Chapter 19
Did Jasper tell me anything useful? Of course not.
Did we spend the whole night having sex, over and over again, and whenever one of us started to fall asleep, the other woke up just to have sex one more time? Of course we did.
I only got back to my room at six in the morning, after I heard some noise in the bathroom and panicked that I wouldn’t be able to sneak out without someone seeing me. But I only managed a short nap before my alarm went off and I had to get up, get dressed, and head to the DJ’s studio downtown.
Will I spend the entire drive trying to squeeze the truth out of him? Of course I will.
You didn’t go through what I went through with Mila this morning. I won’t survive this crap much longer.
I set the meeting with the DJ for 10 a.m., which means that, at exactly 9:30, Jasper is already waiting outside by the car. So disgustingly hot. Standing there with his arms crossed, one leg bent against the door, wet hair, fresh as ever and disgustingly hot. Did I mention disgustingly hot?
He lifts his head when he sees me walking toward him, but our eyes barely meet before I’m already asking, “Is he involved in something serious?”
“Good morning, Julie,” is all he says.
“Maybe for you, because I woke up with blonde hair falling in my face and the bulging eyes of a complete psychopath telling me to get up and go find out whether her relationship is falling apart.”
“I thought you woke up with a hard dick rubbing against your back.”
Asshole.
I swallow hard. My thoughts jumble, and for a moment I don’t even remember what I was saying.
“The second time I woke up,” I mutter, my hands waving clumsily in the air, forced to admit the truth. “And you lied to me, by the way.”
“I didn’t lie.”
“You did. You said we’d find a way to solve this last night.”
“I did. And I also said you could try getting the truth out of me using whatever methods you wanted.”
“So…” I prompt him to keep going, because in my head, that’s exactly what happened: he lied.
“So you didn’t do that. You just melted the second my hand reached your panties and forgot about the rest.”
Good God, it’s too early for this level of rage. I haven’t even had coffee. I already hate everyone if I haven’t had my coffee as it is.
“You pig!”
Jasper doesn’t even move. His lips just curl into a sideways smirk.
“You need to learn how to play dirty, babe. I’ve been doing this kind of thing for many, many years.”
Because I’m a badass Stanford lawyer, that’s what he’s going to say next, I’m sure. But before he can brag any further, I snap, “Don’t call me ‘babe.’ I’ll drive this car off a cliff with both of us inside.”
And I mean it.
I don’t even know if Cancún has cliffs high enough for that kind of thing. But if Jasper Hassmann starts calling me babe, I’ll definitely find one.
“In your dreams you’re driving,” he fires back.
I lift the key in my hand to show him.
His smirk widens.
He slips a hand into his pocket and pulls out a key identical to mine. Then he presses the button. The car beeps, the headlights flash, and I feel the vibration of the locks unlocking behind him.
I press my key. The lights on the minivan across the garage flash. Fuck me.
Even if I wanted to… even if I were stubborn enough to drive a nine-seat minivan when it’s just the two of us going to see the DJ, I couldn’t. Because the SUV is parked in front of the gate, blocking the exit.
“You’ve got the wrong key, babe,” Jasper says, making sure I heard it loud and clear.
How? Someone please tell me how someone can be this stupid and still be that good in bed?
God, I need coffee!
I need coffee or I’m going to kill someone today.
“You could at least stop being useless and, instead of standing here waiting, have gotten me some coffee.”
“Coffee?” His arms stay crossed, but his body shifts as he turns to face me fully.
And obviously to remind me how small and harmless I look next to him.
“You wanted me to walk into the kitchen, in front of everyone, and then wait out here with coffee for you?” he asks.
I shrug like I don’t see where the problem is. Yes, Assman, exactly that.
“And why don’t we just go in there now and start making out on the counter? That’ll be way less shocking than me waiting for you with coffee.”
I’m laughing, but it’s pure contradiction, because I’m laughing and furious at the same time.
What would be more shocking? Us making out in front of everyone in the kitchen? Or him committing one single act of kindness and bringing me coffee?
Even I’m not sure.
“What do you think Mila will say?” he keeps provoking.
“She won’t say anything, because none of that is happening and she’ll never find out. I’ll buy my coffee on the way.”
I’m already getting ready to step out and end the conversation when I notice his expression flickers with doubt, so I spin back immediately, one step closer than before, just enough for him to feel threatened before he tries anything stupid.
“Maybe not today, but someday she will. Because you’re gonna keep coming back for more.”
