Page 123 of Under the Waves
As he interlaced our pinkie fingers together, he spoke, looking directly into my eyes, “I make this promise to you, Poppy Maria Isabelle Wells, that no matter what life throws our way, I will always be in your corner. I will always be there for you, in any and every way you need me to be. I am yours just asmuch as you are mine. We’ll get you past this mental block together. I promise.”
I let his words sink in, not letting go of our conjoined hands. Something in his eyes told me he needed this, and I was slowly figuring out that I would go to any lengths to protect that boy. Even if it meant ruining myself in the process.
I cleared my throat just as I felt my cheeks burn like someone had lit them on fire.
When did it get so warm in here? Please, dear God, tell me I am not blushing right now.
“Jasper Easton Ridge…” I noted his smile as I got his middle name right. “I make this promise to you that you will always be able to count on me to have your back. You don’t have to tell me what is going on in your life, but just know that I will always be here for you if you ever do need someone to talk to. I’m your Wellsy, after all. You can’t get rid of me that easily.”
“For infinity?” He whispered, breathlessly.
I nodded, my cheeks burning. “For infinity.”
Something clicked between us—something solid and raw andreal. Maybe everything up until this point had been fake, but I knew in my heart that this wasn’t that. This was as real as two people could ever be to each other. I didn’t want to think about what this meant for us tonight. I just wanted to go home and put on my favorite Marvel movie and fall asleep with popcorn stuck to my pajamas. I didn’t know what courage I seemed to have gained in the last twenty-four hours, but it finally seemed like I was getting my old self back.
That, maybe, Jasper Ridge had actually helped me to mend the brokenness inside my soul.
“What would you say to a marvel marathon?”
39
Poppy Wells
“Please don’t,” I laughed awkwardly, pushing my hair back over my shoulder before Jasper had the chance to twirl another slightly greasy curl around his finger. I’d been too busy this week ensuring my mom didn’t drown in a pool of her own vomit to eventhinkabout taking care of myself. “I haven’t had a chance to wash it lately.”
Jasper shook his head lazily, tilting his chin up so his eyes met my gaze. “You smell like the ocean, which is basically our version of heaven.”
I paused, my body seizing completely. Every time he said something sweet like that, my body automatically seized shut like it was expecting something worse to follow. It was reactions like those that made me truly realize just how deep my scars ran.
“Poppy?Helloooooo. Earth to Poppy? Don’t go running off into that mind of yours, you know how much it hurts me whenI can’t get to you. It’s like you’re putting a knife through my dear heart. I wouldn’t die though. It’d keep beating for you, it always would. Unless you died. Then I’d die too, no questions asked.” He slurred, gazing up at me with these big, brown eyes full of child-like wonder and something else…something that looked a lot likelove.
“You’re drunk, Jasper. You don’t mean any of that.”
Even though it meant everything to me.
He frowned. “I mean it. I do. Every word.”
“Mm,” I mused. “Sure you do, Ridge.”
He didn’t say anything more after that. Instead, he just kept looking up at me like I’d hung the moon and painted stars across his sky. He looked at me like I was his favorite masterpiece, and a part of my soul broke with each blink of his eyelashes. It had taken us longer than it should’ve to get home, which gave me countless minutes to overthink about what I was doing—never in my entire life had I brought anyone to my house, let alone a boy. I’d just… I never had that teenage dream experience like everyone else on the planet seemed to have had by my age. I’d just turned seventeen and I’d never even been in a relationship, yet alone kissed someone.
How could’ve I?I spent my evenings cleaning up the glass on the floor and piecing back together broken picture frames. Making sure to turn my mother onto her side every night so she didn’t choke on her own vomit during her sleep. Between that and surfing, there wasn’t any time left for me to enjoy everything this town had to offer. It had never bothered me before, but on that long walk back, it was all I could seem to think about—the girlhood I had lost.
The memories I could’ve had. The laughter I could’ve shared.
“Let me wash it,” Jasper murmured, after a while.
“What?” I squeaked, caught off guard by his deepened voice that made my core burn like someone had lit it on fire.
“Let me wash your hair, Wellsy.”
Just as his fingers reached up to wrap around a loose curl, I swatted them away. His brows drew and hurt flashed across his eyes. “You can barely stand up straight, Jasper, and you think I’d trust you to wash my hair?”
“You’re mean, you know?”
I sighed playfully, a small hidden grin tugging at my lips. “Yeah, I know, Spiderman.”
“But I still want to.Please, Wellsy.”