17. Chapter 17
A date. He’s picking me up to go on a date. I’m not the kind of guy who needs a grand gesture, an over-the-top declaration. And I’m not worried about him wanting to be seen with me. Not really. He needs to work through whatever this is, just as much as I do. But kissing me on the sidewalk for all to see, well, that was a bit of a surprise.
Then there’s the whole Marcus and Jacob situation. When Spencer and I came back from looking at the building across the street, I saw Jasper talking with Marcus.
At first, I wasn’t going to interrupt. It’s Jasper’s personal business, and I respect that. But when I saw Jacob sitting with them, or who I assumed was Jacob, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to ask him a couple of questions about the cupcakes for the carnival .
I was just going to say hi and ask if he could stop by my table before he left. I was standing there waiting for a good moment to speak up. What they were talking about seemed personal, like they all lived under the same roof at some point, which did not make sense. For a moment I wondered if they had all been together, like together, together . But that didn’t feel right.
Jasper said he would explain everything tonight. And I have to trust he’ll do that.
I’m a grown-ass man and so is Jasper. If our relationship is ever going to work, then I need to trust him. We need to trust each other. We need to give each other time to adjust and work through our own issues.
I texted him earlier, trying to get an idea of where he was taking me, so I know what to wear. He refuses to tell me anything, so I settle on a pair of black slacks and a gray button-up.
I stare at the black tie hanging in my closet. Is it too much? Gah , was a tiny hint too much to ask? The man infuriates me.
And I love every second of it.
I hear the doorbell and laugh. Good boy, Jasper.
I open the door, and all the oxygen gets sucked from my lungs and a shiver runs down my spine. Breathtaking.
He’s wearing his black leather pants, a black see-through blouse with his nipple piercings on full display, and of course, his white boa jacket. Necklaces drape around his neck and his wrists are adorned in colorful bracelets. Completely, uniquely Jasper.
“Wow… I mean, hi. You look amazing.” And so fucking sexy.
He blushes. “Thank you, but really, you look amazing. No flannel and no hat. I’m impressed. You clean up nicely, Olly. ”
“Yes, well, someone wouldn’t tell me where we’re going, so I had to guess.” I look down at my pants. “And I’m still not sure if I made the right choice.”
The material is doing nothing to hide the growing bulge in my pants. If I keep thinking about how it felt to be inside him, we’re going to have an even bigger problem.
“It’s perfect. You could’ve worn anything and it still would’ve been perfect. Are you ready?”
“Yes,” I say, grabbing my keys and wallet before slipping on my shoes. He has his bike parked in the driveway and a sense of excitement rushes through me.
I’m going to be pressed up against him while the bike hums between my thighs. I’ve heard things. It doesn’t matter what kind of pants I have on… There is no way my dick is going to play nice.
“I thought it would be a nice night for the bike,” he says, handing me a helmet. “Sorry, I’m about to mess up your hair.”
“Being pressed up against you while we hit the open road is worth it.” I wink.
He blushes again. Who would have thought I would make Jasper Valintine blush? He’s every man’s rock-star fantasy and I’m the one who just made him do that.
Well, now I’m blushing.
I have confidence in baking, The Diner, and sex—once I clear my head. Put me in a social setting and I’m a mess. But put me with Jasper and it all fades away.
After hitting every stoplight in town, we finally hit the open road. And I was right. The vibration of the bike between my legs and the feel of Jasper’s smaller body tight against mine is making my dick hard. There’s no way to hide it. He has to feel it. Maybe I want him to feel it. I want him to know what he does to me.
A month ago, I would’ve shied away from giving any sort of sign I had feelings for Jasper. Not now.
I’m making some changes in my life too. I’m opening some doors that have been knocking for a while. Who’s going to find a partner if you don’t make an effort to put yourself out there? Even if I fall on my face, I need to try. This could all end awkwardly since we’re in the same friend group. But he’s worth the risk.
At first, I think we’re heading to that restaurant Jaxon and Alex were telling us about. The one that looks like a castle and overlooks the water. But when we drive past the exit, my interest is piqued. Where is he taking us?
A few miles later, we pull off the main road and down a long and winding… driveway? A modern-looking home with clean lines, ample lighting, and a front entry with large wooden French doors comes into view. It’s huge.
Jasper brings the bike to a stop, and I take off my helmet, looking around. “Jasper, where are we?”
“The Matthew House,” he says. “Well, not the Matthew House, but where it all started.”
I’m still just as confused when the front door opens, and there stands Marcus and Jacob.
