22. Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-One
Jaylen
" Y ou still want to play this little question game? Or would you rather read your book?" I ask her, hoping to distract her from whatever was going on inside her head after she realised how close we'd gotten.
I glance out the window as darkness begins to fall over the city of London and despite the small amount of pain that shoots through my body every time I move, I scoot myself down slightly so that I'm in a comfortable position for if she chooses to read beside me for the next couple hours.
"Well, how many questions do you have left to ask?"
I smirk at her. "Probably about one hundred. There's too many things I want to know about you, darling, I don't even think one hundred questions would suffice."
Her brows raise in surprise, and I watch as a red tinge appears on her cheeks, replacing the dread inside of me with elated joy.
"I think I'll limit you to five more questions, and then we can slip into our normal routine where I silently read my book while you stare at me until you fall asleep."
Now it's my turn to blush .
I thought I was subtle with my fascination, but obviously she's noticed.
"Okay, five will do for now," I say, looking up to the ceiling as I think about the best questions to ask her while I have the opportunity. "First question. If we were to go snooping around someone's house, would you wear a balaclava?"
She looks taken aback for a moment, before she laughs, curling her legs up onto the chair she's sitting in.
"Uh, weird question to start with, but yeah, I guess I would. It'd help conceal my identity."
A grin splits across my face and I make a note to bring this topic of conversation up with Sophia the next time I see her. I'm still pissed that she ruined my fun before and wouldn't wear one with me when we went snooping around Jericho's house.
"Okay, second question."
"Are they all going to be as weird as the first one?" she asks, interrupting my musing.
"If you want them to be, then yes. If not, I can ask more serious questions that I'm extremely curious about."
She mulls the options over for a minute before she sighs and nods her head.
"Let's go with a serious question next."
Her response shocks me, but I immediately take advantage of her willingness and ask the one question that's been burning inside of me.
"Okay. Firstly, let me say, if you don't want to answer this, then we'll skip it because I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable in any way. "
She nods, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip as her fingers fiddle together in her lap.
"What is it that you're running from, Rory?"
Her eyes drop away from mine and she blows out a long breath.
"Somehow, I knew you'd ask me that," she mutters, chewing on the inside of her cheek as silence swells inside the room.
"You don't have to—"
"No, it's okay," she says, cutting me off. "Honestly, with the way things are going, I knew I'd have to tell you something sooner or later."
With the way things are going?
Does that mean that she's interested in me too?
Has she also had the realisation that we've started to grow closer and bond since she's been here or am I just being delusional and imagining things?
I would ask her, but now isn't the time because I'm still waiting for her to answer my original question and I can already tell that she's slightly uncomfortable, I don't want to push her any further.
"I'm running from the life that I lived in Ireland," she says, giving me an extremely vague answer.
"You want to elaborate on that?" I ask softly.
She shrugs and her teary eyes peer around the room.
"I was in a bad situation. I had been for years, and I was hiding it, pretending that everything was okay because for some reason, I believed that it was.
My mind was constantly scrambled, I knew what was right and what was wrong, but at the time, I guess the lines got blurred.
" She pauses, her eyes falling back to mine and she frowns.
"Looking back at it now, I think I was just scared, and I didn't know what to do or who to turn to.
Thankfully, Chrissie, my best friend, was an observant person, and she helped me realise that I needed to leave. "
"Is she the one that recommended you the book?" I ask, giving her an option to change the subject if she needs to.
I think she realises my intention because her shoulders slump in relief and she smiles at me as she sighs.
"Yeah. She's currently pregnant, so she's been reading a lot because, apparently, her husband Nathan is treating her like she's fragile at the moment and he doesn't want her doing anything."
My brows raise as that information seems to spark a thought inside of my mind.
"Is that normal?"
"What?"
"For the guy to become overwhelming and protective when their lady's pregnant?"
"I guess so," she replies, shrugging again. "I've never really been around people that have had kids yet."
"Yeah, me neither," I mumble distractedly, thinking about how Kaleb was with Sophia earlier.
"I am excited for her though," she says, drawing me back into reality.
"I can't wait to buy loads of clothes for the baby.
I usually avoid that section whenever I'm in the supermarket, because obviously I don't need to be there, but also because I find baby clothes so cute that I'd probably spend an hour in that section alone just looking at all the cute little outfits. "
"Will you go back to Ireland then?" I ask, selfishly hoping she says no.
A crease forms between her brows, and she shakes her head .
"As of right now, no. Hopefully soon, but I'm not sure. There's a lot that needs to be sorted out before I could ever return there."
A mix of emotions flood through me—relief, joy, sorrow.
I can see that it's upsetting to her that she may not be able to return, and I assume it's something to do with her past situation, but I can't help but feel hopeful that she'll have to stick around here for longer so that we can continue getting to know each other.
Honestly, with the recent declarations that have been made, maybe I could even follow her back to Ireland when it's time for her to return.
I'm not needed here anymore.
Maybe my new purpose is to be there for her and help her through everything that's troubling her.