Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Initially, Jasmine put up a fight, insisting she would pay for her own food, but Maxwell effectively shut her down and covered both of their meals.
Trays in hand, they walked toward a high-top table near the back.
“I haven’t been here in so long I forgot how much fun it could be,” Jasmine said. “Makes me wish I could have a setup like this at my place, but I don’t have the money or space for a man cave like your friend’s dad.”
“You can buy handheld retro games.”
“Hmm. I never thought of that. It’s not exactly the same, but I think I’d like that. I should look into it.”
They sat down and spread out the loaded fries, mozzarella sticks, sodas, and hamburgers before them.
“I can’t believe you eat so much,” Maxwell remarked, biting into one of the mozzarella sticks.
“I have a high metabolism. My sisters are all the same way. We take after my mom, although they’re all tall, and I’m...”
“Short?” Maxwell supplied.
She glared across the table at him. “Not tall. Anyway, you know I have three sisters, and they’re all doctors. What about you? How many siblings do you have?”
“Six.”
“Six?” Jasmine exclaimed.
Maxwell nodded. “When my parents got married, they each had three kids. On my mom’s side, I have two sisters and a brother. On my dad’s side, three brothers.”
“Like the Brady Bunch,” Jasmine said.
“Something like that. Then they had me. I’m the youngest, and everybody loves to call me the baby.” He grimaced.
“Hmmm, that explains some things.”
“Like what?” His eyebrows snapped together.
“The charm you exude.”
Maxwell smirked. “You think I’m charming?”
“I am saying,” Jasmine enunciated, speaking slowly, “that as the youngest, you probably learned early that charm can get you attention and probably whatever you want. Am I wrong?” She popped a fry in her mouth.
“Nah, you’re not wrong,” Maxwell admitted. “Was it the same for you?”
“Not quite. I had to fight for respect in my family. There’s ten years difference between me and my closest sister, so they all treat me like I’m their kid.”
“That has to suck.”
Jasmine thought for a moment. “Yes and no. I mean, growing up I basically had four mothers, which was a nightmare. They never let me do anything. They all gave me advice and bossed me around. But on the plus side, because my sisters were older, they took care of me. They bought me clothes and makeup. When I was in college, I got the best care packages almost every week. My friends were all jealous.”
“Ten years is a big difference,” Maxwell commented.
Jasmine nodded and took a sip of soda. “I was an ‘accident,’ as they say, but I saved my parents’ marriage.”
“How?”
“They had grown apart. I guess when you’ve been married for a while, that eventually happens. Anyway, my sister closest to me, Maura, she said Mom and Dad had already been talking to divorce attorneys when oopsie—Mom found out she was pregnant.”
“Sounds like they hadn’t grown that far apart,” Maxwell remarked.
Jasmine giggled. “I guess not, since they were still doing the do—occasionally, anyway. Once my mother found out she was pregnant, that changed everything. They decided to work on their marriage, and then I—their little miracle—came into the world and they’ve been happily married ever since.”
“My parents are divorced.”
“Oh no.”
“There’s a happy ending, of sorts. They split when I was in college.
Started having problems when I was in high school and then at some point decided to call it quits.
” He turned his soda glass around and around on the table.
“I’d seen them so happy growing up, and then everything changed.
Makes you realize that love isn’t forever. ”
His mood had changed drastically. The happy-go-lucky Maxwell was nowhere to be found in this somber commentary.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. They’re back together and getting remarried. They’re planning a wedding now.”
“No way!”
“Yeah. They both seem pretty happy. Maybe it’ll last this time.”
“You sound skeptical, but I think it’s romantic. They found their way back to each other. How do you feel about that?” Jasmine asked, sensing something wasn’t quite right about his reaction.
“No one’s ever asked me that before. Everyone pretty much assumes it’s good news—and it is—but I’m cautiously optimistic,” he answered honestly.
“You don’t think their relationship will last?” Jasmine asked.
“They seem happy together, but what I can’t understand is how they allowed their relationship to get to the point where they split up in the first place.”
“It happens. It almost happened to my parents.”
He drummed his fingers on the tabletop. “You want to know what I think? I think if you want something, you have to work hard at it, and you don’t let it slip away. People don’t want to put in the work, so it’s better to keep things light.”
“You’re too logical. Love and relationships aren’t about logic. They’re about feelings and emotions and—”
“But they should be about logic. That’s why people make the mistakes they do.
