Jasper’s: Takoda Outreach Center #1

by Cee, Sammi

  Caleb opened the back door and glared in at me. “Are you crazy? There’s only a sink in the lounge. At least here you can take a shower or a bath or whatever, and I have a perfectly good spare room you can use. Were you planning on curling up on one of the prep tables to sleep?”

  He leaned in and to my horror, I remembered that he’d had to carry me from the blue boat of a car and settle me into the SUV’s back seat. Mortified, I cut my gaze over his big shoulder while pushing his hands aways. “I can walk.”

  “Fine.” He sighed and stepped back, so I wrestled with the blankets and wiggled forward, almost sad to leave the warmth of the vehicle.

  As I tried to hop down, the sheets twisted around my feet, and Caleb silently extended his arm for me to hold onto. I grasped his forearm, aware it was the first time I’d really touched his muscular body in any way and hoped he surmised the shudder that wracked my body as an after effect of being half-frozen. Continuing to avoid eye contact, I wrestled my feet out of the cumbersome blankets and set them on the icy concrete of the garage floor. Pinpricks shot up my calves from the bottoms of my feet and I gasped, then rested into the door jam until it subsided. Through it all, Caleb stood close enough to catch me, but far enough outside of my personal bubble for me to breathe. “Thanks,” I said once I’d gotten my bearings.

  “No problem.”

  I took one small step out, remembered my backpack and started to turn to reach back in. The pressure of Caleb’s hands landed on my shoulders as he steered me out, ignoring my muttered protests. “Let me get it for you, Jasper. You stay tucked into the blankets where you’re warm.”

  I nodded, then stepped back out of the way as he grabbed it for me and shut the door. Following him into the house, I sighed with relief as the heat engulfed me. Just those few moments in the garage had been enough for the cold to feel like it was seeping back into my bones.

  “I’ll show you to a guest room. It has a bathroom in it you can use, too.”

  A guest room? With effort, I bit back my standard surly and defensive response when someone offered me help. There was no point now. I was naked and alone in the house of someone I barely knew because I’d had nowhere to go on a night where being outside could’ve proven deadly. To try to act like I didn’t need help right now was an affront to my intelligence and his. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome,” he said softly.

  Silently, I followed him through the house and up a set of stairs, noticing only the gleaming hardwood floors under my feet. I was too humiliated and fighting too hard to keep my teeth from chattering to take in my surroundings. He turned into a room on the right near the head of the stairs and clicked on the light, setting my backpack inside the doorway, and gesturing for me to go inside. “Um…”

  “Jasper.” The softness of his voice startled me into meeting his gaze. “Please don’t feel uncomfortable. The bathroom is right through those doors. Feel free to take a shower so you can warm up. There’s towels under the cabinet and it’s stocked with everything else you may need. I’ll make you something to eat while you’re doing that.”

  “No, don’t,” I said, sharper than I’d meant to. “I, uh, I’m going to shower and then go right to sleep. I’m too tired to stomach anything, but thank you. If you can just give me a ride back to work with you tomorrow that’ll be fine. You’ve done enough.”

  He frowned, but nodded his head in agreement and turned, headed back toward the stairs.

  I shut the door and briskly strode for the bathroom, letting the blankets fall from around me onto the plush white carpet as I went. Inside was a gorgeous, full-size bathroom with a huge blue double sink with mirrors to match hanging above . If I wasn’t even more exhausted than I’d let on to him, I’d go back out and ask for the full tour. I mean, if the guest bathroom had a double vanity with marble counters, the rest of the house was probably crazy.

  Not wanting to spend any more time on my feet than I had to, I turned on the shower and stepped in as soon as it was warm and sagged into the side wall. Once the shivers wracking my body began to subside, I increased the hot water. This was heaven.