Jasper maneuvers off the bike, offering his hand as he helps me dismount, never letting go.
“I want you to meet the people who changed my life. ”
Jacob and Marcus whisper to each other as we make our way up the front steps to greet them.
“I’m so glad you could make it,” Jacob says, shaking my hand.
“Yes, so glad you’re here. Jacob has been a busy little bee, running around getting ready,” Marcus adds.
“Jacob loves hosting shit,” Jasper says.
“What can I say? I love being the hostess with the mostest,” Jacob admits with a wide grin.
Jasper rolls his eyes. “Did Marcus teach you that one?”
“Maybe,” he mumbles, before inviting us inside. “Let me take your jackets.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Jacob lean in close to Jasper. “He looks confused. I thought you were going to tell him before you came,” he says in a hushed tone.
“I didn’t have a chance to. Don’t worry, I have it under control.”
Marcus snorts, and Jasper gives him the death stare.
“Dinner should be ready in about twenty minutes. Why don’t you show Olly around while we finish up?”
Jasper nods, taking my hand and leading us out of the foyer, which opens into a massive living room.
To the right is a staircase, and to the left is an open-concept kitchen where Marcus and Jacob are now standing, pretending to chop things… with an upside-down knife.
There’s a large TV hanging over the fireplace in front of a big comfy couch. The way the house looked when we pulled up was nothing like the feel of the inside. Warm and cozy .
The walls are covered with personal photos, beautiful art, and… Matthew. Oh, how my heart breaks for them. You can feel the love that fills this house for him.
Everything is stunningly beautiful, and I’m glad I decided against my dressiest flannel shirt in exchange for my nice button-up.
“Wow,” I gasp.
Jasper chuckles as we make our way over to the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the backyard, which features a beautifully lit pool accented with elegant fairy lights.
“Come on,” Jasper says, opening the sliding glass door and leading us outside. The night air is cool, but not freezing. I can smell the salty sea, and in the quiet, I can hear the crashing waves.
“This is one of my favorite spots,” he says, walking to the patio railing overlooking the pool and lounge area. “I used to come out here when I was having a breakdown and just watch the reflections dance in the pool. It always created a calming effect within me. Much like you do,” he says, looking everywhere but at me.
Moving to stand next to him, I ask, “Jasper, did you live here?”
“Yes, starting when I was sixteen.”
His soft fingertips brush my hand before he threads them through mine, still not looking at me.
“I was sent to The Matthew House two days before my sixteenth birthday. Well, technically, it wasn’t called The Matthew House yet.”
I suck in a sharp breath, turning my head to look at him. “Two days? What happened?” I all but whisper, emotion lodged in my throat. If I asked any louder, my voice would crack .
“I bounced around a lot in the foster care system, always for some reason or another. My last family decided they were moving to England. They didn’t want me enough to take me with them. I don’t even know if they legally could. But to a fifteen-year-old, it didn’t matter.”
“But still, to just abandon you. I don’t know how anyone could even contemplate doing that.”
He squeezes my hand. “That’s what makes you so fucking special, Olly. And you proved that with Mazie. You run a very busy diner along with working really hard to open your own bakery.”
He finally turns to look at me. “You could’ve easily said, ‘ I have too much going on, and I can’t take her .’ But you didn’t. You put your own life and dreams on hold to make sure she was cared for. And it’s because of you she’s going to end up in a loving home. That girl is going to be smothered with love.”
I smile when I think about the love she’s going to feel. “I didn’t do anything special.”
“You did for me, and for that little girl.”
I still don’t think I did anything special, but now is not the time to argue.
“And Marcus, Jacob, and Matthew?”
Jasper grins, chuckling. “They allowed me to be who I was. They showed me all their messy flaws and how they still loved each other, sometimes even because of their flaws. I learned I didn’t need to be perfect.”
“Why didn’t you tell me who they were sooner?”
“It’s stupid, really. When I first came to Ink Me, I wasn’t ready to flay myself open for all to see.”
“I can understand that. And I don’t think it’s stupid. ”
“Oh, just wait, it gets better. When Marcus mentioned he was looking to invest in a local LGBTQ company, Alex sprang to mind. So I mentioned it to him.” Jasper sighs. “I should’ve done it right then and there, but I wanted to keep the focus on Alex and his company. He deserved it, and I didn’t want to take anything away from that. And then, well, it had gone on so long I couldn’t find the right time to bring it up.”