“Keep dreaming, Jasper! You’re totally delusional if you think I’ll ever go this insane at any other point in my life besides now to end up doing something like this again.”
He raises an eyebrow, in the sexiest way he can manage, and leans farther over the car, lowering himself so he can bring his face close to mine and whisper, low and smug, “Oh, Julie, no one’s ever going to fuck you the way I did.
At some point, you’re gonna slip. Either back into my bed, or someday, after too many Margaritas, you’re gonna let slip the story about how, once upon a time in Mexico, you and I made the walls tremble. ”
I meet his gaze, trying to be angry but I can’t.
Not in the real definition of the word, I mean. It’s always angry and somehow dying to kiss him as well. And of course he does these things on purpose because, apparently, leaving me like this is his new favorite sport.
My eyes linger on his for way too long, and it feels like we’re both saying things no words ever could.
I’m almost convinced that the DJ is going to have to wait, because there’s going to be a delay if we keep looking at each other like this, but suddenly we both hear footsteps approaching, and whatever was happening isn’t happening anymore.
Jasper straightens immediately, stepping away from the car. His face shifts, from shameless teasing back to cool and unaffected.
A moment later, Cordelia steps out from behind the minivan and heads toward us.
“You guys want company for the trip?”
“Trip?” Jasper asks, and I don’t know why he sounds a little stunned. Maybe the interruption. Or the fact that we’re only going downtown to see the DJ, and that’s like ten miles at most.
“I’ve got some song requests for the DJ,” she says.
“Me too!” Suzi appears from the same direction, and I swallow hard as she approaches.
“You don’t mind, right?” Cordelia insists, pretending she doesn’t know anything that’s going on here. And I can’t tell if I want to kill her or kill myself right now. “We really don’t want to spend the entire night dancing to Y.M.C.A. and the Macarena.”
“I don’t think–” Jasper starts, but even his lawyer skills seem to have taken the morning off.
They walk past us to circle around the car and climb in, while Cordelia orders, “Go up front, Suzi. I’ll sit in the back with Julie.”
Suzi goes, but Cordelia comes straight to us.
“What is happening?” I manage to ask.
“Oh, Mila sent Suzi to try getting information out of him, because she thinks a pretty face will do a much better job than you.”
Jasper shrugs, half agreeing, but still narrows his eyes in suspicion and asks, “And you?”
Cordelia gives a wicked smile, glancing from him to me, then back to him.
“I came just to watch.”
Jasper snaps his head toward me. And here we are again, talking without words. Only when Suzi opens the car door and gets inside that he asks, even though I’m sure he already knows the answer, “You told her?”
“She heard us talking by the pool,” I reply, with a shrug.
“First Tony, now her,” he mutters, pointing at Cordelia. “For God’s sake, Julie, at this rate, people are going to start thinking I’m actually enjoying this.”
My first impulse is to curse him again, but Cordelia beats me to it,
“I still find it fascinating how two people went from this…” She points at us. “To this…” She lifts her hands, left hand forming a circle with thumb and index finger, right hand poking its index finger through it in a back-and-forth motion. “…so fast.”
“We got to this once in college too, Cordelia,” Jasper snaps back. Then he threatens, “Maybe you should ask Robbie what he thinks about it.”
I’m so shocked I don’t even care what he’s implying. Inside the car, Suzi looks around, trying to figure out what’s taking so long, so I whisper, “You what?”
“She plays all sweet and innocent like she accidentally fell in love with Tony, but she banged all of Robbie’s friends before that.”
Robbie’s sister shrugs, completely unbothered.
“All except Connor.”
Ouch.
“Everyone has a limit, Cordelia.”
Just because it’s Jasper, I refuse to let that slide. So I tell him, “Go fuck yourself.”
“What are we waiting for?” Suzi shouts from inside, her voice muffled by the closed windows.
Cordelia bolts around the car, opening her door while yelling, “Play something fun, DJ!”
Suzi turns on the radio.
I look at Jasper again. Point at the car.
“The faster you tell me what’s going on, the faster this ends.”
Reggaeton blasts through the speakers. Then Rihanna. Jasper scrunches up his entire face at the volume.
“Turn it up, bitch!” Cordelia screams from inside.
He inhales, then lets out a long, annoyed breath, clearly irritated by the noise, the chaos, and the fact that our quick drive to the music studio has turned into a road trip.
So, I guess it’s with deep, sincere regret that he tells me, “I can’t.”
And only after that he decides to get into the car.