Page 11 of Only Ever Yours

Chapter Ten

Hollis

The sound of Gil’s voice filled me with dread. What the hell was he doing here? And more to the point, how the hell did he know I was here?

Jase shot me a quizzical look, but before I could say anything, my ex-boyfriend appeared.

“How the hell did you get in?” I hissed.

Gil sneered at me. “I told Kim I was concerned about you. She gave me a spare key.”

I didn’t like to think about how he had managed to persuade Kim to hand over a key or the threats he might have made.

Before I could say anything, he turned his attention to Jase.

“And who’s this? Your new lover? Didn’t take you long to move on, did it?

Or were you already seeing him when you were with me?

No, that couldn’t have been true because I would have known if you cheated. ”

The quizzical expression turned darker as Jase listened to what Gil accused me of. I wished he hadn’t been there to witness it although I was glad he was because, at least, I knew someone had my back .

I swallowed, trying to keep my voice from shaking. “He’s a good friend.”

“Of course, he is. You had a lot of male friends you went out with.” Gil stepped towards me, and my instincts made me move backwards.

Jase noticed the action, his eyes darting between us. “I’m a friend of her brother,” he growled. “Not that you care.”

“How did you know I’d be here?”

My ex pulled his phone out of his pocket. “You must have realised I’d been tracking your location for months. When I noticed you were travelling this morning, I thought I’d take the opportunity to catch up.”

“You. Did. What?” I could hardly believe what Gil was saying. Now it all made sense. How he’d turn up on a night out when I hadn’t told him where I’d be. I felt sick.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Jase’s hands balling into fists. I didn’t want him to do anything he might regret and blocked his path to Gil.

“Nothing I hadn’t done when we were together. I like to know where you are.” A manic grin crossed his features.

“She’s not with you anymore. Stay away from her.” Jase’s voice came from behind me. “I think you need to leave while you can still walk.”

“Ooh, threats.” Gil’s grin grew wider. “I think I could take you in a fight.”

Given Jase towered over Gil and had a good few pounds on him, I doubted his claim. Plus, Gil wasn’t exactly known for fighting, but Jase could handle himself.

Jase let out a laugh. “Then let’s take this outside, mate.” He sidestepped me and advanced on Gil.

“Let’s not be too hasty.” Gil moved backwards, turning towards me with a pleading look on his face. “I only wanted to see you again.”

“I’m pretty sure she didn’t want to see you, so why don’t you fuck off?”

Gil stared at me, then at Jase. “Good little guard dog you’ve got here.” He narrowed his eyes. “I’ve got a date tonight, and I don’t want to turn up with a black eye. I’ll say goodbye, Hollis. For now, anyway.” He blew me a kiss and walked out.

A couple of moments later, I heard his footsteps, then the front door opening before it slammed shut.

Slumping back against the wardrobe door, I let out a huge breath.

“That guy is seriously damaged.” Jase waved his hands around. “What the hell happened between you two? Did he ever hurt you?” Concern radiated across his face, and I knew I’d been right about him being protective of me.

“It doesn’t matter.” I brushed it off. “Let’s get my stuff packed and get out of here. I want to go home.”

We worked quickly to get all my belongings packed away into the boxes. Jase loaded up the van and waited while I did a final sweep of the place. It had worked well as a bolthole after I’d moved out of Gil’s, but I was glad to leave it behind.

By the time we left, it was close to five o’clock.

As predicted, traffic was gridlocked, and to make matters worse, it had started to rain.

We sat in silence while the radio blared in the background.

Inane DJ chatter filled the van, the only other sound an occasional squeak from the windscreen wipers on the glass.

After we finally got out of London, I expected the journey to be much better.

It turned out I couldn’t have been more wrong.

If we got above forty miles an hour on the first motorway, we were lucky.

The weather worsened the closer we got to Maplebrook, and the drive was stop-start for ages until we ground to a halt again.

“I just want to get home!” I wailed, knowing I was being unreasonable. Jase was doing me a favour, and I didn’t want to come across like a spoiled brat. But I was tired, the run-in with Gil had unnerved me, and I wanted to get as far away as possible.

“Why don’t you check a travel app and see if you can work out what’s going on?” He sounded as tired as I did.

Fishing my phone from my bag, I held it in my hand and stared at it. “How could he do that?” I wondered, my tone barely above a whisper. “He’s been tracking me?”

Without taking his eyes off the road, Jase reached for my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “We’ll sort it out. Get you a new phone. Whatever it takes to get that fucker out of your life for good.”

I squeezed his hand before he took it back. “Let me see what’s going on with this traffic.” I wished I hadn’t as I read the updates. “There’s been an accident farther down the motorway and no idea of when it will be cleared. They’re suggesting various diversions. It could take hours.” I sighed.

Jase rubbed a hand over his face. “I don’t know about you, but I can’t take sitting in this van much longer. What do you say we get off at the next services? Get something to eat and see how things go.”

The slice of banana cake had been hours ago, and while I didn’t have much of an appetite, I couldn’t deny Jase his request.

“Sure. Sounds good.”

It took us a further half an hour to get off the motorway, and it seemed everyone else had the same idea.

The place was packed, and in the end, we managed to find a couple who were prepared to share their table with us.

I got us burgers, chips, and fizzy drinks, pretty sure anything I couldn’t eat Jase would be able to finish.

