16. Chapter 16
This morning was a tad chaotic. We got interrupted taking advantage of a little morning wood action, and now I’ve suffered with a half chub ever since.
Spencer kept calling until Olly finally answered. He even tried my phone a few times. Lord knows how he knew. He said it was an emergency and Olly had to meet him over on Main Street right away. Olly didn’t seem all that worried, so I’m chalking it up to Spencer being Spencer… dramatic.
Since I don’t work until this afternoon, I took my time getting ready. After spending far too long scrubbing paint off my body, you’d think I’d have learned my lesson by now. Pretty sure I haven’t .
Just as I was getting out of the shower, Marcus called. He refused to tell me anything, instead insisting on me meeting him and Jacob for lunch. He was bringing reinforcements. I wanna barf.
I reluctantly agreed, telling him to meet me at DragonFly. He made no effort to hide the surprise in his voice. Unlike me and not thinking about what I just did. So I pretended that meeting Marcus and Jacob at DragonFly, where all my… friends could see, was no big deal.
The bell jingles over the door when I enter DragonFly Books and Café. Marcus and Jacob already have a table up front. A table out in the wide open. So nice of them.
“Hey Jasper, over here,” Marcus calls, giving me a wide grin.
Asshole.
I plaster on a smile like I’m not freaking out over whatever he wants to tell me, along with everyone seeing us and wanting to ask me a shit ton of questions. Ugh, whatever, let’s get this over with.
I ignore Marcus and head straight for Jacob.
“I swear on everything I hold dear that I will hunt you down if you ever go this long without seeing us again.” My chest bubbles with laughter at his empty threat, but knowing I deserved it.
“I promise I won’t go that long again.”
“Good, now hug me!” Jacob is our hugger, and we don’t deny him.
“I took the liberty of ordering for you,” Marcus says as we all take our seats.
“It’s a little presumptuous, don’t you think?”
“I ordered you the BLT.”
I scoff. “What if I didn’t want a BLT?”
“It’s all any of you ever order,” he counters .
“That’s beside the point.”
“Ahhh, yes. Now I remember what it was like when the two of you lived under the same roof.” Jacob sighs. “Matthew was always a good buffer.”
“Matthew was a good peacekeeper,” I say, remembering all the nights he facilitated arguments between Marcus and me.
“I looked at your test results, Jasper.”
My stomach sinks and I hold my breath. I’m dying, I’m sure of it.
“Everything came back good. I saw nothing alarming. Your heart is functioning like it should and your valves look good.”
“But what about the heart murmur?”
“High blood pressure can cause a murmur. The medication you’re taking to lower yours should help. Have you been taking it every day like I prescribed?”
“Yes. Does this mean I have to be on medication for the rest of my life?” I ask.
“I don’t know. Some of that will depend on you. If you cut back on booze, drugs, cigarettes, stress , and start eating healthier. All these things contribute to high blood pressure. So it’s in your hands.”
“I don’t know if these are the best hands.”
“When was the last time you did drugs?”
“Jesus, Marcus, just splay a guy wide open.”
“Well?” He crosses his arms.
“Fine, the night before I fainted,” I confess.
“When was the last time you got drunk?”
“I don’t know…also the night before I fainted, I guess.”
“And when was the last time you smoked? ”
I sigh… “When Mazie started coming around, I cut back because I didn’t want to smoke around her or have the smell on my clothes. So I haven’t been smoking very much.”
“Sounds like this little girl did some good in your life,” Jacob says, and I roll my eyes because… Baby Spy. “You and babies will never cease to amaze me,” he jokes, making them both laugh. It’s like they always know how to gang up on me.
I see what Jacob is doing. He’s not that sly. I cock my head. Ugh, maybe he is.
“You know, you could have just left a message instead of making me wait all night.”
“Well. You could’ve just called?”
I scoff. “I’ve learned my lesson about waking you up in the middle of the night. I won’t do that again.”
