Chapter Nineteen #3
“I didn’t want to bother him with a feeling,” he murmurs, poking Jasper in the side while he smacks his hand away, attempting to sort boxes of ammo.
I snort and shake my head. Hancock is sweet.
He’s always been the baby of the group. The youngest of all the guards, the kid is in his twenties, but he reminds me of the boys I used to make out with in high school.
Charming, funny, a real sexy troublemaker with dimples for days and one of those hot emo-boy bodies—tall, slim, and fucking cut.
He and Jasper are cute together. Especially now that they’re done vehemently insisting that they’re just friends who are desperate to rub their dicks together.
I’m not sure if they’re official or what, but ever since the night Velle convinced them to fuck while we all watched, they’ve been more inseparable than ever, and I swear, Hancock’s bed hasn’t been touched in months.
Yes, they’re also roommates. I mean, come on…
It really was inevitable.
“Baby, stop…” I hear Jasper mumbling under his breath, while Hancock smirks teasingly, continuing to pester him.
“You’re cute when you’re annoyed, you know that?”
Jasper, who is notoriously prickly and oh-so alpha, cracks a tiny, visibly smitten smile. But then he peeks at me, crushing it into a scowl that’s being betrayed by the flush in his cheeks.
I have to chuckle. “If you guys wanna bang out a quickie over in the corner, I promise I’ll only watch a little.”
Hancock snickers. Jasper looks unamused.
As if we aren’t all well aware by now that he’s bisexual as fuck.
“Don’t give me that look,” I tease. “And don’t act like you’ve never fucked in front of people. I’ve definitely seen you fuck more times than I’ve seen that cheesy little grin, Romeo.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he grumbles. “Can we get back to work, please? There’s a super dangerous plan in motion here. I think that’s a bit more important than my goddamn love life…”
“Oooh! Look who has a love life now,” I croon, really just steamrolling him with shit, because it’s way too hilarious not to.
Look at how red his face is getting! Aww, Grumpy Bear is in love.
Hancock is grinning like the menace he is, though it’s clear as day that he also loves how squirmy this is making his fuck-buddy.
“Alright, enough,” Jasper growls. “Jesus, we’re grown-ass adults with M-16’s, not kids passing notes in study hall.”
I purse my lips. “Rawr.”
“I know, right?” Hancock shakes his head, visibly shivering, rubbing his arms. “You realize the more defensive you get, the more it seems like you want me to move to Westchester with you and adopt twin rescue pugs named Dolce and Gabbana, right?”
I cackle out loud. Jasper is scowling so hard it looks like he’s going to fall down.
His eyes dip over Hancock briefly before he sighs out of forced irritation, whipping his jacket off.
“Here.” He drapes his coat over Hancock’s shoulders. “Hopefully I die of hypothermia so I don’t have to listen to this nonsense anymore.”
Hancock bites his lip to tone down his evil swoon face while I just shake my head.
“I’m gonna need a plus-two for the wedding.” I smirk.
“Just call Velle, please,” Jasper hisses at me.
Chuckling, I reach into my pocket. But then I frown. “Oh, shit. I forgot, I dropped my phone outside.”
“Want me to go look for it?” Hancock asks, not waiting for me to respond before he’s jaunting to the door.
“It’s over by the tree…” I mutter, distracted by handing Jasper the box of silencers.
“Right, ‘cause there’s only one,” Hancock sneers.
“Wise ass, the tree that’s straight ahead. Twenty feet and you’ve gone too far.”
He nods, opening the door and stepping out into the storm. The winds are so aggressive, they slam the doors shut behind him.
“You’re so gonna wife him up,” I continue with the poking. Quieter, because I’m not really teasing as much as I’m giving him an opportunity to finally be honest here.
We’ve all known each other a long time. We’re like family, and all teasing aside, you shouldn’t feel like you have to hide anything from family.
Jasper’s eyes slink to mine, and he grumbles, “What about this place makes you think that would be possible?”
I shrug, because he has a point. But then, that’s what we’re fixing to change with this whole plan.
