Chapter Seven
Jasper
"Boo!" Olive says, popping up in my living room like the goddamn Ghost of Biochemists Past before I even make it over the threshold after dropping Sarah off at her car.
"Jesus Christ," I groan. "Why did I give you a key?"
"Uh, rude," she says, tossing her hair. "And you didn't give me one. I stole it and copied it, and there's nothing you can do about it."
I chuckle, shaking my head. "Why aren't you at work?"
"Harassing you is more fun than looking at my boring data." She smirks at me, perching on the arm of my couch. "Where were you?"
"Busy."
"Uh-huh. I noticed that Sarah's car wasn't home when I drove by her place this morning," she says. "And then you weren't home, either."
"Huh. Weird," I mutter, stomping past her into the kitchen.
"Jasper!" she cries, rushing after me. "Don't you dare leave me in suspense. I'll disown you."
"I don't want to inherit your wicked little dog, baby sister."
"Whatever. You adore Oscar." She jabs me with her fingernail. I don't know how the fuck she does it, but I swear to Christ, she hits the same sensitive spot she always hits, like she has the goddamn thing burned into muscle memory. "Spill. How did it go?"
"We woke up drunk and married in Vegas," I say, deadpan.
She eyes me levelly. "You know you gave me Power of Attorney over you and made me your beneficiary, right? If you accidentally stop breathing one day, I can legally steal all your shit and tell them to pull the plug."
"Jesus Christ," I bark laughter. "When did you get so savage?"
"Uh, when you went out with my best friend and decided to kill me with suspense," she cries. "What happened?"
"See, I would have told you," I say, striding across the kitchen to grab water from the fridge. "But that was before you made my life far more difficult than it had to be by not telling her that I was her date, Ol. So, I'm mad at you, and I'm not telling you shit."
"It was part of the plan."
"You told her that my name was Alex."
"It's your middle name," she says, shrugging. "And again, it was part of the plan."
I take a swig from the bottle and then lower it. "Uh-huh. And did you consider that your plan might have flaws?"
"Did you two have a good time?" she asks.
I just take another drink.
"Did she come home with you? And you might as well not even try to lie because your whole house smells like sex, Jasper," she says, wrinkling her nose. "If that's not because Sarah was here, I'm going to steal all of your shit and tell them to pull the plug way sooner than you think."
"What the fuck?" I scowl at her. "Why the fuck would I bring some other woman here? You know damn well that I don't do that." Other women don't even exist to me.
"So it was Sarah!" she cries.
Goddammit.
Now she knows that last night went great and that we slept together.
I didn't even tell her a damn thing, and she knows…
the same way she always knows shit. Like I told her yesterday, she could hound the devil out of hell and run the place herself.
It'd be more chaotic, but far more efficient, that's for damn sure.
"My best friend and my idiot brother are getting married!" she cries, doing a little jig in my kitchen. "I'm so happy."
Jesus.
"I need you to rein it in, Ol," I mutter. "Sarah isn't ready for anyone to know about us yet."
"What? Why?" She narrows her eyes on me. "What did you do?"
Had her calling me Daddy like she meant it all the way to her soul.
I can't say that, though.
"Nothing," I lie. "She's just…shy. She doesn't like being the center of attention. So you aren't going to stress her out about this. You aren't going to mention a damn thing to her. When she's ready to talk, she will."
"But—"
"No," I growl, my voice firm. "I know you mean well, but I need you to hear me on this, baby sister. Let it the fuck go. Don't get in the middle, not right now. I don't want her bolting, and that's exactly what will happen."
Olive stares at me, her eyes softening with something a lot like awe. "You really love her, don't you?"
I hesitate, then say fuck it and tell the truth.
"I've spent the last three years convinced I didn't stand a chance.
I was in hell, dreaming about a future I didn't think was even a remote possibility.
I was blind, Ol. So fucking blind," I rasp.
"Now, I need to do this right. I need to make sure she knows that she's safe with me, that I'm not going anywhere, and that I'm going to do right by her.
I need to fix everything I did wrong and earn her—really earn her.
She deserves for me to fight for her the way I didn't even fucking know I was allowed to fight until yesterday.
So I need you to stay out of the way and let me do it. Can you do that for me?"
Olive stares at me for a long moment and then darts across the kitchen, flinging her arms around me hard enough to knock me back a step. "Fine," she whispers fiercely. "I'll behave just this once, but only because I think that might be the sweetest thing you've ever said."