  It had been months since I’d had the opportunity to shower. Rubbing a handful of hot water across my face, I turned and let the water beat down on my back. The water rained down with the perfect amount of pressure, and I felt the tense muscles under my skin relax. Finally, feeling a little more human, I washed my hair with the fancy bottles of shampoo and conditioner on the marble shelf that was inset into the shower wall. Once done, I used the thick, white washcloth and soaped up my body, scrubbing away until my skin was red and my blood felt like it was circulating normally.

  Feeling a tad guilty for spending an unnecessarily long time in the shower, I dried off. Since I didn’t have any other clothes with me but a few pairs of boxer shorts, I opened the door to retrieve them from my backpack so I’d at least have something to wear. Maybe my own clothes would be dry enough for me to slide on in the morning. As I walked across what I now saw was a rather large room, I noticed a red T-shirt and a pair of black and red checkered flannel pants laying on the edge of the bed, standing out against the blue bedspread that, unless I was mistaken, matched the vanity in the bathroom.

  On one of the cherry side tables next to the cherry sleigh bed was a mug with steam wafting from the top with a plate next to it. I hurried over and grabbed a pair of boxers, swiped the clothes off the end of the bed, and walked to the table. The plate held a small assortment of carrots and cucumber, along with grapes, a sliced apple, and some cheese squares on crackers. One glance into the mug, and I knew it had to be hot chocolate. The colorful mini marshmallows floating on top warmed my heart even more than the shower had heated my body. Picturing Caleb, the premiere chef, buying these adorable little morsels made him more human somehow. I found it strangely endearing. Plus, there was no denying how thoughtful it was that he left me a snack after I’d been so rude. The thoughtfulness of it being nice and healthy didn’t escape my attention, either.

  Lying down on the softest bed I’d ever been on, I sank into the pillowy mattress. After sleeping on one of the hard, stiff beds in the RV for months, I imagined this was what sleeping on a cloud was like. The fresh floral scent of the luxurious, silky smooth sheets and comforter relaxed me even further, but my mind was racing. Of all people to “rescue” me and see me like that… There wasn’t anything I could do about that now, so I played my favorite game to shut my mind down. In a perfect world, Caleb had merely been taking a shower in the other room. The door squeaked open and he said, “Can I come in and be your personal heating pad?” Instead of speaking, I’d pull the sheets back and he’d slide in next to me, molding his hard body to mine. Wrapped securely in his arms, all the fears from tonight—where Miss Emma and the boys were, freezing to death, someone accosting me—melted away, and I sank into blissful sleep.

  * * *

  Startling awake, I jerked up, then nestled back down since the room was still shrouded in darkness. It couldn’t be too late in the morning yet, but my body felt rested like I’d been sleeping for hours and hours. Lying back, I ignored the fact I was currently at Caleb’s house, in his spare room, in his pajamas and instead, planned my day. I’d go into work with him, but at 4:00 I’d have to leave and find Miss Emma and the boys. We needed a new plan. The first thing I’d do would be to charge my phone so that I could call my little brother and find out how long the owners of the house would be in town. A lot of what my makeshift family and I had to do would be determined by that.

  Not being able to avoid it, my thoughts wandered to Caleb. He’d come out of the darkness like my own present day knight in shining armor. His black beanie had been pulled tight over his ears, the black scarf around his neck hiding the bottom half of his face up to his luscious lips. There in the whistling wind, it was his nose that had stood out to me, though. His oddly attractive nose had been fire engine red, leading me to believe he was telling the truth and he really had been outside, facing the elements an
d looking for me all night.

  A part of me dreaded seeing him this morning, embarrassment still simmering away in my mind, but I had to know; I had to ask why he’d taken the time to even look for me. Throwing back the covers I got up and made the bed, then stopped long enough to plug my phone in to charge and hustled my ass out of the room to go find him. Halfway down the stairs, a couple of realities set in: one, the sun shone high in the sky through the big picture windows running the back of his house, and two, Caleb had money. Not like he had a cute house to live in and he could pay his bills with a little extra leftover money, but who the frig needs a house this big money; everything gleaming and shining and don’t touch a thing, money. If I had my own clothes on and not his too-big for me pajamas, I’d run back to my room, grab my backpack and sneak out. The likes of me didn’t belong in a place like this.

