Chapter 31 – Jasper Cleary
Jasper Cleary
M y grandfather likes Riley. It's not a shocking revelation. She's likeable with little effort. Once she warms up to you and comes out of her shell, she's playful and a blast to be around.
Jamison's pack didn't make the trip to come with him because of conflicting engagements. My brother met Sarah, his omega, before he met his pack. His pack formed around Sarah. The alphas she was meant to be with were drawn to her and surprisingly enough the guys fit well together.
I was there the night my grandfather met Sarah. He spoke to her for a bit one on one. He did the same thing with Riley. My palms are sweating as I wipe them against my pants.
My grandfather said the same thing to Jamison that he said to me tonight.
I recommend holding on tight to that one.
The same exact damn words he said to Jamison, he just said to me.
My grandfather stares me down.
Riley is standing a few steps away. She's laughing at something Jamison said.
My grandfather nods to her and gives me a thumbs up.
God, he really must think I'm the dimwitted one of the bunch . I grin, like he's not blowing my fucking mind right now.
My grandad hates ninety-nine out of a hundred people. The only two people I've ever brought around that he liked are Cannon and Riley.
Damn, I guess that says it all.
Cannon pulls Riley a few feet away to dance and my heart pounds violently in my chest as I watch them.
* * *
The host, Jermaine Northbrook, stands up, catching everyone's attention. God, I hate that blowhard old fuck.
My grandfather catches my attention by rolling his eyes. He sure is slow about refocusing on our host.
Riley appears at my side and I wrap my arm around her waist. I pull her in front of me and let her lean her head back against my chest. It also makes it very convenient to grip her hips and feel her soft curves against my hard frame.
Cannon left a few minutes ago. I guess he determined I wasn't going to embarrass or abandon sweet Riley. I also think he wanted to head back before the snow got too thick. It started coming down heavy at some point in the last half hour.
We won't be staying much longer. We'll be leaving as soon as this spectacle is over. The speech drones on and on. Riley grins up at me over her shoulder every so often and fuck does it settle my shot nerves.
"I want to thank you all one final time for joining us for our annual winter gala. As some of you may have heard, my grandson has made the choice to join us in the family business."
Riley sways in front of me.
"He recently retired from professional football and he's taking his rightful place at the family's side. Come on up Jeremy."
Jeremy Northbrook joins his grandfather in the middle of the room. Fuck, he gained a ton of weight since he retired.
"I'd like to publicly announce his engagement to his longtime girlfriend, Cynthia Laraby."
Cynthia joins Jeremy and they kiss.
Long-time girlfriend? That's news to me considering she was basically living with me less than six months ago.
The Northbrook patriarch goes on, but Riley is trembling against my chest.
I spin her around, studying her face.
"What's wrong?" I murmur close to her ear. "Are you alright?"
"Did you know?" Riley whispers, her eyes are closed like she's physically in pain.
"Know what?" I ask, speaking against the shell of her ear. "That's my ex. I'd heard rumors that this would likely happen. Sweetheart, what's wrong?" My hands run over her arms, trying to will her to open her eyes and look at me. "You're starting to scare me."
"Can we please go?" Riley says softly, when she opens her eyes they sparkle in the low light.
"You know Jeremy?" I choke. Literally lose all the air in my fucking lungs. How?
Luckily the crowd is busy clapping and no one overhears my question. Holy fuck. Her ex is a royal piece of shit.
"Jeremy is the girl's father?" I ask, whispering the words into her ear.
Riley doesn't answer, but the look on her face says it all.
"Ohmigod, let's go," I say, pulling her into my chest. "I'm so fucking sorry, Riles. I had no idea. How would I even know?" I ramble heading for the exit.
I start to head for the doors and dig in my pocket to find my phone. I need to call for the driver. As I pull it out, I see three new texts from Cannon. Quickly scanning through them, I glance down at Riley's devastated face.
"Cannon said the road to the island is closed for the night.
It's due to the wind, not the snow. There's the southern road, it might still be passable.
But he also said by the time he made it to the house the snow was so thick he had almost no visibility," I tell her.
"I can ask the car to take us the long way around. "
"No, it's fine," she says. Her voice is hollow of any feeling and it scares the hell out of me. She shrugs. "I might need a good cry. Probably best to do it when the girls aren't around. I don't want them to be afraid or sense my stress."
