December 23
Yellowstone County, Montana
Kevin Shepard was a liar. Jasmin had been analyzing everything that happened over the course of the trip and today she’d finally been struck with an explanation that made sense. He was a liar. She’d been so focused on all the nasty things he’d said to her that she forgot about everything else.
“You know, two snowflakes are never the same. But even though they may be different, it’s possible for them to fall on the same spot. Maybe it’s just the Law of Gravity. Or maybe…it’s something more, Jasmin.”
Liar! Nothing he said to her that day was true.
A convenient fuck when no one else was around.
Not true. Candy was around and she openly showed him what she wanted and he didn’t do anything.
Jasmin thought back to the first time they’d had sex.
He was a mess that day and she gave him a choice to either keep shutting her out or let her in.
It wasn’t easy for him, but he chose the latter and she’d watched him let down all his defenses, seen him completely break down.
All of that happened before he’d even kissed her.
If sex was all he’d wanted, there were definitely more convenient alternatives.
And before they’d reached Florida, he’d told her a few times that he wasn’t in the right frame of mind. Hell, she’d seen it herself. He was distraught, not thinking straight and she pushed until he snapped. It wouldn’t have ended so ugly if she had just backed off.
He didn’t want anything beyond the road trip and she accepted that.
He’d told her he wasn’t ready for a relationship and she accepted that too.
He was too afraid of getting hurt to ever open himself up completely and she was ready to cut ties like he’d asked her to.
But she still needed closure. She’d told her father what she wanted to do and even though he hadn’t been keen on the idea, he understood that it needed to be done.
She let go of the anger. He’d taught her how to feel—everything, good and bad.
She thought about all the smaller details of their time together.
Their talks at the laundromat and his odd little encouragements, sharing their food and watching movies together.
So many sweet and intimate moments had been shared between them and she couldn’t stay angry at him.
She let go of the pain. Knowing that he didn’t mean all of the things he’d said made it easier to focus on how amazing it was to fall in love.
Now all she needed to do was find a way to let go of him.