Now it’s his turn to scoff… “You were in jail for breaking into Mr. Brewer’s property and jumping off his windmill.”
Jacob sighs fondly. “I remember that night. Matthew was convinced Jasper only did it because he was mad at you, so he locked you both in a room until you worked through it.” He laughs. “He said sometimes people need brute force to work through their issues.”
This time, we all laugh.
“Jasper?”
Shit. I close my eyes.
“Hi, Olly. It’s so good to see you again,” Marcus says. “You can finally meet my husband, Jacob.”
“It’s so good to meet you in person finally,” Jacob says, reaching out and shaking his hand .
Olly looks confused. His eyes dart around the table, landing on mine.
He cocks his head. “Are you all… how do you know?” he looks back to Marcus and Jacob, then back to me one last time.
“You know what? I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt your lunch. I’m sure you have a lot to talk about.” Olly nods his head. “Sorry,” he says quietly before backing away and walking out the front door.
“Shit!” I should’ve told him by now. “I have to go.”
I get up to leave, and Marcus places a hand on my arm, getting my attention.
“The heart stuff… you’re already doing it, Jasper. Just keep going. Don’t give up.”
I nod my head, knowing that it’s a euphemism for something more, and race out the front door, almost running into Spencer carrying a Mazie in his arms. “Me and you,” I say, poking Mazie in the stomach, which makes her giggle. “We need to talk, but not now. I have to go chase a man.”
As soon as I’m out the door, I turn left, running right into Olly. Well, there could’ve been more chasing but okay, this is fine too.
We both grab onto each other to steady ourselves.
“Olly…” I just stare like a deer caught in headlights. Niiiice. Good job, Jasper.
“Go on a date with me,” I blurt out of fucking nowhere.
His eyes go wide. “What?”
I grab his hand, lacing my finger through his. “Go on a date with me, Olly,” I say, this time sounding a lot more calm. “Go on a date with me tonight.” I guess I still have some panic left in me. “Look, I will tell you all about my past. It will help explain what you heard. ”
“I heard nothing. I mean, it’s not like I was eavesdropping. And you shouldn’t feel guilted into telling me about your past.”
The way he won’t look me in the eye says he heard enough.
“No, I want to and have wanted to. I just… I couldn’t find the right time. It shouldn’t be about the timing, I realize that now. It’s about letting you in.” I squeeze his hind. “Tonight. I’ll pick you up.”
“Okay.” He nods, and I lean in to kiss him on the lips. On the sidewalk… in front of DragonFly Books… where everyone can see.
I glance over his shoulder, and yep, there’s Mira’s face smooshed against the glass at Ink Me. I flip her the bird behind Olly’s back as one would do in this situation.
We untangle and he pivots. “Tonight?” he confirms as he walks away.
“Eight o’clock,” I say.
He stops for a moment and turns around, cocking his head to the side. “Was it you?” he asks. “Was it you who told them about me, for the carnival?”
I clear my throat. “Yes. They needed someone they could count on, and I knew you would be the perfect person for the job.”
“Thank you,” he says quietly before walking away. The sincerity with which he says it fills me with relief that maybe—just maybe—I didn’t overstep my bounds.
“Shut it, Mira!”
“What? I didn’t say anything… yet.”
I stop, look at her, then roll my eyes. “Fine out with it.”
“I saw Jasper kissing Olly,” she says. Loudly.
I hear the roll of stools across the floor as they all stick their heads out of their workstations.
“Ha! Looks like you’re next on this love-bug train,” Jaxon says from his chair at the end of the hall.
“First of all, love bug, really? And I’m not the one who brought it into the building.” I look at Finn. “If anything, it was Finn’s fault.”
Finn scoffs. “Hey, I was new and didn’t know any better. Plus, look at him. How could I not?” His goofy grin is disgusting. Kinda. Ok, and maybe kinda sweet, too.
“Next thing you know, babies will be contagious,” Dom jokes.
I gasp. “How dare you put that into the universe!”