If a couple wants to be together and love each other—truly love each other—they should put in the work.
In my parents’ case, I hope they do, to make sure they stay together this time.
It remains to be seen if that’s what they really want.
Relationships are funny. You have the excitement of butterflies in the beginning, but when that’s over with, the real work begins—at least, that’s what I think. ”
“I don’t necessarily agree with everything you said, but I can understand your point about working for the relationship.” She paused. “Have you ever been in love, Maxwell?”
“Me?”
“Is there another Maxwell sitting here?” Jasmine asked.
He sat back as he contemplated the question. “You?”
“I asked you first.” The weight of the question hung between them, and a quiet tremor moved through her chest, as if her heart sensed the significance of the moment and was preparing her for it.
Maxwell held her gaze. “I don’t think I have. I’ve cared deeply about some of the women I’ve been involved with, but I can’t say my feelings ever graduated to the point of love. How about you?”
“Yes. Once.”
“Nicholas?” he asked, his voice sounding odd.
Jasmine played with the straw in her drink.
“Someone else. Someone who...” She swallowed the painful memory of her breakup with Leon.
She had quit her job to escape the torture and embarrassment of seeing him every day.
“Someone who played with my heart and hurt me, a lot. Nicholas is a great guy, but it’s not serious. ”
“He’s not your boyfriend?”
“No. We’re still figuring things out, and I don’t love him. Not now. Not before he left a few years ago. If I had loved him—and if he had loved me—we would have stayed together when he moved.”
“You would have put in the work,” Maxwell said.
She lifted her gaze, realizing she had confirmed his belief about relationships. “Yes.”
“Why are you with him?” Maxwell asked.
“Because he’s—”
“A nice guy,” they both said.
“There’s nothing wrong with being nice,” Jasmine said defensively.
“Nothing at all,” Maxwell confirmed in a mocking voice.
Nice meant safe. That’s what she had almost said the last time they had a conversation about Nicholas. Men like Maxwell were unsafe. That’s why she couldn’t allow herself to fall for someone like him. She couldn’t go through that pain again.
Jasmine turned her attention to her half-eaten cheeseburger and worked on finishing it. Thankfully, the conversation moved on to safer topics as they finished their meals. While they ate, the arcade crowd thinned, and when she looked at her phone, she was shocked to see the time.
“It’s almost midnight,” she said.
“Is it?”
“We should probably...” She didn’t finish the sentence. She didn’t want the night to end.
“Yeah,” Maxwell agreed.
They sat there for a moment, neither of them moving. Finally, Jasmine pushed back her chair. “I’ll take that for you,” she said, extending her hand for his tray.
“Thanks.”
The night suddenly took on a solemn tone because their evening was coming to an end, and she was bummed. When she returned to the table, Maxwell was on his feet.
“You should put this on,” he said, holding up his leather jacket. “It’s gonna be colder out there than when we came in.”
“But then you’ll be cold,” Jasmine said.
“I’ll be fine.” He stepped behind her and helped her into the jacket. He was being chivalrous again.
The jacket swallowed her, the sleeves coming down over her fingers, and she was enveloped in his scent. Something clean with a distinctly citrus edge. Bergamot.
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” Maxwell said, his voice unusually deep and heavy.
Bitter cold hit them when they walked out the door, and Jasmine pulled his jacket tighter around her. They quickly crossed the lot to his Range Rover, and he helped her in before going around to the other side and climbing behind the wheel.
Maxwell drove for several minutes, the city flashing by the windows, a hip-hop song playing low on the radio as they cruised down the highway, before Jasmine spoke.
“I haven’t done that in a long time,” she said, not looking at him. She spoke the words to the window beside her.
“Done what?” Maxwell asked.
She turned her head. In the quiet darkness of the SUV, he looked achingly handsome. Her eyes traveled over his curly hair and the neat beard that emphasized his sharp jawline.
“Gone somewhere without a plan and just had fun, you know?”
“I know what you mean. Seems like there always has to be a reason for going out. When it’s with the opposite sex, anyway.”
She nodded, appreciative he’d understood. “Takes the pressure off when you can just... be.”
He took his eyes from the road for a brief moment to look at her. “Yeah.”
A few more minutes passed. “I had a really good time tonight,” Maxwell said.
Jasmine felt her chest tighten. “Me too.” She turned her head to the window again. “You’re different than I thought you were.”
“Is that good or bad?”
She twisted her head to look at him before looking away again. “I haven’t decided yet.”