Away by B. A. Wolfe Page B

they were at the hospital where she worked now. “Did you go to work with your mom a lot?”
    He walked behind me, his chest almost touching my back, causing a small shiver to run down my spine. He looked closer at the picture. “Yeah, on summer break especially. It was fun as a kid to roam the halls of a hospital, it lost its entertainment the older I got,” he said, walking back to his bed, sitting down on the edge of it.
    “I couldn’t imagine hospitals being entertaining at any age,” I said, taking a seat next to him.
    He shook his head as he stretched his arms over his head. “So what brought you down here? Kudos on not getting lost by the way,” he said with a yawn.
    Ugh. I slapped the side of his arm that was next to me. “Normally you are up at the crack of dawn and ready to go, waking me up… so when I woke this morning and the house was quiet, I was just making sure you were okay,” I confessed, slouching, as I felt silly for worrying so much over him.
    “I was just tired from yesterday and then I stayed up a little later.”
    “Why were you up so late?” I asked, pulling up a leg underneath me.
    He looked at me, his eyes steady. “Can you keep a secret?” he whispered.
    “Of course,” I whispered back, leaning closer to him, eager for him to be confiding in me.
    “So can I.”
    “You are such a brat, you know that?”
    “I was reading, Cassie,” he said. “You don’t take well to teasing do you?”
    “I guess not,” I answered him. “And what did you say? That you were reading ?” I questioned him, never having heard that answer come out of a guy’s mouth who wasn’t in college, and even that was rare.
    “Did I say reading? What I meant was, I was watching television,” he said, nodding his head.
    “Too late Jase, you already spilled the beans. Come on now, what were you reading?” I asked intrigued.
    “Don’t get too excited, I was just reading some letters from a friend,” he answered.
    “You mean emails?” I asked confused.
    “No. I mean snail mail. Like the good old fashioned hand written letters that the mailman delivers. None of that electronic stuff, Sweetheart.”
    He seemed to enjoy the old-fashioned things in life, the letters, and the memories. It was really cute. “I’m going to say that’s probably why you still have a flip phone.” I dropped my gaze down, peering at him.
    “People become too reliant on having the world at their fingertips. Enjoying the moment and not knowing what’s going to come next, that’s the real deal, Cassie,” he said.
    “Well that’s not nearly as exciting as a book. But I get it, sort of,” I admitted to him as I heard a vibrating noise coming from his nightstand.
    “Speaking of phones,” he said, leaning up and reaching for his phone.
    “Hello?” he answered.
    “Yes ma’am. Who’s this?” he asked.
    “Ah, I’ve been expecting your call.”
    “As a matter a fact she is,” he said, looking over at me. It was either Melanie or, well it had to be Melanie.
    “She’s in my room. Definitely not being held hostage. I promise she’s in good hands Melanie,” he said as he nodded into the phone with each answer.
    “I know you will,” he said cringing. I could only imagine the words that were coming out of her mouth. Not to mention the half frightened look on Jase’s face as he answered her questions.
    “Yes ma’am, I will. Okay here she is.” He pulled the phone from his ear and let out a breath, handing the phone over to me.
    “She’s a feisty one,” he said, making me giggle. She was most certainly a feisty chick and I loved her for it.
    “Hey Mel,” I said, glad to hear her voice.
    “He said he isn’t holding you captive, is this true?” she asked in a half teasing manner.
    “No, he’s not holding me captive.” I could see Jase shaking his head.
    “Okay then,” she said. “He sounds really cute, Cass. Is that why you were okay waiting for your car?”
    “Melanie. Oh my gosh. I can’t believe