Chapter 15 #2
Jasper reaches past me to grab a leather jacket from the hook by the door, his arm brushing mine, and the contact leaves me shivering. Then he grabs keys from the small table.
“Come on,” he says. “I’ll give you a lift home. Takes forever for Ubers and cabs to come all the way up here.”
“It’s okay,” I say quickly. “I don’t want to bother you.”
He smirks, opening the front door and gesturing for me to go through. “No bother.”
As I pass him, he leans in close, his lips almost brushing my ear, and whispers, “We’re a pack. We share.” Then he struts past me like he didn’t just make my knees go weak, and I’m left standing here trying to remember how to function.
Of course, I knew that. Packs share. That’s the whole point.
But not all packs are that open about it. They don’t all actually practice what they preach.
My last pack was supposed to share too. We talked about it, agreed to it, made all these promises about being each other’s everything.
Then I found out one of them had a side Beta girlfriend he was secretly seeing. Someone he didn’t share with the pack and someone he kept all to himself.
It broke me. Made me feel like I wasn’t enough and that I wasn’t the center of anyone’s world the way I’d thought I should have been. But I shove that emotion aside, refusing to let that old hurt bother me anymore.
“Come on, before you freeze,” Jasper calls from outside.
I follow him out onto the driveway and stop short.
It’s not snowing today. The sun is climbing over the mountains, painting the sky in brilliant shades across the heavens. The air is crisp and cold but clear, and it’s going to be a gorgeous day.
Jasper is heading toward the garage, pressing a button on his keys, and a huge side door begins to pull up.
Within moments, a silver Ferrari rolls smoothly out of the garage, all sleek lines and elegance. It’s not a typical sports car, though. It’s bigger, more like an SUV but clearly expensive as hell. The prancing-horse logo gleams on the front grille.
Shit. Who is this guy?
The passenger window slides down. “You coming?” Jasper asks.
I approach the car like it might bite me, opening the passenger door carefully. “I feel like I need to take my shoes off before getting in this thing.”
He laughs. “It’s a car, Anita. Not a museum.”
I climb in, trying not to touch anything unnecessarily. “This is probably worth more than my entire life.”
“It’s a Purosangue,” he says with a shrug, like that means nothing. “Ferrari’s first SUV. Figured it made more sense for the weather up here than a 488.”
“Oh, well, obviously,” I say, my voice dripping with sarcasm. “Can’t be driving around in just any Ferrari.”
He grins, and we’re pulling out of the driveway.
The interior is all leather and high-tech displays and that new car smell that probably costs extra. Everything is modern and so far beyond my tax bracket that it’s almost funny.
“You comfortable?” he asks, glancing over at me.
“Terrified I’m going to somehow damage something, but otherwise great.”
“Relax.” His hand briefly touches my knee, a gesture that sends tingles racing up my thigh. “I’m not worried about the car. I’m more interested in making sure you’re okay.”
“I’m fine,” I say automatically.
He glances at me again, those ice-blue eyes assessing, and I know he doesn’t believe me. I swallow. “By the way, thank you for the flowers. They’re gorgeous.”
He grins. “You’re welcome. You deserve so much more.”
I can’t stop the smile on my lips or the shyness creeping up my neck at his words.
We drive in silence for a moment, the car handling the winding roads with ridiculous ease. No sound from the engine, just smooth acceleration and the softest hum.
I keep catching him staring at me. Quick glances when he thinks I’m not paying attention, and every time our gazes meet, the corner of his mouth curls up.
“Look, about earlier,” I start, needing to address this before it gets more awkward. “I just want you to know that I wasn’t trying to—”
“I meant what I said,” he interrupts, his voice firm. “The only thing you should know is that Slater’s going to feel left out. And that I need to see you again to make up for last night.”
I blink at him and arch an eyebrow sarcastically while my entire body flushes hot.
My knees start bouncing, realizing time is running out and I need to get home to shower and dose myself with suppressants and patches and hope to God it’s enough, seeing as I forgot to take my pills last night.
Jasper is grinning at me now, clearly amused by my fidgeting. “You okay over there?”
“Fine. Totally fine. Just thinking.”
“About?”
I decide deflection is my best option. “So, what, you think it’s your turn now with me?”
