Page 13 of Only Ever Yours

Chapter Twelve

Hollis

As I snuggled against the muscular body next to me, a contented sigh escaped my lips. I shifted slightly to be met by what I could only describe as serious morning wood. My hand flew to my mouth, stifling the strangled sound that replaced the contentment.

We shouldn’t be pressed together this close in bed with his dick that hard.

Sure, since I’d been back in Maplebrook, Jase had been a good friend, and there may have been a little bit of flirting. I deserved some fun after everything that had happened with Gil.

I couldn’t deny his body felt good against mine, though; we fitted together almost perfectly. We’d slept in the same bed before when we were younger, staying over with our friends. It hadn’t mattered back then because I didn’t feel the same way about him as I was starting to now.

Jase stirred, his arm tightening around my waist. I knew if I didn’t move out of his embrace, things might escalate. While it was a nice thought, it didn’t feel like the right time, even after everything that had happened yesterday .

Wriggling out of his grasp, I grabbed my clothes and escaped to the bathroom, hoping I hadn’t disturbed him too much. I stared at my reflection in the mirror, my cheeks flushed, eyes bright, and looking a hell of a lot happier than I had last night.

How much of that had to do with Jase?

Shaking the thought from my mind, I had a quick wash and brushed my teeth. We needed to get back on the road and home, not hang out in a motorway services motel room all day. When I went back into the room, Jase was propped up against the headboard, apparently engrossed in his phone.

“Morning,” I said. “Did you sleep okay?”

He glanced up, barely acknowledging me. “Yeah, not bad. You?”

Well, that was hardly a warm welcome from the man who not twenty minutes ago had pressed his arousal against me.

Then I had a sudden shock of realisation.

Maybe he hadn’t been dreaming about me. Maybe he’d been thinking of Felicity.

And now he was messaging her, saying how much he missed her.

I shook my head. What was I thinking? He can’t be serious with Felicity because Ella would have said something.

And he wouldn’t have had that reaction to me.

“Fine. Thanks.” I forced a smile. “Do you want to get a shower and something to eat before we head off?”

“I think we should hit the road as soon as we can.” He pushed the duvet back, and my eyes fell to his crotch encased in tight boxers. I swallowed. “Why don’t you get us coffees and snacks we can eat on the way?”

At least I could escape for a while and try not to overthink everything. “Sure. Do you want anything in particular? ”

The corners of his mouth tugged up in a small smile. “Surprise me.”

I grabbed my bag and headed out of the door, relishing the brief respite from the awkward atmosphere in the room.

In complete contrast to the previous day, the weather outside was glorious.

Sun warmed my already overheated body, and I wished I had sunglasses with me.

I popped into the main part of the services and bought two coffees, a bottle of water, and an assortment of sweet and savoury pastries, not exactly sure of what Jase might like.

Hopefully, it would keep us going until we got home.

Home.

It had been years since I’d thought of Maplebrook in that way.

The last few weeks had really cemented it.

I had enjoyed living in London, but the pretences that went on there—the keeping up appearances, the one-upmanship—simply weren’t me any longer.

The work I’d started with Finn on the two family businesses felt far more important than the clients I’d worked with in the past. It meant more, and I cared more. I couldn’t wait to get back for good.

When I got back to the room, Jase had dressed and was perched on the edge of the bed, seemingly waiting for me. The green Hollister T-shirt had been folded and placed on top of the box he’d brought in from the van last night. I stifled a smile. Perhaps he hadn’t been thinking of Felicity after all.

“Here.” I held up the bag. “I got options. Do you want something before we go?”

He jumped up from where he sat. “What do you think? Don’t you remember how crabby I get in the morning if I haven’t eaten?”

The easy tone was back, and he seemed more relaxed than when I’d left. All that worry over nothing. He stepped towards me and took the bag from my hand.

“Oh, I love you. A bacon and cheese croissant and a custard Danish.” Jase’s eyes lit up. “You can get me breakfast every day.”

“Hey, I moved back to Maplebrook to look after the family business, not to cook for you.” I put my hands on my hips, pretending to be offended.

“Shame.” He winked, biting into the croissant. “I’ll finish this, then we should get off.”

Ten minutes later, we checked out and went to the van. Jase put the box and the bag with the remains of our feast from the previous evening into the back, and soon, we were off again.

