Page 10 of Only Ever Yours

Chapter Nine

Jase

“So why can’t you do it?” I folded my arms across my chest.

Finn dangled the van keys at me. “Because I’ve got a meeting with a possible new trainer at the gym.”

“And that’s going to take you all day, is it?”

He shrugged. “It might. I’ve arranged for Rod to cover in the garage today. Take the day off for once.”

I frowned. “What’s in it for me?”

“The pleasure of spending the day with my sister and knowing you’ve done me a favour?”

The thought of a day with Hollis didn’t exactly fill me with dread. But being that close to her for several hours wasn’t going to help the increasing attraction I had towards her since she’d been back. “Can’t you go after you’ve finished your meeting?”

“Fuck’s sake, Jase. It’s driving up to London, picking up some stuff from Hollis’s place there, and coming back. It’s hardly brain surgery.”

I knew that. The tasks in question weren’t anything I hadn’t done before.

But I hadn’t done them with Hollis. Since she’d moved in, I couldn’t stop thinking about her, and it drove me insane.

Felicity had been pestering me to come over; however, I’d refused.

Sleeping with her wouldn’t help, and I didn’t want to lead her on.

“What’s not brain surgery?” Hollis came into the kitchen dressed in the tightest of skinny dark blue jeans, a white T-shirt that clung to her curves, and a cropped red cardigan.

My dick twitched. That was the exact reason I couldn’t be with her for any length of time.

“Jase is going to take you to pick up your stuff.” Finn nodded in my direction.

Her head swivelled towards me, then back to her brother. “He’s what? I thought you were coming with me?”

Finn walked towards the door. “Got a meeting I can’t miss. Have fun, kids.” Then he was gone, leaving me and Hollis alone, staring at each other.

Hollis rummaged in her handbag. “It’s okay. I can wait until Finn can take me. I don’t need my stuff.”

I hefted out a sigh. “He’s got me covered in the garage, so I have nothing to do today. I’ll take you.”

She tilted her head and stared at me for a few moments, an almost uncomfortably long time. “I guess I would like my clothes back.”

Appraising her outfit again, I grinned. “Oh, I don’t know. That’s a cute outfit.”

“Which I can’t wear seven days a week.” She rolled her eyes. “Okay. Let’s go.”

Twenty minutes later, we were already stuck in traffic.

“We should have waited until after rush hour to leave.” I leaned over and switched the radio on. Anything would be better than total silence for the ridiculously long journey.

“If we’d done that, we wouldn’t have got there until after lunch. Then we’d be leaving London during rush hour and wouldn’t get home until the evening.” Hollis stared out of the passenger window as I glanced over at her. “I’m sure you’ve got plans for tonight.”

I didn’t. Not to mention the unexpected day trip gave me the perfect opportunity not to see Felicity tonight. I didn’t want to tell Hollis, though. “I can always rearrange,” I said, vaguely.

“Ugh. I’m keeping you from a hot date, aren’t I?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Oh, I love this song!” Hollis reached over and abruptly turned up the volume, singing along, nodding her head and waving her hands in the air. I hadn’t seen her this animated since the night we’d gone to the Live Wire Lounge. It made me smile.

A further hour into the journey, Hollis turned to me. “Do you think we could make a pit stop?”

“I thought you didn’t want to be too late getting into London? We’re making good progress.”

She wriggled around in her seat. “I need to use the bathroom. I’ll buy you a coffee.”

We came up to a sign saying there was a service station a mile ahead. I pointed at it. “Do you think you can wait that long?”

Hollis nodded. “Thanks, Jase. I know this is the last thing you wanted to be doing today. I really do appreciate it.”

I indicated to come off the motorway and swung the van into one of the parking spaces. Hollis hopped out of the van straight away and practically ran across the car park into the building. I took my time, grabbing my phone from the pocket in the door.

Finn

How’s it going? Is Hollis driving you crazy yet?

She was but not in the way Finn thought, and I wasn’t prepared to contradict him.

We’ve just stopped for a coffee. Got a couple of hours to go yet.

Finn

You know you’ll have to stop for a bathroom break after she’s had that coffee…

Thanks for the warning. How’s the meeting?

Finn

Oh, the trainer couldn’t make it in the end. We’ve rearranged for some time next week.

Why do I think you’ve stitched me up???

Finn

I don’t know what you mean, lol

Fucker.

Typical of Finn to make me go with Hollis.

He just hadn’t wanted to drive into London and collect her stuff.

It wasn’t the first time he’d landed me with a job he didn’t want to do.

I shoved my phone into my jeans, locked the van, and stalked off into the services to find Hollis.

She was waiting outside one of the coffee concessions.

“Can I get you a coffee and a snack? To say thank you for driving me today?” Her eyes filled with sincerity .

Oh, I’d like a snack, all right. I gave her a sideways glance, checking her out once again.