"Cannon said they're already asleep and Killian is sleeping in with them tonight. If that's okay with you?" I ask.
What the fuck do I do now?
"Where will we go?" she asks, finally making eye contact.
"We could rent a room here or we can stay with my grandfather?" I offer.
Riley frowns. "Here's fine."
I make quick work of renting a room with a king-sized bed. There's no way I can be apart from her tonight. I could not give a fuck less that Cynthia is moving on. Fuck them both. They deserve each other.
Riley is my priority. The room is cool when we walk in, but I set the heater to working at full blast.
Riley frowns. "I really should have brought a coat."
"Take that dress off and I'll give you my undershirt. Then you can climb right under the covers," I say, trying to figure out how this disaster happened. I strip off my jacket and make quick work of unbuttoning my shirt.
Jeremy Northbrook is older than Jamison. My older brother is six years older than I am and he and Jeremy were in high school at the same time. I think Jeremy was a year or two older than Jamison. That fucking makes him give or take thirty-five.
I pull my undershirt off and Riley is still in the same spot. Her stress is acrid in the air. It makes her cake batter scent smell sour.
Fuck my life. How did I get us into this mess? I ask myself feeling helpless as fuck.
Being fucking pathetic and feeling sorry for yourself. That's how, a savage part of me replies.
"Here let me help you out of that dress," I say without a hint of innuendo.
The guys know about the bad weather, but not about her ex. Killian Adler would likely try to make the drive to Riley, weather conditions be damned.
That wouldn't help anything. The Northbrooks are well protected due to their wealth. Killian wouldn't care. If he got arrested that would hurt Riley.
Or that's what I tell myself to justify not telling them. Shit. They're going to hate me for this.
Cannon was starting to laugh at my shitty jokes. I thought there was a glimmer of hope that we could build a friendship again.
I unzip Riley's dress and she steps out of it. She lifts her arms and I pull the soft cotton undershirt over her head.
My shirt is a tight fit over her generous breasts, but it fits loosely everywhere else as it hangs to the top of her thighs.
It'll have to do. My hand lifts her hair, caressing her back as I unclasp the necklace.
I put it down on the desk and turn back, helping her take off the bracelet.
Riley pulls out the earrings and hands them to me.
I guide her over to the bed and pull back the covers. I nod for her to climb in.
Firing off a text to Cannon, I let him know we'll be here for the night and the room number.
Well, he didn't lose his shit, so that's a good sign, I guess? Fuck if I know. Everything is so fucked right now . I can't even think straight.
"I'm cold," she stammers, her teeth chattering. She's buried under the blanket. It's even wrapped around her head. All I can see are her eyes and her nose.
It's not exactly warm in the room, but it's warm enough that she shouldn't be shivering.
"I'll be right back," I say, leaning over to kiss her forehead. "Less than five minutes."
I grab my wallet, my coat with no shirt, and the room key. I stomp back down the hall we came through to get to the room. I spot the ice machine. There are vending machines next to it and I buy several snacks with sugar, sodas, and bottled water.
I'm back in the room and offering Riley several different chocolate bars within three minutes.
"No, I'm good." she says, shoving away my hand.
"I think you're in shock," I say, studying her face.
She gives the weakest excuse for a smile that I've ever seen on her face. "I'm alright, come warm me up."
Dropping everything on the nightstand, I strip out of my coat and pants. I slide into bed next to her. She doesn't even have to be asked, she scoots right over onto my outstretched arm.
"Gramps is cool," Riley says against my chest. The warm heat of her breath fans over my pec. "I think he's lonely. He's the last one alive in his pack?"
Clearing my throat, I freeze. Shit. I am a selfish fuck. I never put much thought into how awful it was for him to lose Grandpa Henry. That was two years ago. My grandma has been gone four. Jesus fuck I'm an asshole.
"Yeah,” I say, holding her close.
"I think he's getting old and he's ready to be with your grandma. But I think he needs to know his family is okay first," she whispers.
All omegas are sensitive to the emotions of others, but what she just said goes way beyond the normal scope of what an omega can do.
"How do you know that?" I ask, running a hand over her back.
"It's just the feeling I got the longer I was close to him. He's lonely and tired. The only time he livened up was when he talked about his wife," she says, staring across the room.
"Will you tell me what's going through your mind, or how I can help you?" I ask, tilting my face down to watch her reaction.