“What if we win?” I hum pointedly. “What will your excuse be then?”
A flash of vulnerability etches his previously surly expression. I recognize it well. It’s the same face I used to make when I’d think about Rook and Velle, and how I knew what I wanted, but it made me so fucking nervous. Because of how real it felt.
I witness him swallow. His lips part, and I think maybe he’s going to tell me the truth. Tell me what he’s so afraid of…
But a powerful boom of thunder shakes the ground. It’s so strong, concrete is rattling around us.
“He shouldn’t be out there,” Jasper grunts, rushing to the door. “Fuck your phone.”
I nod in agreement. But before he can open the door, a symphony of thuds and cracks sings from outside. Jasper and I share a look.
And then something crashes. Loud, and violent.
An explosion that rocks the walls and rumbles the earth. Velle’s motorcycle tips over. Jasper yanks me out of the way just in time, before it can fall on me and break my fucking leg.
My heart is galloping, and there’s a ringing in my ears. Jasper is covering me with his body like a blanket, shielding me from hunks of stone falling from the ceiling.
The boom is over in seconds, but the vibration seems to last minutes.
“What… the fuck?!” I cough.
What the shit was that??
When he finally pries himself off of me, we look around, then at each other. Eyes rounded in shock and fear.
Dust hangs in the air, both of us coughing as we straighten.
“What the hell, man?!” Jasper barks. “What was that?? It sounded like someone just dropped a bomb!”
“It can’t be…” I mumble, so twitchy with unease, I feel like I’m seizing.
No. No no no… It wasn’t a bomb. The Ivory wouldn’t do that… Would he?
Would he really blow up the prison out of spite??
It seems mental, but then the guy is a few cards short of a full deck. My thoughts are spiraling as Jasper and I stumble to the door. He yanks on it… But it won’t budge.
“Fuck,” he growls, pulling with all his might. “I think it’s stuck.”
“Is it safe to be in here…?” I mutter nervously, looking up at the ceiling.
This place seems sturdy but, like the prison, isn’t exactly up to code.
Who’s to say it won’t collapse on us from… whatever the hell that was!
Jasper isn’t paying attention to me at all. He’s too busy fighting the damn door, which refuses to open. “Simon??” He hollers, banging his fist on the metal over and over. “Simon, are you out there? Please answer me…”
“You gotta keep it down,” I’m shivering so hard my teeth are chattering. “The Ivory’s guys could hear…”
“Fuck that. Simon?!” He keeps shouting, punching and kicking the door. “Are you okay?? We’re stuck—”
“Jake,” I whisper aggressively enough to stop him before he breaks his fucking hand. “Calm down. Take a breath.”
His head is shaking back and forth. “No. Fuck that… He could be hurt. He could be…” He covers his face with his hands. Visibly trembling. “You were right, okay?? I… I think I love him, and I need to make sure he’s alright. If he gets hurt and I didn’t tell him—”
“Stop.” I grab him by the shoulders. “He’s fine, you hear me?? He’s a fucking badass, just like you. That’s why you guys work. Right??” He stops his sputtering long enough to nod, brows furrowed in the most sincere concern for someone else I’ve seen in a while…
Since the night Velle’s mom died.
“Just breathe. We’re gonna get out of here. He’s gonna get us out of here.”
“Yea… Okay.” He nods again, breathing out steadily, visibly composing himself.
I try the door, the both of us examining the structure of it.
“Seems like whatever that crash was shifted the foundation or something.” My eyes drop to the floor. “If we can try to chisel the cement at the bottom, we can probably get it open.”
“We stashed tools in here.” Jasper darts across the room.
He comes back with some stuff, dropping it onto the ground by our feet. I’m all set to start bashing, when he gasps, “Hang on!”
Shuffling. Foosteps, I think.
And then a whistle, followed by, “Guys, it’s me. Are you okay??”
Jasper collapses into the door, slamming his eyes shut. “God, fuck, Simon… Jesus, thank God you’re alright…”
“Are you praying in there?” Hancock mutters, like the smartass he is.