“You told me Marcus was your doctor,” I say. Even if it was only that, he still told me something.
“God, I had planned to tell you everything that night. I fucking chickened out. The worry that you’d be upset outweighed the good.”
“You’re telling me now.”
“How are you not mad at me right now? I betrayed you.”
“Jasper, you did not betray me.” I don’t mean to let out a chuckle, but I can’t help it. “You would’ve told me in your own time. I had faith in that… kinda.” I wrap my arms around him, pulling him flush against me. “You told me. You could’ve said nothing when I overheard you talking. You could’ve made up some lie.” I rest my forehead on his. “Instead, you brought me here.”
“I wanted you to see it, to see them.”
I place the softest of kisses on his lips. “Thank you,”
“All right, lovebirds, dinner is almost ready. And if he hasn’t told you by now, dinner is about to be really awkward,” Marcus says from the sliding glass door.
Jasper turns his head and narrows his eyes. “I told him, now get off my back. ”
We walk back inside, and I laugh. Their familiar bickering, a chaotic mix of playful jabs and shared history, feels exactly like family. I see it clear as day now.
Marcus leads us to the dining room. “It smells great in here,” I tell them.
“That’s all Jacob. He’s an amazing cook.”
“Oh, stop. I’m not that good. I just like to dabble from time to time.”
“Tell that to the new kitchen appliances I just had installed so you could…‘ dabble ,’” Marcus points out.
Jacob walks up to Marcus and kisses him on the cheek. “I can’t help if you spoil me rotten. Now everyone sit. Let’s eat.”
The food is amazing, just like they said it would be. Conversation flows freely as Marcus and Jacob tell stories about a young Jasper. I also got a glimpse into their life with Matthew. They were a beautiful throuple filled with so much damn love. You can tell they adore him still by not shying away from their loss. They don’t keep his memory locked away.
“I can’t wait to taste the cupcakes you’re making,” Jacob says. “The carnival was a project very dear to Matthew’s heart. That man had a sweet tooth a mile long, so the carnival was right up his alley.”
Marcus chuckles at the memory. “His favorite was cupcakes. But not just any cupcakes, vanilla cupcakes.”
I whip my head around and look at Jasper. Vanilla. It’s all clicking into place.
“He used to say vanilla because it wasn’t as rich as some other cupcakes and that meant he could eat more before he got a stomachache,” Jasper says with a sad smile. “His logic was flawed.”
Oh, you sweet man. I was so focused on the loss Marcus and Jacob went through that I failed to realize just how much Jasper lost.
“I just know the cupcakes are going to be delicious. The kids are going to love them.”
“My old mixer went kaput on me. I need to pick up a new one quickly.” My cheeks heat at the memory of the wicked things we did with frosting.
“Oh, you have to see the one Marcus got me. Come with me,” Jacob says, his voice bubbling with genuine excitement.
I turn to Jasper, and he nods his head. “Go ahead, Jacob has been dying to show someone who would understand.”
I follow Jacob into the kitchen, where he shows me all the new appliances, not just the mixer.
“And it’s a double oven. I can bake dinner and dessert at the same time. In fact, the pie I made should be just about done. Help me serve?”
“Yeah, of course.” As Jacob is pulling the warm pie out of the oven, I look out over the kitchen and see Jasper and Marcus, who have moved to the living room.
Jasper has a smile on his face. He looks at peace here. Happy, relaxed. A side I don’t think any of us have truly seen.
“You know,” Jacob says, standing next to me. “When Jasper came to us, he was so well-behaved. Almost too well-behaved…” He sets small plates and silverware on the counter in front of us. “But then, slowly, he rebelled. At first, we thought it was us. We were doing something wrong, or maybe we weren’t doing enough, giving him what he needed. It was Matthew who finally put two and two together.”
He looks fondly at Jasper. “He always had a special connection with Jasper. He could see things we never could. Anyway.” He waves his hand in front of his face. “According to Matthew, we weren’t doing anything wrong. No, we were doing something right. After all those years in the system, Jasper, our boy too afraid to make a sound, finally felt safe enough to rebel. There was no more emotionless little boy, who just kept his head down and tried to blend into the background.”
“That must have been so hard for him. Growing up like that.”
“It was, although Jasper will never admit it. It’s sad really. Jasper doesn’t think he has any right to be angry. You see, nothing bad happened to him in these other foster homes. He wasn’t mentally or physically abused.”
“But he wasn’t loved,” I add, and Jacob pats my shoulder.
“I’m so glad he found you, Olly.