AJ's Salvation by Sam Destiny Read Free Book Online Page A

since Tom usually stays over and not the other way around. All she’s thinking about is how life would have been different if someone, let’s say you, for the sake of the argument, would have led her down the altar before creating a family with her. Seeing you again probably makes her lonelier than ever. Ten years of no kisses and stolen moments will do that to a woman. I always thought that maybe there just wasn’t the right guy yet, but she didn’t even invite them in to find out if they were the wrong ones. Who does that?” It was a rhetorical question, so Jam stayed quiet. “A woman in love, that’s who.”
    “You sure you should be telling me all that? I don’t exactly think this is your business.”
    Dorly waved him off with a noise that sounded a lot like a balloon slowly losing air. “Please, I’m an old woman. I butt into everyone’s business. After all, nothing’s better than love stories and conspiracies, right?” She winked, her eyes sparkling with mischief.
    As much as he wished he could be living in her world of glitter and romance, it just wasn’t in the cards for him. Staring at Aly motionless on her porch, though, he wanted to be that man for her—the one she deserved, the one who would carry her over all obstacles.
    “Go over, son. You never know what healing properties a night can have.”
    “What if instead it utterly destroys us? Besides, she wants answers I cannot give her. If I walk over there and do what my hearts tells me to do, she’ll be even more curious. She never knew what she meant to me.” It was weird saying those words out loud, but they were so true. He had been in love with her since he could remember. He and Greg were friends early on, so when Greg’s little sister was born, it was almost like fate for Jam. Over the years, he had fallen for her, first as a friend and then, once he had gotten a little older, as more than that. It had taken him years to gather the courage to tell her when one careless slip ruined it all. Collene had entered the picture, and Jam had done everything to make his wrong right. Not that Aly knew any of this.
    “Why?” Dorly asked, and Jam took a deep breath, thinking the answer over.
    “Because it would have meant being an object of hate and torture in high school.”
    Dorly laughed. “Everyone feels like that in high school, Jamison. It’s why everyone is so glad to get out of there.” She had no idea. High school was hell for the people living in one town with the Karmison family. 
    They both watched Aly for a moment longer, hanging onto their own thoughts, and then Dorly turned to him again. “You’re far away from school now. As it is, I’m guessing you are far away from home, too. What are you afraid of, Jamison?” ‘Everything’ probably wasn’t the answer she wanted to hear, so Jam stayed quiet. Could he dare to take one night out of his life? He just had to try. For all he knew, she’d turn him away anyway.
    Nodding at nothing in particular, he walked out of the house. The wind blowing in from the water instantly caught in his shirt and cooled down his overheated body during the few steps it took him to stand in front of Aly, just like the day before.
    She wore a long knitted jacket that evening, holding it together over her stomach while carrying a glass of white wine in the other hand.
    “Let’s pretend you just turned sixteen. Nothing has been lost yet. We still have all the possibilities in the world, and I haven’t been stupid yet. Just for tonight, let’s have what we should have had all those years back,” he pleaded, opening his arms to show they had all the possibilities in the world for the night.
    “What?” She looked at him as if he had grown another head. Maybe not exactly another head, but definitely another personality. 
    “For today, let me be the guy you always thought I was.” Jam could see it. She was turning him down, and he couldn’t even be mad at her.
    “You want to be the guy I thought