Can’t Win Me Back by Ginger Sue

Alyssa ran out of the house without hanging up the call or even changing her clothes, like a bird flying out of its cage.
Jasper stood outside the gates under the streetlamp for her, his gaze warm.
The weather forecast had mentioned a heavy downpour tonight, but Jasper hadn't minded it. After finishing his work in Solana
City, he drove to meet with his lover.
It had only been a day.
But frankly, it was a pain to bear this feeling of longing.
"Jasper!" Alyssa cried, pushing open the door. She then ran tearfully over to him.
Jasper's eyes widened briefly before they narrowed. An adoring and loving smile crept onto his face.
He had already opened his arms to try and welcome Alyssa, but in the blink of an eye, she'd run right up to him. So he embraced
her deeply.
"I hurried over as early as I could. I was worried I wouldn't be able to see you if I came by a second later, that you might've gone
to bed," Jasper murmured warmly, arm tightening around her back. "But it's no big deal. I could just wait for you outside the
entire night. It would've been difficult to wait until the morning, though."
"Jasper ... " Alyssa sniffled. Her eyes were red-rimmed.
Like a bird following its migration instincts, it seemed as if there were no other places in the world that could make Alyssa feel
safer than in Jasper's arms.
"Oh? Lyse, are you crying?" Jasper was taken aback. He gently peered at Alyssa's face, lifting her chin.

His heart pained upon seeing Alyssa's moistened eyes. "You're actually crying. Who did this to you?"
Alyssa's fingers were buried in Jasper's shirt front, wrinkling the fabric.
When Alyssa recalled Winston's words on how having Tatiana marry into the Schmidt family was just so Alyssa could be together
with Jasper, more tears gathered in her eyes.
She croaked out, "Should we not be together anymore?"
Jasper's heart tensed immediately. His lips quivered as he asked, "What is it, Lyse? Why are you bringing this up?" "Are the
people around us bound to suffer just because we're in a relationship?" The more Alyssa spoke, the more she wanted to cry.
She had always put up a tough act in front of everyone, yet she softened immediately in front of the man she loved. "First, it was
Jonah. Now, it's Taty. What sort of a match made in heaven are we, Jasper? We're a living jinx, that's what!"
Jasper was pale with fear. His heart throbbed with pain. His hands were quivering as he said, "Don't scare me, Lyse. What
happened? Can you please tell me?"
Alyssa bit her lip, unsure of how to start.
"Lyse, you can order me to do anything you want, even if it's abandoning my family business. I don't care." Jasper's throat
tightened, causing his breathing to become shallow. "Just don't leave me. Don't leave me."
Having weathered numerous challenges together just to reunite, how could Alyssa bring herself to leave Jasper now?