The Choice

by Alice Ward

  I stepped from the car, narrowing my eyes at a smirking Wayne. “I won’t be long.”

  He attempted to control his face, but his lips kept quirking upwards. “Take your time, sir. Do you need the young lady’s room number? Directions to her door?”

  I attempted to ignore my faithful driver, one of the few people I trusted. “Shut up.”

  A soft laugh was cut off as he clamped his lips shut. He composed himself with what looked like some effort. “Yes, sir.”

  Striding into the building, I found the elevator immediately, taking it to the top floor. Nerves jangled in my stomach as I stepped into the hallway leading to the best suite available.

  Chastising myself, I knocked, giving myself no additional time to overthink my actions. I waited, then knocked again. Then again.

  Shit. They weren’t here.

  Ridiculously forlorn, I headed back to the elevator and the lobby, deciding it was better this way. I had no business sniffing after a tenant like this, or practically stalking anyone for that matter.

  Then I smelled it. Chlorine. And I remembered the sister’s love of swimming. Turning on my heel, I followed the distinctive scent.

  Laughter poured through the glass door as sharply as the smell of the pool. I pulled, but it was locked and needed a keycard for entry.

  Another laugh drew my attention to the far end of the lap pool. Jasmine was climbing a ladder, her short, stout legs flying up the rungs. She yelled something that sounded like “Cannonball,” and sure enough, she leaped from the edge with perfect cannonball skill, thoroughly soaking her already soaked sister.

  All I could see was a dark head poking out of the water, then hands and arms lifting to wipe water from her face. More laughter as the sisters wrestled in the water, then Journey broke free and swam toward the ladder.

  She began to climb, revealing her shoulders, back, ass, then legs as she rose from the pool, a yellow bikini covering very little.

  Dear god.

  My balls tightened when she turned and raised her arms to ring the water from her hair. Her breasts were small with only a hint of cleavage rising above the triangles of her suit. Lean and well muscled, she looked at ease in her own skin, not paying an ounce of attention to the men leering in her direction.

  Leering. Just like I was.

  “Excuse me.”

  I stepped back to discover two teenaged girls behind me. They giggled as one extended a card and opened the door. Taking it as a sign, I stepped through but stayed close to the wall, my eyes finding Journey again as I immediately began to sweat from the humidity of the room.

  “Cannonball,” Jasmine yelled from the water.

  Journey smiled and walked backwards from the edge, giving herself space to run. “Here I come!”

  She took two long steps, leaped, curled herself into a ball. And our eyes met. Hers popped open, then her mouth, just before she hit water. I laughed and grabbed a towel from a cabinet of folded ones, striding to the side of the pool as she came up sputtering.

  “That was a fail,” Jasmine yelled, patting her sister on the back. “Four points at most.”

  “M-Mr. Sommerf—”

  “Grant,” I said, squatting down to hand the towel to her. “You okay?”

  Her cheeks grew pink but her eyes… god, those eyes… held humor in their soft blue depths. “Yeah. I was just surprised to see you standing there.”

  I held out a hand. She hesitated, then placed her palm against mine. I stood and hauled her up, chlorinated water cascading down her perfect body, puddling at my Italian loafered feet, splashing the legs of my six-thousand-dollar suit. And I didn’t care. Not at all.

  Glancing back at the water, I was going to offer Jasmine the same boost, but she was already heading for the ladder. And I was still holding Journey’s hand. “You sure you’re okay?”

  “Yes, I promise. I do goofball things sometimes. Ignore me.”

  Like I could ever ignore her.

  We smiled at each other, my eyes taking in every inch of her face. She was practically naked in front of me, but I was captivated by the flurry of freckles on her nose, the little mole just above her upper lip. The water still captured in her eyelashes, the dark slash of her eyebrows.

  “Hi, Grant. This is the best hotel ever!” The trance was interrupted by the appearance of her sister at our sides.

