Chapter Seventeen
MONDAY TOOK a page from Friday’s book by turning into complete shit. Jasper woke up late and had to skip breakfast to catch the bus in time. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he’d completely forgotten about his test.
Luckily, trauma care was one of the subjects he was most interested in, so he was sure he’d aced it, but it still left him rattled. He couldn’t afford to lose his scholarship. He had barely two hundred bucks to his name, and that was needed to cover bus fare and lunches.
His day only got worse when he got to work and spilled half a machine of popcorn all over the floor.
Then the slushy machine pissed lukewarm blue liquid all over him.
He was tempted to bang his head against the wall as he cleaned himself up in the bathroom, but he didn’t want to risk ending up in the hospital with a fractured skull.
The only bright side was that their uniforms were black, so he only had to deal with being sticky and the sweet fake raspberry smell rather than also looking like he’d murdered a Smurf.
By the time Keith picked him up at the end of his shift, he wanted a shower and to crawl into bed for a week.
Thankfully the car was silent, at least until they hit the highway.
“Rough day?” Keith asked.
“Could say that,” Jasper muttered, letting out a long sigh. Wednesday was a million years away, but it was the only thing keeping him sane at the moment.
“Wanna talk about it?”
Jasper slumped lower in the passenger seat. “Amber put you up to this?”
“Up to what?” Keith asked, sounding genuinely confused.
He made a face and let his forehead thunk against the window.
“No one put me up to anything. I asked because you seem worn out.”
“I’m fine. Just need sleep,” Jasper muttered. And for everyone to stay out of his business.
“All right.” He felt Keith’s eyes on him, and a few moments later he asked, “Thought any more about getting your driver’s license?”
He squeezed his eyes shut with a soft groan.
“I’ll take care of it after I save enough money to afford the EMT course.
” He didn’t have the money for the classes or tests right now, and he hoped his plans to take them next year weren’t too ambitious.
He’d have to pick up more than a few extra shifts to pay for the course and textbooks.
“You know we don’t mind taking care of the driver’s ed classes for you.”
“It’s fine,” he said, managing not to snap.
“You guys have done enough.” No way was he letting them pay for his license on top of everything else.
He wouldn’t follow in his brother’s footsteps—couch surfing, drugs, and planting the seeds for stage-three lung cancer by the age of thirty.
Not a chance in hell. He’d make his own way, and he wouldn’t rely on others for every damn thing.
Keith sighed with a soft “All right,” and thankfully let it drop.
Once they were home, Jasper grabbed his bag and trudged up the stairs for a quick shower, then settled in to work on his assignments. Amber brought a plate of food up a bit later and set it on his desk. “Thanks,” he murmured, glancing up when she leaned against the wall.
“Spill,” she said.
Jasper sighed and turned back to his assigned reading on drug administration. “I’m fine. Just tired.”
“Uh-huh.”
His fingers twitched, and he curled them tight in his hair to keep from saying anything he’d regret.
“Thanks for dinner. I have a lot of homework to do,” he said, staring at his textbook without really seeing it.
He ignored Amber until she sighed and left, then eyed the plate of chicken and veggies.
The chicken was unseasoned, and the broccoli was undercooked.
No doubt it was Matt’s night to cook—his food was as insipid as his personality.
He managed to choke down two bites before his phone rang.
The sight of Vincent’s name on the screen immediately made his day better. “Hello, Sir.”
“Pet,” Vincent replied, and that one word somehow popped the bubble of the dark mood he’d been trapped in since that morning. “What are you up to?”
Jasper eyed his plate with a soft snort. “Eating disappointing food.”
“Oh?”
“Matt can’t cook for shit.”
“Some things never change,” Vincent said with a soft laugh.
Right. He’d almost forgotten they all knew each other. Vincent had probably eaten Matt’s food loads of times. He realized he’d never asked if they’d been together, and he really didn’t want the answer.
“Sounds like that’s the highlight of your day.”
He snorted quietly. “Yeah, the rotting cherry on a shit sundae,” he muttered, then winced. Vincent didn’t want or need to hear about his horrible day. He opened his mouth to say he needed to finish studying so he didn’t shove his foot any farther into his mouth, but Vincent spoke first.
“What happened?”
Jasper snapped his mouth shut, but not before a quiet strangled sound escaped his throat. It was on the tip of his tongue to say, “Nothing,” but that would obviously be a lie.
