Page 16 of Only Ever Yours

Chapter Fifteen

Hollis

I slammed my bedroom door behind me and sank down on the bed.

Why was I getting upset over a stupid game? So what if Jase wanted to fuck and marry Felicity? It was only a game.

I shouldn’t have gone downstairs and got involved in the pre-stag shenanigans because now I was stressing about something that could never happen. Although, the more I thought about it, the more I wanted it to happen.

I want Jase.

I’d known him practically forever, and we’d always had a level of attraction to each other. An attraction that had only increased since I’d moved back home.

And now, I want more.

How had something so simple become so complicated in such a short space of time?

Trying to put the whole situation out of my mind, I snuggled down beneath my duvet and tried to sleep.

As I was about to drop off, my phone vibrated on the bedside table.

It was probably Ella checking what time we were meeting tomorrow.

Ignoring it, I squeezed my eyes shut, only to hear it vibrate again.

Probably an app notification. When it pinged for a third time, I had to find out what was that important.

Jase

I really don’t want to kill you…

Jase

I mean, any of the other options would be way better

Jase

Shit, I’m so drunk right now…

What the actual fuck? I debated whether to reply but took the last message as the truth. If Jase was drunk and I acted on it, and it all went pear-shaped, then I wasn’t sure I could handle it. Taking the sensible approach, I switched my phone off and tried to sleep.

Of course, my brain wouldn’t quit, recalling the events of the evening and going through several scenarios and what-ifs. I dozed on and off, never getting more than an hour. By the time I got up, I felt more tired than when I’d gone to bed.

When I went downstairs, Jase sat at the kitchen table, resting his elbows on the edge, head in his hands, a mug of black coffee in front of him.

“Morning,” I ventured.

At the sound of my voice, his head jerked up. Dark circles ringed his eyes, and he looked like he’d got even less sleep than I did. “Hi.” There was a gravelly rasp to his tone, like he’d drunk and smoked all night. His eyes narrowed as he stared at me. “Did we message last night? Like, late?”

Oh, he can barely remember doing it. Thank God I hadn’t replied .

“No. What makes you think that?” I feigned innocence.

Jase frowned. “Not sure. Just thought I had.” He blew out a breath. “I really shouldn’t have had that last shot. Well, shots really. I have no idea what time I went to bed. My phone’s dead and I haven’t charged it yet.”

“I didn’t hear Barney and Liam leave,” I lied. The front door had banged loudly around three, and I heard one of the neighbours shout out about the noise.

“Yeah, they were still up with Finn. I was out of it.” He leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms up behind his head. The movement made his T-shirt pull tight across his chest, outlining the shape of his nipple ring.

I swallowed hard, my mind going back to the first night I’d been there and seen him coming out of the bathroom, all pecs and tats. “Ready to do it all again tonight?” I asked, trying to drag my mind away from that vision.

“Remind me not to do shots, though.” He laughed. “Or who knows what might happen?”

I turned my back on him, already thinking of what I’d like to happen and knowing full well nothing should.

“Who kept you up last night?” Ella asked as I yawned for about the millionth time. She’d come over to the house to get ready for the hen party, so we could arrive together.

It was on the tip of my tongue to confide in her about Jase, but I stopped myself.

If I told her, she might tell Finn, and then, who knew what would kick off?

Strictly speaking, nothing had gone on between Jase and me although, no matter how hard we’d tried to deny it, there was definitely something brewing.

“Oh, nothing. I was thinking about a work thing and trying to figure out where I’d put this week’s invoices.” I waved a hand to put her off the scent.

“Wow, sounds like an interesting Friday evening.” She chuckled. “Did you know your brother messaged me last night?”

“He what?” My jaw dropped. Finn was always adamant no one mention him and Ella getting back together, and I’d almost given up trying.

She fumbled in her tiny bag for her phone and showed me the screen.

Finn

Hey, Ells, what u up 2? Looking 4ward to seeing you tmrw nite xxx

“Ells?” I raised my eyebrows. “I don’t want to piss on your bonfire, but they were all pretty wasted last night. And that’s a totally un-Finn-like message. You know how he likes to get all the spelling and punctuation right, even in a text.”

Her face fell. “Oh, really? I thought he might have meant it.”

Realising all too late that I had dashed her hopes, I tried to make amends. “I mean, I’m sure he is looking forward to seeing you. Don’t read too much into it, yeah?”

She sighed. “I guess.”

Getting up, I headed for my bedroom door. “I’ll get us a glass of fizz to get us in the mood for tonight, okay?”

“Sure.” Ella stared down at her phone, and I felt bad again.

The house seemed quiet, and I guessed Finn and Jase had already headed off to the club. Going into the kitchen, I went to the fridge and popped open the bottle of champagne I’d bought for the occasion. Then I reached up to the cupboard to get the flute glasses I wanted.

“Trying for a repeat performance of last night?” Jase’s voice surprised me, and I gasped, one of the glasses falling out of my hand and shattering on the floor around my bare feet.

“Shit!” My hand flew to my mouth. “You scared me.”

“Be careful,” Jase warned. “You don’t want to cut yourself on the broken glass. Here, don’t move. I’ll get the dustpan.”

Doing what he said, I stood motionless while he worked around me, all the time acutely aware of how close his face was to my bare legs.

I wore shorts and a bra top, not expecting anyone else to be around while Ella and I got ready.

His breath tickled across my right thigh as he brushed up the last of the glass, and my nipples hardened.

Jase stood, his gaze locked on the sight.

“My work here is done,” he said, dumping the contents of the dustpan in the bin, a wide grin crossing his face. “I’ll probably see you later.”

Once he’d left, I blew out a breath. Seriously, the effect this guy has on me is… I grabbed a fresh glass from the cupboard and headed back upstairs with the bottle.

“Is everything okay? I heard a crash.” Ella barely looked at me from where she applied her mascara.

“Thanks for rushing to my rescue.” I set the bottle and two glasses down on the chest of drawers we were using as a dressing table. “At least, Jase was there to help.”

“Haha, of course he was,” Ella commented around putting on her lip gloss. “He’s come to your rescue a lot lately.”

I ignored her comment and passed her a glass instead. “To us finding a couple of eligible bachelors tonight.”

And not being hung up on the people we can’t have, I added silently .

Ella laughed. “To be fair, I’d take an ineligible one right now.”

An hour later, we were at the club with Lenora, her two sisters who were also going to be bridesmaids, and a few of her friends from work.

Despite the hen and stag parties being a joint effort, we weren’t actually hanging out with the guys, which meant I didn’t see Jase until a while after we’d arrived—when the two groups merged.

He stood beside me and leaned in to whisper in my ear. “Hey, are you okay after earlier? You didn’t find any glass shards at all?”

The feel of his breath tickling my neck sent tingles rippling down my spine, and I clutched my drink tighter.

If only he knew how he affected me.

“No, I’m all good, thank you.”

“What happened last night…” he began.

He didn’t get the chance to finish his sentence before Ella gate-crashed our intimate moment.

She grabbed my arm. “You’ll never guess who I’ve just seen.”

Turning my attention towards her and away from the tense situation with Jase, I shrugged. “I don’t know. Who?”

“The barman from Bar 1380 who tried to chat me up the night you arrived back in Maplebrook.”

I laughed. “I thought he was too young for you.”

She tilted her head to one side. “A girl can change her mind, right? And it’s not like Finn’s interested, remember?”

I winced at her last comment, reminding me of what I’d said earlier. “I guess. We should have fun like we said we were going to.” As I spoke, I made eye contact with Jase and smiled.