  I was still holding Journey’s hand. She blushed and tugged. With deep regret, I let her go and smiled at Jasmine. “I’m glad you’re enjoying it. I just stopped by to see if you two were settling in and if you needed anything.”

  “Ice cream.”

  I laughed, and Journey groaned. “You’ve already had ice cream, Jazzy.”

  Jasmine wrinkled her nose. “But it was only a little one and you made me share your burger.”

  My head swiveled to Journey, who looked embarrassed to her very core. She patted the towel to her face before handing it to her sister. “Food here is expensive,” she muttered and headed over to the rack of towels for another.

  Damn, her skin was impossibly smooth looking, and my hands itched to see if it was as soft as it appeared. I turned back to Jasmine so I wouldn’t be caught staring. “I want you to charge anything you want to the hotel. The next few days are on me.”

  Jasmine’s mouth turned down. “Journey won’t like that. She says that we’re supposed to pay our own way through life. That we need to be independable.”

  “Independent,” Journey gently corrected, coming back to her sister’s side.

  Jasmine frowned. “No. Independable. That means we’re independent and dependable at the same time.” She rolled her eyes at me. “My sister doesn’t speak Down’s.”

  I laughed, and after a brief second, Journey did too. “My sister missed her calling as a stand-up comedian I think.”

  Jazzy slapped her own leg. “I’ve got a million of them.”

  I took in the girl, enjoying our exchange. Her words were sometimes slurred and difficult to understand, but overall, she spoke amazingly well. Her eyes had the typical Down Syndrome appearance, and were the same light blue color as her sister’s, but Jasmine’s eyes had white specks in the irises that reminded me of ice floating in an artic sea.

  “Well, as much as I’m sure Mr. Sommerf—”

  My nostrils flared in irritation. “Grant.” The word came out closer to a growl than I’d intended.

  Journey’s eyes widened, and she licked her lips, drawing my attention to the pillowy pink softness that seemed destined to be kissed. “Grant.” She cleared her throat and pushed her hair back from her face, water dripping from the ends. “As much as I’m sure Grant would love to hear your jokes, I’m sure he’s very busy, and it’s getting late. I have to be up early for work.”

  Shit. I was losing her.

  “Is the hotel taking care of your clothes?”

  She nodded, her cheeks growing pink. “Yes, thank you. You were right, it was a wonderful relief not to have to do so much work on my own. Thank you.” Those clear blue eyes leveled on me. “I mean it. Thank you, for everything. Your generosity will never be forgotten.”

  “Yeah… you’re our sugar daddy.”

  Journey’s mouth sagged open, and I barked out a laugh as both of us looked at Jasmine, who was grinning, wrapping a towel around her body. “Jaz!”

  Jasmine lifted a shoulder. “What?”

  Still looking completely mortified, Journey stared at her sister. “That isn’t something we say out loud.”

  Hmm… that made me wonder if the sisters had said something similar privately. Had I misjudged Journey? Had she seen me as a ticket? Was this guileless appearance just an act?

  Was she just like all the other women I’d encountered?

  The thought was like a punch in the gut.

  My entire body stiffened when Journey’s hand came down on my arm. “I’m sorry. Jaz and I had been joking about needing a sugar daddy, but it was only a joke.”

  Jasmine realized her error and took a step back, lower
ing her chin to her chest. “I was the one who joked about it. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it wasn’t nice. I like sugar. And I never met my daddy even though I’ve always wanted to, so sugar daddies sound like a good thing.” She was close to tears now. “I don’t think it’s a good thing.”

  Journey wrapped an arm around her sister, causing her towel to slip and fall to the floor. “It’s okay. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “Then why do I feel bad?”

  I stuffed my hands in my pockets, unsure of what to say or do.

  “Because you have a big heart, Jaz, and big hearts feel everything more than normal hearts do.”

  Jasmine looked up through her lashes, her chin still on her chest. “No, it’s because I’m dumb.” I flinched when she hit the side of her head with her hand. “I don’t mean to be dumb.”