  “Hey, you’re up,” Caleb called up as he appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

  “What time is it?” I asked, grimacing at my own rudeness.

  Caleb glanced toward the window and back, then said, “It’s just after one o’clock. I figured you might wake up hungry, so I made a big pot of escarole soup.” The timid smile on his lips was hopeful.

  Containing my douchiness, which was really nothing more than utter mortification that he’d seen me in such a state last night, I gave him half a smile. “We probably need to get going. Dinner isn’t going to serve itself tonight, and I have to leave early to go somewhere so…”

  Caleb’s lips fell and he shuffled his bare feet on the floor. “Actually, we don’t have to work today.”

  My eyes widened without my permission. “Why not? I work every day.”

  “Yeah, about that, Fisher said to relax today, and unless you were coming in to eat because he’s making that goulash you like so much, he doesn’t want to see you.”

  The air in my lungs stopped circulating. That was it then. Of course Caleb had told them he found me frozen in the blue beast in the parking lot. It was the right thing for him to do, the only thing. It stood to reason they didn’t want me back now. Who wanted a homeless guy working for them when he outright broke into and entered a car on their property to squat instead of taking that crap somewhere else?

  “Jasper, are you okay?” Caleb’s fingertips touched my cheek gently.

  “Where did you come from?” I asked nonesically, blinking up at him.

  “I live here,” he said with a grin.

  “But you were just…” I waved toward the bottom of the stairs.

  “Well, you went white as a ghost, and I didn’t want you plunging to your death from the top of my staircase, so I jogged up to rescue you.”

  “That was last night.” Oh my god, I said that outloud. “I mean, that was nice, what you did last night. Why did you do that? You know what, nevermind. I’ll just go now. Do you have my clothes?”

  Caleb’s fingertips dropped from my face—too bad for me—and he took one step backwards down the stairs putting space between us. Even with my thoughts spinning, I noticed that he was still as tall as me. He cleared his throat, then said, “I do. I washed and dried them for you. Your coat and stuff, too.” He glanced down the stairway and then back into my eyes, his dark but pleading. “I’ll take you wherever you want to go after you have some soup, okay?” I started to shake my head no, then stopped at his, “Please.”

  I nodded and followed him through the magnificent house. Each room was more elegant and tastefully decorated than the one before it. He led me into the kitchen and gestured toward the barseats on one side of a center island that was half the size of the RV.

  He deposited a large bowl of clear broth with rice, cut up carrots, and escarole in front of me. Then walked back over to the pot on the stove and got his own. The silence between us was awkward, but I had so much to figure out. I’d been spending my days at Takoda Soup Kitchen for over six months now, leaving with leftovers from the dinner meal more often than not. My quasi-family had come to depend on that food. On the other hand, if I didn’t work there, maybe we could go in to eat a few nights a week if I didn’t act like I was with Emma and the boys. As self-conscious as I would be going into eat while knowing everyone, it was still winter and under the table side jobs would be hard to come by.

  Scooping up a bite of soup, I blew on it before taking a bite. Flavors exploded on my tongue. Holding in a moan, I finished chewing before asking, “What’s in this?”

  He swallowed his own bite, then said, “Escarole, carrots, celery, and chicken. Sorry it’s such a basic recipe, but I figured it was a good day for soup and I didn’t know how you’d be feeling, so I didn’t want to make anything too heavy. I did consider chili, but I wasn’t sure how spicy you like your food.” He slid off the barstool next to me. “Do you want something else? I’m sure I can—“

  “Are you crazy?” I gasped, pulling my bowl toward me and hunching over it in the circle of my arms. “I hope you have more. One bowl isn’t going to be enough. This is delicious.”

  The apples of his cheeks bloomed with color, which was pretty adorable for such a big guy. “Thank you.” He sat back down. “It’s always been one of my favorites, so I thought maybe”—he shrugged the shoulder next to me—“you’d like it, too.”