Instead, I nodded. “Yeah, thanks. I’ll take a black coffee and a slice of banana cake if they have any.”

“You got it.” Hollis gestured to the seating area. “Why don’t you get us a table, and we can take a break?”

Given her earlier comments about the state of the traffic, her suggestion surprised me. A short stop wouldn’t hurt us, though. Plus, I was starving. Finding us a table, I sat down and pulled my phone out again, seeing a message on the screen.

Felicity

Hey babe, are you busy later? Thought we could catch up x

‘Catch up’ was always her shorthand for ‘hook up’ . Ha.

I looked over to where Hollis stood patiently in line to order our drinks and cakes. She and Felicity were the complete opposite of each other, and I knew where my interests were strongest, even if the object of them had no idea how I felt. Ignoring the message, I flipped my phone over and waited.

“I’m sorry it took such a long time.” Hollis placed a tray down on the table between us.

“The woman in front of me ordered some half-shot, decaf, skinny coconut-milk thing, and the poor barista got so flustered, she spilt it everywhere and had to start again. I think she was grateful our order was more straightforward.”

“If you’re going to be running the coffee bar at the gym for Finn, I guess you’ll have to get used to that.” I grabbed my plate and bit into the delicious-looking banana cake, almost instantly feeling my blood sugar levels rise.

“I think I prefer doing all the finance stuff more.” Hollis speared a piece of cake with her fork. “Making coffee makes me feel like I’m back in uni.”

“You’re brilliant at both things.” I held my hands up. “Believe me, all that maths and shit isn’t my strong point. I’m much better with my hands.”

If I wasn’t mistaken, Hollis ran the tip of her tongue over her lips at my last statement.

Fuck.

We got through the rest of the pit stop without any further innuendos. I also took the opportunity for a bathroom break, and we were soon back on the road again.

As we drove along the main A-road into London, the traffic slowed, and we crawled along at a snail’s pace.

“I won’t miss this. I can’t believe it can sometimes take you just as long to do the final part of the journey as it does the rest.” Hollis leaned over and switched the radio off. “Less distraction for when I start giving you directions.”

Again, my mind fell right into the gutter at the thought of her giving me directions… Touch me here. Yes, like that. Harder…

What the fuck am I thinking?

Finn would kill me if he knew anything about what had been going through my head over the past few days.

It might have been a long time ago, but he’d warned all of us away from his sister after one summer holiday where one of our mates at the time had messed Hollis around.

I don’t remember what happened to him, but I didn’t want the same thing to happen to me.

Seeing how he’d looked out for her after the break-up with her latest boyfriend only reminded me of that.

Focusing on the drive, I watched as the scenery changed from the bustling city environment to a more suburban one. Hollis told me where to go, and it wasn’t long before we pulled up outside a row of four-storey terraced houses. My jaw dropped as I realised how much one of these could be worth.

“They’re split into flats,” explained Hollis, taking in my expression. “Otherwise, we’d be looking at a place worth around fifteen mil.”

It really was a whole different world from Maplebrook. We got out of the van, and I stretched my back out. Hollis hadn’t been wrong about the last part of the journey, and I wasn’t used to driving for that length of time.

“Right, let’s do this.” Hollis blew out a breath, and we went inside. I followed her up the first flight of stairs, which gave me the perfect opportunity to check out her arse, to a smartly painted light blue front door. She turned the key in the lock, and we went inside.

I couldn’t help but be impressed by the apartment: all clean lines with lots of space and high ceilings, plus views across the nearby park. I could totally see Hollis fitting right in here, and a part of me questioned why she wanted to stay in Maplebrook permanently again.

“Nice place.” I nodded, wandering through the hallway and poking my head into the living room. “Not a patch on our house.”

She giggled. “Oh, that house has its own charm.”

I hid a smile. “Shall I get the boxes from the van?”

“Please. I’ll start sorting stuff out.”

By the time I got back, I couldn’t see Hollis in the living room. “Hollis? Where are you?” I called.

“In the bedroom.”

Following the sound of her voice, I went into the master bedroom. A huge super-king-sized bed dominated the room, with a sofa at the end of it and a walk-in wardrobe opposite. Hollis stood there, holding the tiniest bright pink lacy bra I had ever seen. I swallowed hard and went in.

“I think these boxes might be a bit big if that’s all you’ve got to go in them.” I dumped the flattened cardboard against the mirrored wardrobe.

She gave me a small smile although her mood seemed to have dipped since we had arrived. I thought this would have been the opportunity she needed to put things behind her, whatever those things were. She hadn’t told me all about them, and I wasn’t about to pry into her business.

“I hadn’t realised I had so much useless stuff.” She dropped the bra back into the drawer she’d been going through. From where I stood, all I could see were pretty lacy things, and I had to look away before she saw how not useless those things were.

Suddenly, banging came from the front door, as if someone were trying to get in.

“Hollis? Are you there?”