Dom gives a boisterous laugh.
“Oh, you think it’s funny now? I believe you’re next to be bitten by this love bug, Dominic.” Yeah, I full-named him.
He swears and ducks his head, rolling back into his workspace. That’s what I thought.
Finn and Jaxon both put their hands up in surrender, slowly rolling away.
Glancing at the clock, I see I have thirty minutes until my first client comes in.
I sink onto my stool, letting out a long, slow exhale. The earlier events are at the forefront of my mind. I should have told Olly about Marcus, Jacob, and The Matthew House sooner and not by overhearing us talking.
Fuck! I fucked up.
I don’t know why I was so worried. In the beginning, I wasn’t ready to bring up my sad, if not boring, past. Which, fine, makes sense. But as soon as I recommended Alex’s company for Marcus to invest in, and everyone started mixing and mingling, I should have acknowledged it.
Now here I am, pissed off because Olly deserved better from me. I need to figure out a way to let him know I’m in this with him. I really want to see where this goes.
I hear a commotion in the hallway.
“What are you guys doing?”
Mira, Finn, Dom, and Jaxon are all jockeying for space in my doorway.
“We just wanted to apologize,” Jaxon says before elbowing Mira.
“Ugh, fine. And I’m sorry for telling everyone you were kissing Olly.”
“Yeah, and we’re sorry for giving you crap about it,” Dom says.
“And we are happy for you,” Finn says, nudging Dom.
“And we’re happy for you,” he grumbles, still salty with me.
“Thank you,” I say, a little smugly. “Appreciate it, but I still don’t take back what I said.”
Dom narrows his eyes. I’d be shitting my pants if I didn’t know he was a big softie.
“Come on, big guy,” Jaxon says, patting his chest and moving him out the door. “He’s not wrong. You’re next,” I hear him say as they walk down the hall.
Pfft, it’s not like I want to be bitten by the love bug or anything.
Damnit! Maybe I do want a bug bite.
Fuck, do I want him. I’ve wanted him since before I broke into his house and kissed him. Best spontaneous decision I ever made. See, not all of them are bad.
“Oh, and your appointment is here,” Mira says, and I nod my head. “Send them back, please. ”
I hear her before she even gets to the door.
“I’ve changed my mind. We’ll have to do the nipple piercing another day.”
Oh, thank the Lord.
“So, what do you want done today, Ms. Brandy?” I ask when she enters.
“Well,” she says, plopping her ass down in my client chair. “I want a tattoo. Nothing too crazy, Jasper. I just want one half of a BFF heart on the inside of my forearm.”
“Ummm. Ok. I can do that.” I look through my drawers until I find a pre-made stencil. There are a handful of designs that are popular with college girls. Jaxon came up with these pre-mades so we don’t have to hand sketch. It helps us push walk-ins out the door quicker.
“I’m assuming you want Ms. Cook’s name in the center?”
“Of course, dear. Who else would be my BFF? I mean really Jasper.”
“Hey, it’s permanent. I needed to make sure.”
“I’m buying her one of those necklaces and giving her one half. And because she got the mermaid tattoo in honor of me, I’m getting the necklace for her.”
“That’s really sweet, Ms. Brandy. I’m glad you two have each other. We all need friends. The real ones, ya know, the ones who stay. It seems like she’s that for you. It truly makes me happy knowing you guys have each other. The loneliness gnaws at you when you’ve always been on the outside.”
She scoffs. “Jasper, you act like you don’t have any friends. You have that plus some. I mean, look at all the people who care about you. I can name at least nine people, and I’m sure you have more hidden that would do anything for you. You are so very lucky, Jasper.”
I smile because, yeah, yeah, I do. They’re not just friends, they’re family.
I hear Jaxon yelling across the hall, teasing Dom about the miniature Doberman Pincher he’s thinking about getting. I chuckle to myself. It fits him perfectly if you ask me.
“All right Ms. Brandy, are you ready?”