Page 171 of Under the Waves
“Okay,” she nodded, eyes wide and full of hope—a sight I’d die to see again. “I won’t let you fall under the waves, Jasper.”
I stared at her, at a complete loss for words. My heart quietened, along with the harshness of my breaths.
At my puzzled look, she added, “I hear you say it to everyone all the time, but no one ever says it back to you. Why is that, Uncle Jas?”
“I guess they have a lot going on in their lives, Bells. Even if they don’t say it back to me, I know they mean it.”
“And everything they have going on is more important than you?” She questioned. I hadn’t even realized she was braiding my hair, or at least trying too as it wasn’t as long as Jakson’s.
I paused, rendered completely and absolutelyspeechless.
“You’re important to me, Jasper,” Belle added with a small smile, hands stilling as she whispered, “You’re my favorite person on the planet.”
I smiled, a genuine and pure smile as I ruffled her hair. She squirmed in my arms, a fit of giggles and hiccups—a sound so rare I’d treasure it until my very last breath. “You’re my favoriteperson on the planet too, Bells.”
“Because I’m your Farfallina, right?” she grinned widely up at me, holding her pinkie finger out for me to shake. “Your little butterfly.”
I locked my finger around hers, squeezing it gently. “That’s right, and you know what?”
Her face lit up with childlike wonder. “What?”
“You always will be.”
Flinging her arms around me, swallowing me in a massive hug, I gently rubbed the back of her head, drawing small patterns with my thumb. I stayed ever so still when I began to feel her small breaths even out. Part of my heart ached knowing that she felt safe enough in my arms to fall back asleep.
Once I was certain I could move without waking her, I slowly climbed to my feet, keeping my arms locked steadily around her, and walked us both back into the room she shared with the twins. I lifted the corner of the duvet up with my foot, flipping it over before gently laying her down on the mattress. The twins were fast asleep as I pulled the duvet back over her small frame.
Just as I was about to leave, I heard her whisper, “I love you, Uncle Jas.”
My entire body seized up hearing her words.
That was the first time I’d ever heard her say that, not only to me but toanyone…
“I love you too, Bells,” I exhaled, glancing down at the little Davis girl clutching onto her own body as if she was afraid the darkness would pull her apart.
I tiptoed quietly over towards the door, and only when I closed it behind me did I notice the small, brown stuffed bear sitting alone by the edge of the staircase and realized that Belle had been sat there only moments ago watching her older sister and Jakson together downstairs like she was waiting for the shouting to start.
The look in her eyes—the fear…it mirrored that of Lia’s, of her older sister who’d given everything to make sure she wouldn’t end up like her. I didn’t think Belle realized that sometimes, but then again, she was only eight years old, she shouldn’t have to realize any of that. Shouldn’t have to see any of the messy and broken parts of life.
She was just a kid, and everyone seemed to forget that whenthey looked at her.
She may have the same blue eyes and the same brown hair, but shewasn’tLia. She wasBelle. She was her own person, and I just knew that she was going to be extraordinary.
Instead of walking back to my room like I’d originally planned to do, my legs took me down the stairs, one by one, until the floorboards beneath my feet faded into the familiar essence of golden sand between my toes. I let the essence of the ocean cradle my mind until every thought stopped. I stared for a while at the vast blue stretched out before me. Out there, my problems seemed so small. Out there, I was just me, Jasper Easton Ridge. Nothing more than the board beneath my body and the blood pumping through my veins. It reminded me that I was alive.I am alive.
That—out there—was home in its truest form, but it didn’t just belong to me, it belonged to Poppy too. My little surfer girl with the big green eyes. My Gwen Stacy. The girl who believed she was broken when she was anything but. If the universe forbade us from having our happy ending, I’d fight my way through the deepest parts of hell to get it back, and if they stole my memories and locked away my heart, I’d wonder the earth by her scent alone.
I would fight for Poppy Wells.
I would fight for them all—for Lia and Jakson, for Belle, and Logan and Lucas, and even little Hudson. For each and every one of their happy endings. I would lay down my life if it meant letting them keep their happiness without having it stolen back from them once the world got tired of caring about them.
Something was wrong.
I was drowning in this feeling of desperation, of complete helplessness. My body knew, it justknewsomething was wrong, but I couldn’t piece together what it was trying to tell me. Jakson and Lia weren’t listening to me, they were too caught up in their own make-believe world.
Shouts echoed across the beach in defeating waves, and as I turned my head to see where they were coming from, I found no one other than Malakai Foster and Nova Collettò clawing at each other’s throats yet again.
And for some reason, I wasn’t even surprised.