  Grabbing her wrist, I pulled it down from her face. “You’re not dumb, Jasmine. At all. I happen to think you’re funny and wonderful.” Journey gave me a grateful smile, but Jasmine didn’t seem convinced. “You know, there are times when I feel really dumb too.”

  Jasmine lifted her head an inch. “You do?”

  I nodded. “Yeah. When I was younger, I made really stupid decisions. I was selfish and wrong.”

  The head lifted another inch. “Like what?”

  Shit.

  I didn’t want to confess my dumbassness, and I didn’t want to think back on the past. But this girl was looking at me with such curiosity, such… need.

  Redirect. Redirect.

  “How about we go to the hotel restaurant and grab a bite to eat?”

  Jasmine’s head snapped fully up at that. “Can I have an entire burger to myself?”

  Journey blushed and bent down to pick up her towel. Damn, her ass was world-class.

  “You can order anything you want from the menu.”

  Jasmine looked down at her bathing suit. “Can we go into a restaurant like this?”

  I took in the tiny yellow bikini. No. I didn’t want anyone else eyeing what was mine.

  Mine?

  What the hell was I thinking?

  I forced my attention back on Jasmine. “How about you tell me what you want, and I’ll place our orders while you change upstairs?”

  Jasmine grinned. “Then you’ll tell me your dumb stories?” She squinted at me. “Does it have anything to do with your scar?”

  Journey opened her mouth, clearly about to chastise her sister again, but I held up a hand, stopping her.

  My chest felt heavy as I thought about those scars and how they came to be. I scratched the growth of beard that covered the worst of them. “Yes. It has everything to do with my scars. But that’s a long story. Maybe I’ll just tell you all the dumb things I’ve done just this week.”

  Jasmine grinned. “Deal.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Journey

  “Move that bus. Move that bus.”

  I cracked an eye open just enough to see Jasmine bouncing up and down on her bed, chanting those three words over and over. I groaned and pulled a pillow over my face, then sat straight up, searching for my phone.

  Crap.

  Adrenaline hit my system, and my feet hit the floor. It was already seven. I’d wanted to get up at six-thirty so I could pack up our hotel stuff and then go to work. It was Friday, and I had a ton to do.

  “Pack up, Jaz,” I said as I whirled around the room, grabbing up clean clothes before heading to the shower.

  “I have allll day to pack,” she complained without missing a bounce.

  I glanced over at her and used my casual voice, doing my best to not treat her like a child. She hated that more than anything. And I hated myself when I caught myself doing it. “What about class?”

  She stopped bouncing, her eyes going wide. “Class is today?”

  I kept my face neutral and continued to collect my things. As intelligent as my sister was, she had challenges with dates. We’d tried full-sized calendars, pocket calendars, watches with date and time, but it was still a challenge. I’d deeply wanted to buy her an Apple watch for Christmas that we could program with her agenda, but I hadn’t been able to swing the expense last year. If I had to skip lunch every day this year, I was going to get her one this Christmas. So far, I’d managed to hide away my yoga money each month to make sure I was able to afford it.

  Jasmine received a small disability check each month that helped with our expenses, but most of it went for her school. The rest of her check went into her savings account that I wouldn’t touch if I could help it.

  “Won’t Jesse be there too?”

  Her face split into a grin, and she dropped to her butt and nearly catapulted off the bed. “Yes. I need to get ready.” In her excitement, I had trouble understanding some of her words, but I thought she said, “Kisses for me.”

  “Kisses?” If it was even possible, her grin grew wider. And a hint of a blush colored her cheeks. It was infectious, and I found myself grinning too, although not totally comfortable with the whole kissing theme going on. “Have you and Jesse been kissing?”

  She turned to face me and planted her fists on her hips. “Jealous?”

  Well… actually, I kinda was.

  And it kinda worried me a little. If a little meant a lot.

  Many people with Down Syndrome had sex. They married. They had kids. They lived wonderfully normal lives.

  But my sister…? That was a lot to take in.