He laughs, and I can absolutely drown in that sound. “Only if that’s what you want, of course. But if it were up to me? Hell yeah. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since that kiss. You’ve done something to me, Anita. Something I’ve never felt before.”
My heart stutters.
I want to flirt back, to say fuck it to all of this and just fall into their arms completely.
See if maybe the universe is kind enough to give me a second chance at finding a pack who will actually adore me.
Because despite the hurt and the betrayal and the walls I’ve built, I’m apparently still a foolish romantic at heart.
I got burned badly. Watched my dreams of a perfect pack life go up in flames. Promised myself I’d never be that vulnerable again.
But somehow, deep inside, I still crave a pack who will love me the way I deserve to be loved.
Is that so wrong?
Then reality crashes back in. The investigation. The lies. The fact that I’m pretending to be someone I’m not. The mess I’ve created that’s only getting more complicated by the second.
I laugh, trying to break the tension. “You’re very confident for someone who just picked up his packmates’ one-night stand.”
“Is that what you think this is?” His voice is serious now. “A one-night stand?”
“Isn’t it?”
“Not if I have anything to say about it.”
We’re pulling up to my apartment building now, and I’m both relieved and disappointed. I need to get out of this car before I kiss him again.
He parks but doesn’t immediately unlock the doors.
“I know you need to go,” he says. “But I’m into sharing, Anita. That’s who we are as a pack. But I also need more time alone with you. Just us. No distractions.”
“Jasper—”
“If you’re free tonight, I’d love to take you out. Coffee, dinner, whatever you want. Just let me have a few hours with you.”
I’m mesmerized by this man. Completely swooning despite my best efforts. He has these qualities that just engulf me. That intensity in his eyes, the way he stares at me like I’m the only thing that matters, the careful way he touches me.
I want to fall in love with him. God help me, I want to so badly.
But with that thought come all the danger bells. All the reasons why I can’t let myself dream like that.
“I’ll let you know,” I manage. “I have to go. I’m really late.” I reach for the door handle, but his hand catches mine.
“Anita.”
I glance back at him, and the expression on his face steals my breath. Open. Honest. Hopeful.
“Just think about it. Please.”
“Okay,” I whisper. “I will.”
I gently draw my hand free from his and climb out of the car, and it takes everything I have not to look back as I rush toward my apartment building.
I know he’s watching me until I’m inside as I can feel his stare on me, and only then do I hear the engine purr to life again as he drives away.
I take the stairs two at a time, heart thudding wildly for so many reasons, but just as I reach the second floor, an apartment door creaks open beside me.
“Didn’t peg you for the type to slum it with Jasper,” a voice calls out lazily.
I pause, hand tightening on the railing as I glance over to find Sandy leaning against the doorframe of her second-floor apartment.
Barefoot, in tiny shorts and an oversized sleeping tee, she sips a green smoothie from a drink bottle and smiles like a woman who thinks she has the upper hand.
She used to date Jasper, from what I learned on my first day in town, but it ended badly when Jasper didn’t want anything serious.
“Hi, Sandy,” I say sweetly, offering her my best not-so-innocent smile. “Ready for the day?”
“Well,” Sandy says, swirling her smoothie like it’s a martini. “Didn’t think Jasper was the type to offer rides home. But I guess everyone gets their turn.”
“Morning to you too, Sandy.” I keep my voice light.
Her smile widens, sharp as glass. “Jasper’s got a habit of bringing strays home. Makes him feel needed, you know?”
I pause a few steps up, turning to face her fully. “Guess you’d know all about that.”
Her jaw tightens, but she recovers with a shrug. “Just don’t get too comfortable. He always gets bored eventually.”
I smile, slow and sharp. “If he wanted predictable, he wouldn’t have brought me home.” Then I jog up to the third floor and disappear inside my apartment, locking the door behind me with a quiet exhale, not needing an ex’s crap when things are already chaotic in my life.
I strip off my clothes and step into the shower, turning the water as hot as I can stand. My skin flushes beneath the spray, but it’s not enough to wash away the heat coiled inside me or the echo of Sandy’s bitterness still clinging to my thoughts.
One thought keeps circling as the water pours down.
How the hell did I end up here… and why does it feel like I’m only getting in deeper?