I exhale a breath, relieved my wild ass sister isn't going to be a problem at least this once.
This time, if I fuck up, it'll be all on me.
"Hey. Jasper?"
"Yeah?"
"What do you think happened to her?" Olive whispers, her voice small.
I pause, glancing down at my sister. "What do you mean?"
"Don't do that," she says. "Don't pretend you don't see how scared she is of…well, life, honestly. I know you see it, too."
I swallow, jerking my head in a nod. Yeah, I see it. I've always seen it. There are entire worlds of grief in her eyes, just waiting to be healed. I intend to do that, even if it takes a lifetime. But I didn't realize Olive saw them, too.
"I don't know," I finally murmur, patting my sister on the back. "But whatever it was, I'm going to make sure she's good now, baby sister. I promise you, I will."
I'm equal parts proud and relieved when I get to the restaurant at five minutes 'til noon to find Sarah waiting on a bench inside, reading.
I stand to the side for just a moment, watching the way her eyes scan across the page. Her lips move periodically, parting on a gasp, flickering with the ghost of a smile. Goddamn, I could watch her all day. She's fascinating, my favorite kind of story.
"Hey, baby girl," I rumble when she turns the page, stepping up in front of her.
She startles, peeking up at me. The way her blush crawls up her cheeks has my dick twitching in my pants.
"Hey!" She quickly closes her book, trying to shove it in her bag, but I hold my hand out.
"May I?"
She hesitates for a split second before dropping it into my outstretched palm. My gaze scans across the title, but it tells me nothing. Neither does the cover. I flip it over to read the back.
Well, then…
My gaze flicks to hers, pinning her to the bench. "Is it any good?"
"Y-yes," she whispers, her voice shaking.
I nod, slipping it into my back pocket.
Her eyes widen, but she doesn't say anything. Instead, she slips her hand into mine, allowing me to pull her up from the bench. I want to kiss her right here, just to watch her tremble for me, but I settle for burying my face in her hair to breathe her in.
"You ready to eat, baby girl?" I rasp against her skin.
"Y-Yes."
I grin at her and then lead her to the hostess, requesting a table in the back. I keep my hand on her the whole time—rubbing the small of her back, stroking her wrist with my pinky—trying to get her used to being touched in public.
By the time we're led to our table in the very back corner, she's a trembling mess at my side.
I tuck her into the corner of the booth and then slide in beside her. She likes that. She grins up at me, just a tiny little smile.
It sets my blood on fire.
"You need time to look at a menu, or do you want those chicken tenders you didn't get last night?"
"The chicken tenders," she says.
I hand the menus back to the hostess. "We already know what we want."
"Cool." She smiles at me. "I'll go ahead and put it in for you, then send your waitress with your drinks."
I order quickly, and she hurries off, leaving us alone.
"How did your morning go?"
"I walked into a dildo argument," Sarah mutters.
"A what?" I blink.
Her cheeks turn pink. "Um, we have a display at the store. Lilah and Jazz were arguing about whether it was big enough when I got there."
"Ah," I murmur and then chuckle. "So…working at a bookstore is the equivalent of working on base, then."
She tilts her head up to me, smiling. "You mean your coworkers brandished sparkly dildos like weapons, too?"
"Not exactly," I chuckle. "But there was always one guy who thought shit could be bigger, and one who thought it was big enough."
"That sounds about right." She smiles up at me. "Jazz won. The display is staying. So is the annihilator."
"Annihilator?" I don't know why I ask. I'm pretty sure I don't even want to know. But her talking about vibrators and dildos in that sweet voice of hers? Yeah, I'm all over that.
"Um, the sparkly pink dildo," she mutters, squirming a little. "It's big."
"Yeah?" I grin. "How big are we talking here?"
"B-big."
"Would you still feel it tomorrow?" I ask, my hand sliding to her thigh. I slip it higher, pressing it between her legs. "If it were right here, would you remember it?"
"Yes," she moans, her eyes heating.
I grind my palm against her, just to hear that sharp intake of breath and the way it stutters out.
"Do you still feel me right here, baby girl?" I press my lips to the side of her throat. "Are you all achy for me?"
"Yes," she whimpers, and then, in the tiniest of whispers, "Daddy."
Fuck. I love that. I just want to eat her all up whenever she says it.
I reward her by grinding my palm against her pussy again, and then just rest my hand there, leaving it. I want her to get used to me—to being touched, to being loved, to being stripped of every defense. It's what she needs. It's what she craves, too.