Chapter 2 A Real Burn
Jaslene shook her head, then sighed, “I came back without asking. Is Grandpa going to be mad and send me away again?”
That didn’t seem right to me. Jayvon’s grandpa, Pablo Sawyer, was nice and always good to the younger folks. He should be stoked that his granddaughter, who had been overseas for years, was back.
Even though Jaslene wasn’t his blood granddaughter but came into the Sawyer family through his third daughter–in- law, there was no way he’d give her a hard time.
Seeing I was confused, Jaslene forced a smile. “To be honest, I did something wrong when I was younger. It made Grandpa mad, so he sent me abroad.
“He said I couldn’t come back without his say–so…”
She trailed off, sounding a little hurt.
“Don’t worry. I can take care of you now. Nobody is gonna push you around or make you do things you don’t wanna do. I mean it.” Jayvon reassured her.
He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, looking earnest.
And they didn’t act like cousins, more like a couple.
Jayvon turned to me. “Jaslene isn’t in a good place right now. Let’s hold off on the ring thing.”
Seeing Jaslene’s eyes were a bit red, I didn’t want to push it, so I gave in. “Okay, we’ll do it another day.”
“I’m really sorry, Bree. I feel bad that I messed up your plans. I should serve you coffee or something to make it up to you.”
Jaslene started walking over to the coffee station. I was about to tell her it was too much trouble, but she had poured the coffee and handed it to me.
I couldn’t refuse her enthusiasm, so I reached for the cup. But the moment I touched the rim, it slipped and fell.
Some of the coffee splashed onto my fingers. I instinctively yanked my hand back and hissed in pain.
Jayvon rushed over. He grabbed Jaslene’s hand and asked anxiously, “Are you okay? Where did it burn you?”
Jaslene bit her lip and looked kind of pitiful. “I’m fine. Just a little splash on the back of my hand.”
“Does it hurt?” Jayvon got worried and took her to the bathroom to run her hand under the tap. “We should go to the hospital to get it checked out. Better safe than sorry.”
I glanced at Jaslene’s hand, which was perfectly fine, and said with a bit of a dry tone, “Her hand isn’t even red. How
Chapter 2 A Real Burn
bad could it be to need medicine or a doctor?”
I held up my two fing
which were a little red from the burn. “This is what a real burn looks like!”
288 (Vouchers
Jaslene looked a bit awkward and hurriedly pulled me in. “Bree, you should rinse your hand. I’m so sorry. I didn’t
hold the cup steady.
“Jayvon is just
like the
that. He gets nervous over everything. Don’t mind him.”
Luckily, the st
coffee wasn’t that hot. After rinsing my hand, I didn’t feel any pain. Jaslene apologized again, and I didn’t feel right about saying anything else.
Jayvon handed me a tissue to dry my hand. “Are you okay?” he asked.
I glanced at him and shook my head. He was checking on me, but something felt off.
It was almost time to get off work, and Jayvon suggested we go get dinner. I agreed and joined them at a restaurant downstairs.
When we were ordering, Jayvon told the waiter, “For these dishes, no scallions or cilantro, and just a little bit of spice, please.”
I was a bit surprised because I knew Jayvon didn’t avoid those ingredients. The next moment, Jaslene’s sweet voice piped up. “I can’t believe you remembered my preferences! I’m so touched.”
Jayvon said in a sweet voice, “You used to never eat anything with those in it. How could I forget?”
Jaslene stuck her tongue out playfully and pointed to the dessert on the menu. “I want that sundae.”
“No way. You have a delicate digestion and can’t have anything cold.”
Jayvon said no right away, and no amount of pouting from Jaslene changed his mind.
I picked up my glass and took a sip of water to hide how awkward I felt. They were acting so close, making me feel like a third wheel.
Chapter 3 Kissing