As if sensing that intention, Vincent said, “Talk to me.” It wasn’t a request.
He let out an explosive breath, and then he spilled everything. From the test he hadn’t properly studied for, to the clusterfuck at work, to the others hounding him about his driver’s license. Not to mention the general sense of feeling utterly useless that’d been plaguing him all day.
When he finished, he slumped in his chair, somehow feeling even more drained than earlier.
There were a few moments of silence, and then Vincent asked, “Should I come over?”
Jasper blinked at the wall, sure he’d heard that wrong. “What?”
“Do you need me to come over?”
Yes, he thought, but he clamped his mouth shut. As much as he wanted to see Vincent, him showing up unannounced would only stir up drama. And he didn’t need Amber kicking him out for not focusing on getting through college. “No,” he said softly, “that’s okay.”
“You’re sure?”
A faint smile tugged at his lips. “I have an assignment to finish, and then I’m going to bed.”
Vincent hummed softly, as if he wasn’t quite convinced. “Call me if you change your mind.”
“Okay. Night, Sir.”
“Good night, pet.”
Jasper set the phone down after Vincent hung up. He was still exhausted, but at least he didn’t have the urge to smash his head against the wall anymore.
TUESDAY WAS marginally better, but his two-hour lecture dragged on for years.
He managed not to spill anything on himself at work, but then Amber texted to say she was stuck in a last-minute meeting and couldn’t pick him up.
And since Tuesday was date night for Keith, Matt, and Reiko, he was stuck taking the bus and then walking ten blocks home.
It was early enough in the year that the heat wasn’t stifling, but he was still covered in sweat by the time he got inside.
For once, the place was empty, which meant no one to pry into his business.
He dumped his bag in his room and took a shower, then made breakfast for dinner, relishing finally having some peace and quiet.
Unfortunately it didn’t last long enough for him to finish eating, but he shoveled the rest of the food into his mouth and escaped to his room before he could be bombarded with questions.
Maybe it was rude, but he didn’t feel like dealing with anyone, so he settled in to study. He had a couple of tests next week, and he couldn’t afford to flunk out.
He kept glancing at his phone, waiting for a call or text from Vincent, but none came. He told himself not to be disappointed. Vincent didn’t contact him every day. Why would he start now?
Logically he knew there were any number of reasons Vincent wouldn’t call him, but it didn’t keep the hurt or doubt from creeping in.
AS HE was getting ready to leave for class on Wednesday morning, Vincent finally sent a text.
Can you be ready by 5?
He grinned and replied with Definitely, can’t wait
His last class ended at two thirty, which gave him plenty of time to get home, even if he had to walk.
Good, see you soon.
Jasper’s stomach tightened with excitement. He wasn’t sure how he was going to make it through classes with five o’clock hanging over him, but he’d manage. Two days was too fucking long. Even worse than the five days he’d had to wait the last few weeks. How had he managed to wait that long?
Maybe he could talk Vincent into making Wednesday a part of the contract, or would that be too clingy? Shayne had started avoiding him the moment Jasper asked to see him outside of whatever gig he had going that week. Actually most of his relationships tended to follow that path.
It didn’t help that the few guys he’d dated in high school had still had both feet in the closet or were “just experimenting.” College was supposed to have been better, but since he didn’t live on campus, he hadn’t had many chances to hang out with anyone.
He’d gone to some parties last year, which was how he’d met Shayne, so he wasn’t too compelled to repeat that clusterfuck.
Maybe he should keep his mouth shut in case asking for more of Vincent’s time ruined his chances at renewing the contract. And what kind of stupid arrangement was that anyway? Who actually used a contract in lieu of a relationship? Or was the point to not have a relationship?
Fuck. Why did he even care? This wasn’t supposed to be anything more than a few weeks of great sex and experiencing being tied up. They weren’t boyfriends.
Vincent had probably never had something as mundane as a boyfriend in his life. Jasper needed to get rid of that expectation now, before it ruined everything.
This was nothing but sex.
Hot, kinky, blow-your-mind sex.
That was way better than any kind of fucking relationship.
He’d even managed to convince himself of that by the time the driver dropped him off at Vincent’s.
He knocked, then tested the doorknob and found it unlocked. He stepped inside after a moment’s hesitation. “Sir?” he called, toeing off his shoes by the door.
“Pet.”