  If asked later, I’d tell myself it was from the food orgasam happening in my mouth that I leaned my arm into his before I took another bite. “I do. It’s really the best soup I’ve ever had.”

  The room was silent except for the tapping of our spoons against our bowls and the occasional slurping. After the first time we both did it, we gave up all pretense of table etiquette and just enjoyed our soup. Even in this opulent kitchen, I was able to forget for a moment that we were anything more than two guys having lunch together. Caleb got up at one point to get us both water and another serving, and I realized that the silence was no longer strained and tense, which made me…uncomfortable. Clearing my throat, I jumped up and walked around the island to rinse out my bowl.

  “You can just leave it in the sink,” he said.

  “Okay.” I made sure it was spotless before setting it in the bottom of the stainless steel basin. It was impressively deep, and I bet that even the large pots we used at the soup kitchen could fit in under the high faucet. “I guess, if you uh, tell me where my clothes are I can get dressed and get out of your hair.”

  Chapter Nine

  Caleb

  “Sure, but like I said earlier, we don’t have to work today, so if you want to stay here?” I suggested, hopefully.

  Jasper’s eyes widened. “Wait. What do you mean today?”

  Standing up with my own empty bowl, I walked around to the sink. Jasper backed up, but didn’t run around to the other side of the island like I’d expected him to do. Progress, maybe. “I ran out to search for you last night as soon as I found out that you...were gone. Everyone knew I went looking for you, so Fisher called first thing this morning to see if I’d had any luck. When I told him, yes, he offered to come get you and take you back to his house, but I assured him you were fine and asleep.” I shrugged.

  It was a little more complicated than that. None of them really knew me, so as soon as I said Jasper could stay with me, Avi had grabbed the phone from his friend’s hand and demanded I tell him what happened—word for word. After telling him about Where’s Waldo; Jasper’s Edition, stopping on the way there to talk to the one man and then pulling up and jumping out of the car to check several other groups before ending up back at the kitchen in the middle of the morning, he’d declared me safe for Jasper to stay with. But then the third partner and co-runner of the non-profit had jumped on the line and basically threatened me.

  Honestly, I was a little pissed that Jasper was slaving in the kitchen for free when he was homeless, so knowing how concerned they were about him and his safety, I had given them the benefit of the doubt—for now—that there was a reason they hadn’t helped him yet. It would have to be addressed when I went back in to work though.

  “So how di
d we end up not having to work?” he asked, still with the deer-in-the-headlights expression.

  Another complicated answer. Once Fisher had been given the phone back, we’d talked real talk. We’d both agreed that Jasper would sneak out while I was working if I left him here and went in to cook for the dinner service. I’d already worked everyday but one since I started, so Fisher told me to take a break. Our original agreement was for me to work six days a week so that he would be able to step away from the kitchen. I didn’t mind long days with only one off; hell, that had been my life since culinary school.

  The social life I planned on getting hadn’t happened yet, so there was no reason for me to stay home, but the idea of anyone besides me taking care of Jasper didn’t sit right with me. I knew they all knew him way better and had closer connections to him, and as the morning dragged on while I waited for him to awaken, I admitted that was my biggest issue. I wanted to be the one who knew Jasper the best. The thought of him ever leaving at the end of a long day again and going into the night without me knowing where he was headed… I just didn’t find that acceptable at all.

  “We both have two days off, actually,” I said instead of answering his question.

  “What? Why?”

  I took a deep breath, sensing he wasn’t going to let it go and said, “Because I told Fisher I wanted to let you stay here and rest for a couple of days, and he thought it was an excellent idea after being out in that winter storm.”

  Jasper’s brows screwed up on his forehead. “Why in the world would you want me to invade your home for two days?”

  Planting my hands on my hips, I eyed him warily. “Jasper, it’s not an invasion if you’re invited. In fact, I insist you take me up on my offer.”

  He blinked and backed up toward the archway that led from the kitchen into the dining room. “Caleb, I appreciate that, I really do, but…”