Page 27 of Taste of Surrender

“I’ll go get Jasper.” Jesse walked down the hall toward his brother’s room while I went to the front door.

“Well?” Mom asked as I swung the door open.

My face still had a huge ass smile on it, but I didn’t confirm their suspicions. “Just come in. We’re waiting on Jasper.”

Mom and Dad stepped into the house and followed me into the kitchen, where Jesse’s parents were still waiting. Jasper finally emerged from his room, his tousled hair and sleepy eyes a stark contrast to the excitement buzzing around us.

“So?” Jesse’s mom questioned.

Jesse and I shared a quick look and then we said together, “We’re going to LA!”

The room erupted in cheers and congratulations with hugs for my friend and me. When my eyes locked with Jasper’s, he gave me a tight smile and I knew he was thinking the same thing I was: Would there still be an us?

We stepped together and hugged.

“Congrats,” he said.

I didn’t want to let him go, but I did and moved a step back. “Thank you.”

“We leave the first week of January,” Jesse said to whomever wanted to know.

“You leave that soon?” Jasper asked.

I nodded. “Guess so.”

I was pulled away and into a hug by his mom. When I broke free of her, Jasper had disappeared. I slipped down the hall to his room, knocking softly before pushing the door open to find him sitting on the edge of his bed.

“Hey,” I said softly, my heart breaking with the pain radiating off of him as I closed the door behind me.

Looking up, his eyes met mine. Without a word, I crossed the room and sat beside him, our shoulders touching as we stared down at the hardwood floor in front of us. And though we didn’t speak, the silence between us spoke volumes, a bittersweet reminder that the months we had secretly shared were coming to an end.

As the minutes ticked by, I wished for nothing more than to freeze time, to hold on to that moment, but my dream was always to make it big and this was the break Surrender needed. I couldn’t jeopardize it for whatever was between me and Jasper.

“I really am happy for you,” Jasper finally whispered.

“I know.”

“But it didn’t hit me until now that you’d be leaving for a few months.”

“Me too.” I placed my hand on his knee.

“But you have to go.”

“I do.”

The room felt suffocating as we sat there, coping with reality. I could hear our parents and Jesse down the hall, still on a high, as they talked about LA and what was to come.

“I wish …” Jasper’s voice trailed off, his gaze still on the floor in front of us.

“I know,” I whispered. “But maybe we won’t even make it past the live audition.”

He snorted. “We both know that’s not true. You guys are amazing.”

“But we don’t know how the competition will go.”

“True, but something is telling me this is going to be your big moment.”

I swallowed. “Me too.”