  On one hand, she was an adult capable of making her own decisions. On the other hand, she was still childlike in many ways. Was she capable of making a decision this important? Was Jesse pressuring her? A thousand questions raced through my mind.

  Did I need to take Jaz to the doctor? Did we need to talk about birth control? The birds and the bees?

  “Have you and Jesse done more than kiss?”

  Her almond-shaped eyes grew wide and a guilty look spread on her face. “That’s very personal, Journey.”

  Oh. Crap.

  “Sorry, I was just curious.” Dang, my heart was starting to pound. Even though I’d been Jasmine’s legal guardian since Mee-maw died, I wanted to be her sister, not her parent, but I was feeling very parent-ish in that moment. “If you need, um, birth control and stuff, then we need to make an appointment to visit—”

  “We’ll just use condoms. It’s best that way.”

  My mouth sagged open, and my eyes began to blink as if they were trying to wash away the images of my sister going into a pharmacy and standing in front of the condom rack.

  I wasn’t prepared for this. Not this conversation. And not so casually executed.

  It wasn’t as if I didn’t think this would become a topic one day. I knew it would. Jasmine was beautiful and smart and normally had a self-assurance I lacked. She was a flirt. She usually enjoyed talking to men. She was a young woman with young-woman desires and needs. Hopes and dreams.

  But sex…?

  When people asked me if it was hard to take care of a sister with Down Syndrome, I usually just laughed and said something along the lines of… heck yeah, it’s hard. It’s hard to wait by a restaurant door while she goes around to each table to say hello to every person in the place. It’s hard to wait for her to wave at all the people on any bus that passes us on the street — which was a lot. Hard to laugh all the time at her funny jokes. Hard to be hugged nearly to pieces every day. Hard to be around someone who smiles almost all the time.

  Okay, I was being facetious. Being with my sister wasn’t hard at all. I’d gotten used to my extremely friendly sister wanting to “make other people’s days by talking to them.”

  Well, she wasn’t making my day right then.

  Jesse Bowman was also going to art camp. He and my sister would be together for three weeks… practically alone. Did we need to pick up condoms today? Would my sister’s first time…

  Crap. Would this be my sister’s first time? Had they already been screwing like bunnies?

  Oh. My. God.

  “
Are you all right?”

  I realized I was frozen in place, clutching my clothes to my chest. Forcing myself to relax, to smile, I nodded. “I’m just going to shower real fast, then we’ll pack and go. We’ll leave our luggage downstairs until this afternoon.”

  “Okay. I’ll get ready out here. I showered last night.” She frowned. “It was last night, wasn’t it?”

  Smiling, I nodded. She nodded too, and I watched her pull out her makeup bag and begin sorting through the contents. She was primping for Jesse, anticipating his kisses, anticipating… what?

  She glanced over at me. “What?”

  Jesse and Jaz sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G.

  “Does Jesse make you happy?”

  To my surprise, Jasmine just lifted a shoulder. “He’s my first boyfriend so I don’t really have much to compare it with. There’s another guy who seems nice and I think he wants to kiss me too.”

  I was blinking really fast again, trying to make everything make sense. Did she just call Jesse her boyfriend? When did we stop talking about this stuff?

  I cleared my throat. “Yeah? And what’s his name?”

  “Kyle. He’s really handsome too.”

  Forcing my eyes wide open, I looked down at the khakis in my arms, smoothing out the wrinkles I’d caused by crushing them against my chest. “Um, is Kyle going to art camp too?”

  Jaz nodded, a sly little grin lifting the corners of her mouth as she dipped a brush into some green eyeshadow.

  I was stunned. Jasmine had secrets.

  I was a little hurt. Why hadn’t she talked to me about all this?

  “Don’t look at me like that,” Jasmine said, the brush hovering just above her lashes. “It’s not like we’re going to have a threesome or anything.” She laughed and waggled her eyebrows up and down. “Maybe.”

  Maybe?

  I swallowed down the thousands of things I wanted to say and settled on, “What do you know about threesomes?”