The weather made for a much smoother journey, and we drove back without any issues, the underlying tension between us a thing of the past.

“Where have you two been?” Finn demanded the moment we got through the door.

“Shouldn’t you be at one of your two businesses?” Jase countered.

Finn pointed at the laptop balanced precariously on the arm of the sofa. “I’m doing some admin.” As if trying to contradict him, the laptop fell slightly to one side, and I could see he was on a ticket website, looking at gigs.

“Admin, huh?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Hey, I needed a break, and I have questions for you anyway about next month’s budget.”

“Can I at least get back in the house first?”

Jase stood in the doorway and gestured to Finn. “Give me a hand getting this stuff in? It’ll be quicker with the three of us.”

He wasn’t wrong, and soon, my old life was packed into my new room. Dancing around the boxes, I realised I’d need to have a clear-out because everything from London wouldn’t fit into Maplebrook, in more ways than one.

“Thanks, guys,” I said. “Couldn’t have done it without you. Well, without Jase.”

“Yeah, thanks, mate. You definitely dodged a bullet with this one,” he added, with a sly wink in my direction.

I couldn’t be sure if he was being serious or not. My feelings were confused enough as it was, and I kept telling myself nothing had happened, no matter how much I might want it to.

Once Jase and Finn had left, I was grateful. I needed some alone time and space to think about what the past couple of days had meant. If anything . One thing was certain. I had to sort out a new phone number, one where Gil couldn’t track my movements.

Spending an increased amount of time with Jase alone, plus the overnight stay, had me thinking all sorts of things.

I shouldn’t be interested in him.

I couldn’t be interested in him.

But…

Grabbing my phone from the side, I fired off a message.

I have a problem…

Thankfully, it didn’t take Ella long to reply.

Ella

What’s wrong? Is everything okay? Where are you?

Can you talk ?

Instead of replying, Ella called me straight away. “What’s up? Did something happen?”

Even though I’d made the decision to be honest with Ella, I couldn’t quite work out how to tell her. Or rather, what to tell her. It all sounded a bit like we were back in college.

My friend fancies your friend.

I let out a long sigh. “It’s complicated. And you have to swear not to say anything to Finn.”

“It’s not hard. We’re not exactly speaking.” Her tone was flat. “Anyway, this isn’t about my issues. What’s going on?”

Briefly, I filled her in on the past couple of days with the basic facts: road trip, collecting my stuff, our encounter with Gil, and ending up staying in a hotel because of the weather.

“Ooh, sounds awfully romantic,” she teased.

“That’s exactly it.”

“Oh. My. God. Did something happen with you and Jase?” She could hardly keep the incredulity from her voice. “This is huge.”

“Nothing actually happened.” I took a deep breath. “I got upset over seeing Gil again, and Jase comforted me. We slept in the same bed, and when I woke up this morning, we were all tangled up in each other, and he had a definite case of morning wood.”

The silence coming from Ella’s end of the phone wasn’t what I wanted. I needed good advice, someone else’s opinion about the situation. To tell me I was crazy for thinking of pursuing it. Or to tell me I was crazy if I didn’t.

“Ella?”

“Sorry. I was trying to work out what to say.”

“It’s a bad idea, right? ”

Ella let out a whistle. “It would be complicated. Can you imagine telling Finn you and Jase have hooked up?”

If I thought about it, I probably could imagine it. And it wouldn’t be pretty.

She went on. “I mean, you and Jase have always had an easy, flirty relationship, and it’s obvious he cares about you.”

I thought about how Jase had reacted around Gil. If that didn’t scream concern for someone you liked and respected, I don’t know what did. “Ugh. This is so hard.”

“It’s not been long since you broke up with your ex, and I guess seeing him brought up some stuff for you. Maybe Jase being around gave you something, or rather someone else, to think about?”

Ella’s explanation seemed reasonable. But I knew it ran deeper than that, and the past few weeks had confirmed it. I made a non-committal sound as she continued.

“Part of me wants to tell you to go for it. But I’m scared about how Finn might react. You have to consider whether pursuing Jase is something worth risking your relationship with your brother over.”

I hated the fact she spoke a lot of sense.

Why Jase? When there were millions of other men in the world, why did I have to like this one?