Jasper laughs. He actually laughs. It’s not a very common occurrence, and it’s freaking adorable as hell.
“Let me in!” Hancock whines.
“Can’t,” I tell him. “The door is stuck. What happened out there? Can you see anything??”
He’s quiet for a moment of heavy pause that I can feel through the steel. “The guard tower… It fell on the prison.”
Jasper peeks at me. Our faces go ashen.
“The East Wing is… gone.”
“Gone?? What do you mean gone??” I gasp.
Jasper picks up one of the tools and starts smashing it into the concrete beneath the door.
“Wiped the fuck out, man,” Hancock gripes. “It’s a fucking mess. I was gonna try to get closer, see what I could see, but I wanted to check on you guys first.”
“Did you find my phone?”
“No. But mine isn’t working. I can’t get any signal… Velle wasn’t in the East… Right?”
My heart is so far up in my throat, I’m choking as I rip my walkie off my holster. Pressing the button only gets me a busy tone.
“The lines are jammed… Fuck!” I slam my fist against the door. “Simon, I need you to go to the prison. I need to know if Rook and Velle are okay…”
“No fucking way,” Jasper stops what he’s doing to bark at me. “He’s not going alone. It’s too dangerous.”
“I’m not a baby,” Hancock grunts. “I can handle it—”
“Simon, stop,” Jasper snaps, turning to me. “You know damn well The Ivory’s men are gonna be all over the prison, if they aren’t already.”
I cover my face, whimpering into the leather covering my palms. “Jake, we need to get back there… We need to help.”
Now I’m the one freaking out… And he’s talking me down.
“Take a breath, Joyful,” Jasper says. “You were right before. We have to be smart. Velle and Rook are warriors. They’re all good. If anything, we should wait for them to come get us. ‘Cause you know that’s their number one priority right now… Getting you.”
Scrubbing my hands over my face, I lock eyes with him, nodding subtly.
I hate this. I hate it so much.
I despise not knowing what’s going on out there, in the prison…
Helplessness. It’s back, and now it’s worse.
“Cherry??” A crackling voice comes over the walkie in my hand, and I nearly jump out of my skin. “Cherry, do you copy?? What’s your twenty…? God fuck, Joy, tell me you’re okay…”
Tears well in my eyes, a wet chuckle bursting from my lips as I hold the walkie up to my face, wobbly and fighting hysterics. “I’m here, Lucky. I’m okay.”
Jasper smiles wide, eyes closing in a slow blink while he leans against the door.
“Fuck…” Velle breathes, and I snort, biting my lip. “Thank baby Jesus.”
“Are you okay?” I sniff. “And Rook??”
“He’s fine. We’re fine. He’s with me,” Velle says.
And then Rook rasps, “Here, Joyful. We’re fine, baby, don’t worry about us.”
I have never been flooded with such potent emotions. Even in our deepest moments, I’m not sure I’ve felt such a clawing love for them than right fucking now.
The fact that they’re mine, and I’m theirs. That we protect each other, we ride for each other, no matter what… It’s potent enough that I’m momentarily lightheaded.
But I push past it when Velle asks, “You in Oscar’s Attic?”
I grin. That’s the code name we gave to the old armory as our primary rendezvous point outside of the prison.
“Yea. With Jasper. Hancock’s outside… The crash shifted the foundation or something and we can’t get the door open.”
They’re silent for only a few seconds. “I’m gonna come get you, okay? Just hang tight.”
I hate feeling like such a girl, but I’m swooning and on the verge of tears. I just love them so damn much. These two men who would literally walk through Hell for me.
“Are you guys in the West?” I ask.
“Yea…” Velle murmurs. I can tell right away by his tone that something is going on. “We’ve got the armory.”
Jasper’s eyes widen, and we gape at each other.
“It’s time, Cherry Bomb. We’re doing it live.”
“Shit,” Jasper mumbles, tapping his knuckles on the door. “You hearing this, baby?”
“Hell yea,” Hancock gasps, and I can hear the tense grin in his voice.
“The fall was a sign…” Velle grunts. “We are the fucking storm.”