every day. That got worked out on the way home from Finn’s party. I had no say. So for part of the drive, it was completely chaotic with Lily and Caedan chattering and fighting in the backseat and Trenton’s nonstop chatter. One-on-one time with Easton was not easy to come by.

When we got out of the car in the school parking lot, people were staring intently. I just assumed it was the I-can’t-believe-Easton-Ward-is-dating-her bit that I had tried to prepare for. I had caught Lisa glaring at me at the diner Friday night. I had ignored it at the time, but I knew she might become a problem. I wondered how many other girls were going to hate me for dating the most gorgeous boy at school.

The staring continued on as we got into the school. I thought it was a bit strange. Most people had either seen or heard about us being together for the last two weeks. He had walked me to class a few times last week, and we had been at the diner together twice. So why now? I knew our status had changed, but I didn’t think anyone else knew. I knew he hadn’t changed his relationship status on Facebook. I had checked this morning, Facebook stalker that I am.

Easton held my hand as we walked to my locker. I saw that there was some kind of colorful flyer taped to a bunch of the lockers. As we got to mine, I noticed one had been put on it. I reached up to pull it off and realized it was a newspaper article. There was a picture of me standing behind a bank of microphones with a headline above that read:

MURDERED GIRL’S SISTER STANDS UP TO SERIAL KILLER!

14-year-old calls her sister’s killer a coward on the 5 o’clock news.

I knew that story. It ran in the
LA Times
the day after I spoke at that press conference. I just stared at the paper in my hand. On the bottom of the flyer was written in red: “Who Is This Girl?” All of sudden I couldn’t think. I could feel the panic start to creep in. Who would do this? Was it the same person with the flowers? Did they think this was funny? My heart was beating fast. Then I felt a hand on my back.