backup plan was in place. Then she looked up and down the seedy, semideserted street. A garbage can had been overturned near the wall, and a scraggly cat was picking through the debris, while two men all in black argued loudly near the corner.
Now all she had to do was live long enough for the bus to arrive. She sidestepped a swaying drunk and stood near the broken and graffitied bench at the bus stop. Her phone rang.
"Dammit," Ariana cursed under her breath, the life all but scared out of her. She dug her phone out and rolled her eyes when she saw Jasper's face on the screen. She hit the talk button and brought the phone to her ear.
"What?"
"Wow. Tense, are we?" Jasper replied.
"I'm kind of in the middle of something," Ariana said impatiently, eyeing a scary dude with a scar across his lip as he strolled by. He eyed her right back and puckered his lips at her. It was all Ariana could do to keep her lunch down. "What do you want?"
"Sushi," Jasper said. "Do you like sushi?"
Ariana forced herself not to turn around and follow the scary guy with her eyes as he passed behind her. She forced herself to train her eyes on the road. If he saw that his presence was making her tense, he might see that as an opening. A vulnerability.
"I went to your room to give you the Valium--it came, by the way--and to ask you if you felt like sushi, but you weren't there," Jasper was saying.
Scary Dude passed her by but turned around to walk backward, keeping his gaze on her as he made it to the end of the block.
"Fine. Pick me up in the next ten minutes," she said.
"Ana . . . where are you, exactly?" Jasper asked, suddenly sounding concerned.
Ariana's heart warmed, surprised and pleased that he'd picked up on her tone. She looked around for someplace, anyplace she could wait inside without fearing for her life at every second. She swallowed back bile when her eyes fell on the golden arches two streets down. "I'm at a McDonald's downtown," she told him. "I'll text you the cross streets."
Jasper laughed. "Never figured you for a junk food junkie."
"I'm not," Ariana snapped. "I just took a wrong turn." She looked over her shoulder at the bail bonds place, where Mr. Blaze and his two buddies were watching her, laughing.
A very wrong turn, she added to herself. She could only imagine what Noelle Lange and her other friends back at Easton would say if they knew the types of places she'd been forced to spend time in--the types of things she'd been forced to do.
"Just come get me," she said.
Then she snapped the phone closed and jogged across the street to the fast-food joint, resolving to never again get herself into a position that would land her back in this part of town. "Y need to try the spicy tuna," Jasper said, leaning across the table with a piece of sushi suspended between two chopsticks. He was wearing a
ou black sweater that made his hair look even blonder and his blue eyes brighter.
"I'm not really a spicy person," she replied, pushing her rice around with her own chopsticks.
"Oh, I think you are. Y just don't know it yet," Jasper told her. He popped the piece of sushi into his own mouth and raised his eyebrows as he
ou chewed.
Ariana laughed, shaking her head. "Do you stay up nights coming up with these lines?"
Jasper grinned. "Not at all. You just bring them out of me."
"I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing," Ariana replied.
"Neither am I." Jasper took a sip of his sparkling water. "But I know you being here with me is a good thing."
Ariana looked down at her square white plate, her two sushi rolls arrayed beautifully across the surface. She and Jasper were, once again, seated on the floor, but this time she had the benefit of comfy suede pillows beneath her butt and soothing Japanese music playing through hidden speakers. Jasper had somehow scored them a private room at Kumo, one of the most exclusive sushi restaurants in DC, so they were completely closed off from the rest of
Now all she had to do was live long enough for the bus to arrive. She sidestepped a swaying drunk and stood near the broken and graffitied bench at the bus stop. Her phone rang.
"Dammit," Ariana cursed under her breath, the life all but scared out of her. She dug her phone out and rolled her eyes when she saw Jasper's face on the screen. She hit the talk button and brought the phone to her ear.
"What?"
"Wow. Tense, are we?" Jasper replied.
"I'm kind of in the middle of something," Ariana said impatiently, eyeing a scary dude with a scar across his lip as he strolled by. He eyed her right back and puckered his lips at her. It was all Ariana could do to keep her lunch down. "What do you want?"
"Sushi," Jasper said. "Do you like sushi?"
Ariana forced herself not to turn around and follow the scary guy with her eyes as he passed behind her. She forced herself to train her eyes on the road. If he saw that his presence was making her tense, he might see that as an opening. A vulnerability.
"I went to your room to give you the Valium--it came, by the way--and to ask you if you felt like sushi, but you weren't there," Jasper was saying.
Scary Dude passed her by but turned around to walk backward, keeping his gaze on her as he made it to the end of the block.
"Fine. Pick me up in the next ten minutes," she said.
"Ana . . . where are you, exactly?" Jasper asked, suddenly sounding concerned.
Ariana's heart warmed, surprised and pleased that he'd picked up on her tone. She looked around for someplace, anyplace she could wait inside without fearing for her life at every second. She swallowed back bile when her eyes fell on the golden arches two streets down. "I'm at a McDonald's downtown," she told him. "I'll text you the cross streets."
Jasper laughed. "Never figured you for a junk food junkie."
"I'm not," Ariana snapped. "I just took a wrong turn." She looked over her shoulder at the bail bonds place, where Mr. Blaze and his two buddies were watching her, laughing.
A very wrong turn, she added to herself. She could only imagine what Noelle Lange and her other friends back at Easton would say if they knew the types of places she'd been forced to spend time in--the types of things she'd been forced to do.
"Just come get me," she said.
Then she snapped the phone closed and jogged across the street to the fast-food joint, resolving to never again get herself into a position that would land her back in this part of town. "Y need to try the spicy tuna," Jasper said, leaning across the table with a piece of sushi suspended between two chopsticks. He was wearing a
ou black sweater that made his hair look even blonder and his blue eyes brighter.
"I'm not really a spicy person," she replied, pushing her rice around with her own chopsticks.
"Oh, I think you are. Y just don't know it yet," Jasper told her. He popped the piece of sushi into his own mouth and raised his eyebrows as he
ou chewed.
Ariana laughed, shaking her head. "Do you stay up nights coming up with these lines?"
Jasper grinned. "Not at all. You just bring them out of me."
"I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing," Ariana replied.
"Neither am I." Jasper took a sip of his sparkling water. "But I know you being here with me is a good thing."
Ariana looked down at her square white plate, her two sushi rolls arrayed beautifully across the surface. She and Jasper were, once again, seated on the floor, but this time she had the benefit of comfy suede pillows beneath her butt and soothing Japanese music playing through hidden speakers. Jasper had somehow scored them a private room at Kumo, one of the most exclusive sushi restaurants in DC, so they were completely closed off from the rest of
Similar Books
