Protective Secrets (The Protective Series, Book 3)

Chapter Seventeen

"Asko," my voice barely came out as whisper as I spoke his name, the syllables feeling foreign on my tongue. "It's really you. You're really here, in front of me."

The colour drained from his face, only to be replaced with an expression of pure shock. It was just as overwhelming for him as it was for me; physically seeing him and the others after two years of being divided across oceans and continents. My mind was racing to catch up with my mouth, unsure of what else to say.

He took several gradual steps toward me, stopping a few inches from where I stood at the bottom of the curved staircase. The wood was painted dark grey on top and white on the sides, covered with a long creamy white rug with brown trimming. A lot of money and thought had gone into this house. I had yet to praise Dominik on his interior decorating abilities, once I rediscovered my voice.

Asko looked remarkably different to how I pictured him in my head. Instead of cropped mouse brown hair and a cleanly shaven face, his fringe was pulled over to one side, the longer strands brushing over the left side of his forehead. A small amount of stubble had collected at his chin, spreading out on both sides of his jaw into a thinner layer.

There was no word for how different he looked, except for mature. It was obvious he and Jarmo had done a lot of growing up without me, just as I had without them.

His glistening grey eyes met and held mine, still reflecting the same amount of friendliness and care like they always had. A genuine smile made its way to his face, bringing out the soft dimples on either side of his thin mouth. That alone was enough to make me melt on the inside, my mind entertaining thoughts of hugging and kissing him.

I quickly brushed them away, closing the last remaining steps between us. His arms were instantly around me, embracing me tightly to his toned body. He was still warm and welcoming, just as I remembered. The only thing that was noticeably different were the defined muscles in his back, chest and arms, clinging to me as if I were a figment of his imagination he didn't want to fade away from existence. I think he needed this closure; this certain type of clarity that I was an actual physical reality standing in front of him.

Closing my eyes, I wrapped my arms around his waist and buried my head into the front of his hoody, willing the oncoming tears to go away. Crying in front of him shouldn't have been such a big issue since he witnessed my past tears, but it was. Part of me feared him turning his back on me after the long amount of time that we hadn't seen each other, and no matter how hard I tried to drown it out, it only grew louder.

"Jed," he breathed, taking my face softly between his hands as he tilted my head up. His fingers were calloused from playing guitar, but still delicately soft on my skin as he stroked my jaw. "You have no idea how much I've missed you; how much it's hurt me going this long without you in my life."

I looked deeply into his eyes, feeling the long-forgotten chemistry in my veins awakening. Only he could make these raw emotions resurface, and only he knew just how much they affected me when triggered. Only one other person had held that type of power over me, but not even he could get through to me like Asko could. One look, one word, and it felt like I was falling head over heels for him all over again, just like that day.

"I've missed you, too," I sighed, finally managing to find some traces of my voice. "I've missed you more than I'm willing to admit. You must hate me though, and I don't blame you."

His thin brown eyebrows furrowed in bemusement. He looked offended, like someone had slapped him across the face with a dirty dish rag. "Why would I hate you? That's silly thinking."

"It's just that," I ran my tongue over my dry and cracked lips to add some moisture, swallowing the tight knot in my throat. "You tried so hard to contact me, and most of the time I never even had the courtesy to answer your calls. You're probably angry at me for wasting all of your valuable time."