I nibbled on a few fries and had a couple of bites of the burger before pushing it away.

Jase eyed it. “You finished with that?”

I nodded, sucking the Coke up my straw.

“Mind if I have some?”

I shook my head.

“You can talk to me, you know,” he teased after my two silent responses.

Does he mean now or about what happened with Gil?

Without elaborating on what he meant, he bit a large chunk out of my discarded burger, pushing his unlocked phone towards me. “You can check what’s going on with the accident.”

“Hmm. Don’t think you’re going to like this, though.

” After about a minute, I turned the phone around to him, which said there was still recovery work going on and there was still no indication when it would be cleared.

We’d already been on the road for almost four hours.

Fatigue washed over me. All I wanted was my bed and some sleep.

Jase balled up the burger wrapper and dropped it into the takeaway bag. “Shit.”

“What are we going to do?”

He leaned back in his seat. “I’m not getting back into the van only to sit in a car park.”

“Me neither.”

“There’s probably a motel here. We could get a couple of rooms.”

I considered his suggestion for a moment. After everything that had happened with Gil, I didn’t really want to be on my own. “Or we could just get one. It would be cheaper.”

The words were so casual, so simple.

He raked a hand through his hair, and I could see him chewing on the inside of his cheek as he considered what I’d said. After a beat, he lifted one shoulder. “Let’s see what they’ve got.”

We stared at each other across the table. Lightning lit up the sky outside, followed by a rumble of thunder. No improvement in the road situation and no improvement in the weather either. The odds were conspiring against us.

Jase put our rubbish in the bin, and we went into the foyer of the services. Sure enough, a popular chain hotel had a place right next door. We dashed outside, trying to shelter as best we could from the rain, and headed into the hotel.

“Hello, folks. Pretty bad out there, isn’t it?” The receptionist behind the desk had clearly had the same conversation more than once this evening. “What can I do for you?”

I stepped towards the desk. “Um, we wondered if you had a room? The traffic is too bad for us to get home tonight.” I glanced nervously at Jase.

“That’s not a problem. There aren’t too many people who stay here unless they’re going to the airport for an early flight. We have availability.” The receptionist tapped on his keyboard. “I just need a few details for the booking.”

“I’ll get it.” Jase reached into his pocket for a method of payment, but I slapped his hand away.

“We’re here because you’re doing me a favour, so I’ll pay.” I gave the receptionist the information he needed, then handed over my card. Once he’d processed the payment, he gave it back, along with a keycard for the room.

“Check out is at ten-thirty in the morning. We don’t offer breakfast, but the cafés in the building next door usually open from seven.

If you take the lift up to the first floor, your room is to the left.

” He pointed us in the direction of the lift.

“Have a good stay, and enjoy your evening.” The polite goodbye was tinged with a smirk.

“He probably thinks we’re hooking up,” I observed.

“And that’s a bad thing because…?”

“Don’t ruin it.” I punched Jase on the arm.

We headed to the lift and went up the one floor, then along to the room. I waved the key card over the panel and pushed open the door. The room was exactly as I’d expected. A large bed made up with plain white bedding, a desk with the obligatory complimentary teas and coffees, and a television.

“We should have got a twin room.” I sighed.

“Bit late now.” He shrugged, then stretched out on the bed, placing his hands behind his head. “Ah, this is more like it.”

Seeing him lying there, the realisation we were actually spending the night together hit home. Sure, absolutely no romance would be involved, but we would be sleeping next to each other. In very little clothing.

“Jase…” I put on my best please help me voice. “Could you get some of my stuff from the van?” I plucked at my cardigan. “I don’t want to sleep in this.”

Without hesitating, he replied. “Sleep in your pants. It’s what I’m gonna do.”

My eyes widened. This was exactly the thing I wanted to avoid. Jase, half-naked beside me. Full-on temptation right there.

“Please? I know exactly which box I need.” I clasped my palms together in mock prayer. “And could you pick up toothbrushes and toothpaste? I really want to brush my teeth.”

He puffed out his cheeks with a good-natured huff and gave me a half-grin. “Fuck me, you’re high maintenance.” He shuffled back into an upright position and swung his legs off the bed. “Which box do you need, Princess?”

“It’s the smallest box; I think it was the last one we put in. Thanks, Jase. I really appreciate it.” I smiled, the most genuine one I’d had all day.

“Anything else while I’m there?” he grumbled.

“Nope. Just that and the bathroom stuff, and we’ll be good.”

Jase swiped the keycard off the bedside table and left the room. Once he had left, I sank down on the bed, suddenly exhausted by the events of the day. I pulled my phone out of my bag with every intention of checking on the status of the accident, but the messages on the screen distracted me.

Gil

You chose that meathead over me.

Gil

You’ll regret it.

Gil

It won’t be long before you’re crawling back.

Gil

I know where you live. Remember that.

Bile rose in my throat. My hand shook as I hovered over his name, getting ready to finally block him.

If I thought I could get rid of him easily, it seemed I was mistaken.

I screwed up my eyes, trying to rid myself of the headache starting to form in my temples.

What the hell had he used to track me anyway?

I stabbed away at my phone, looking at all the apps and seeing nothing unusual.

Too tired to deal with it now, I’d deal with it later.