“Where to?” Jasper asked as I emerged from the stall, doing a pretty good job of pretending like he hadn’t heard me getting sick even as he passed me a pack of mints. “You want to collect your stuff while they’re still at work, right?”

I quickly rinsed my mouth and popped a mint that did nothing to quiet my still-anxious gut. “What I’d like is to not think for a while.”

It came out too loud, too sharp, and Jasper took a step back, feet hitting his bags. “Okay.”

“Sorry. That came out harsh. You’re trying to help. I get it. I hate being such a mess—”

“This isn’t your fault or your mess. It’s theirs.” He rubbed my arm before picking up his bags and following me out of the restroom. “And like you said, maybe this was way overdue.”

“Yeah.” I paused for a drink at the fountain by the elevator. His tone had been pragmatic, not accusatory, but he was right. I’d waited way too long to stand up to Luther and James. He’d be justified in being pissed about that. Yet if he was, he was doing a good job of hiding it as he waited with patient expression. “Let me help. Please?”

“I guess I could use a ride back to the apartment. Everything I own should pretty much fit in my car.”

“And then?”

“You can be in charge of pizza.” I forced out a laugh as we got on the elevator.

“I’m serious. You can stay with me tonight while you figure out what to do.”

“Thanks. I don’t like imposing—”

“You’re not an imposition.” Jasper was quick to interrupt me with one of his mom’s favorite sayings. But the soft way he gazed at me wasn’t familial at all and was way more caring than I deserved. “You’re my guy.”

It was a nice thought, but I still felt like the world’s biggest burden as we stepped into the chilly evening. For weeks I’d felt one move away from my life collapsing like a faulty block structure, a build with a fatal flaw—me. Now it was happening and I had no one else to blame. Even with Jasper by my side, I wasn’t sure I’d ever been so alone.

Chapter Thirty-One

Jasper