Page 3 of Only Ever Yours

Chapter Two

Hollis

Dumping my bags on the bed, I surveyed my surroundings.

Sure, it was a far cry from the cute apartment near Holland Park I’d been staying in recently, but being back in my old bedroom brought back a lot of memories.

Whenever I’d visited Maplebrook in the past couple of years, I’d always stayed with a friend, or even at a hotel, because staying with Finn, Jase, and Barney left a lot to be desired.

It had been less of the home I’d remembered and more like a frat house.

It needed a little bit of freshening up—the distinct smell of boy definitely hung in the air—and the decor was pretty basic now.

Tentatively, I pushed open the door to the ensuite, not knowing what I might find in there.

Thankfully, it seemed relatively clean, and I could live with it for a few nights.

Tomorrow, I’ll sort everything out.

Tonight, I needed wine, pizza and an early night.

I headed out of the room without thinking and almost bumped straight into Jase.

A half-naked, towel-wrapped-around-his-waist Jase.

My gaze took in his muscled pecs and ripped abs—clearly, he used Finn’s gym—checking out the tattoos which wound around his forearm and bicep, and is that a nipple ring?

Oh. My. God.

Jase had always been attractive, in a brother’s-best-friend kind of way, but I wasn’t used to him parading around in front of me like it was an everyday occurrence. And I wasn’t used to my reaction to him either.

This is Jase Dillon. Not some random guy I’ve never clapped eyes on before.

Clearly, the stresses of the past few weeks are getting to me.

“Did you want to take a picture? Something for your finger vault?” He smirked at me.

“My what?” I hadn’t realised I’d been staring until then before I clicked as to what he meant. “Oh.”

“ Oh , indeed.” This time he winked, as well, making the word sound ridiculously sexual.

Fuck, I’m in trouble.

“Do you have wine?” I blustered, averting my eyes to a mark on the skirting board and abruptly changing the subject.

Jase let out a laugh. “Hollis, we’re two single blokes living together. Our fridge is full of beer and maybe a mixer if you’re lucky.”

“Then I should go out and get some,” I declared. “I need a drink.”

A deep laugh bubbled from his lips. “I bet you do.” Then he turned his back to me and sauntered off to what I assumed was his room.

The muscles in his shoulders rippled underneath his lightly tanned skin, and I couldn’t help but drop my eyes to his arse and the way the white towel clung tightly to it.

Blowing out a breath, I went back to my own room and grabbed my bag, making sure I had my phone. I fully intended to nip out to the local shop, get a bottle of cheap wine, then come back to the house, and crash out.

Ten minutes later, I stood in front of the fridges in the local supermarket, trying to pick a bottle of rosé.

“Hollis? Is that you? What are you doing here?” A voice came from the end of the aisle, and I twisted around to see Ella Hardy, Finn’s ex-girlfriend, moving towards me. “I thought you were in London.”

She reached me and whisked me into a swift hug. Despite her and my brother no longer being together, we had remained friends even though I hadn’t seen her for a while. I didn’t really know why they’d broken up because they made a really good couple.

“Well, I’m back.” I stepped back and smiled.

“For a visit or for good?”

Great question. “Definitely for now, and we’ll see about the future.”

Ella frowned. “What happened? Weren’t you living with your boyfriend in London?”

I glanced at Ella’s basket, which contained a frozen ready meal and some healthy green smoothie thing. “Do you want to get a bite to eat and catch up properly?”

The group of friends I’d had in Maplebrook through school and college had drifted apart once we’d all chosen to go our separate ways in life.

We still kept in touch virtually and on special occasions; however, Ella had been the one constant friend I’d always had even after she’d split up with my brother.

It would be good to talk to someone who wasn’t close to the situation.

“I’d love to.” She discarded the basket and linked her arm in mine. “Let’s get out of here.”

It wasn’t long before we were sitting at a corner table in Bar 1380, one of Maplebrook’s most popular bars.

We’d already ordered a bottle of rosé, the remains of which were sitting in a wine cooler surrounded by ice, and we were waiting on pretty much the entire contents of their starters menu.

Ella topped up our wine, and we clinked glasses, saying how good it was to see each other again.

“Come on. Spill.” Ella leaned forward slightly, fixing me with an inquisitive stare.

Taking a long pull of my wine, I paused before starting to talk. Actually putting it into words would be the first time I’d spoken properly about it to anyone, except giving Finn the bare bones of the situation. “It…didn’t work out how I thought it would.”

“What do you mean?”

It would have been easy to tell Ella the same story I’d told everyone else. That Gil and I had drifted apart and decided it would be better to part ways now, rather than keep up a pretence for our friends and family. But it wasn’t the truth, and I couldn’t bottle it up any longer.

“It started off fine, right up until a few months ago. Then everything changed.” I swallowed a mouthful of wine, steeling myself to tell the whole truth.

“What happened?” Ella’s brows knitted together.

“He started questioning everything. Like, if I wanted to go out with a work friend, he needed to know exactly where I was going, who I was with, what time I’d be home. And he’d message me the whole time I was out.”

“Isn’t that him being a caring boyfriend?”

I debated whether to get my phone out and show her the stream of messages he’d sent on the last night I’d been out without him.

Knowing it would help her to understand, I unlocked the device, found the thread, and pushed it across the table to her.

Ella went through about fifty facial expressions as she read.

“Hollis! Jesus, that’s pretty full-on. Did he ever lay a finger on you?” Her eyes radiated concern as she passed my phone back.

Thankfully, he hadn’t. I shook my head. “No. He always used words, never his fists.” I couldn’t deny his words had sometimes done more damage than anything physical could have done.

“I couldn’t let it go on any longer, so I told him it was over and moved out of the apartment about six weeks ago.

” I could see Ella wondering what had gone on in that time, and I went on.

“I ended up staying in an apartment a colleague rented out as a holiday let, and for about a month, it was okay. I hadn’t seen Gil in a while, but then he kept turning up when I was out with friends, following me home, that kind of thing. ”

Ella shuddered. “Ugh, definitely stalkerish behaviour.”

“The other night, he turned up at the flat off his face on God knows what and told me he wanted us to be together again. And if he couldn’t have me, no one could.” Even saying the words aloud raised the hairs on the back of my neck.

“What the actual—” Ella’s jaw dropped, and she reached for her glass. “Did he have any kind of weapon?”

I shook my head. “Thankfully not. I dread to think what might have happened if he had. Luckily, one of the neighbours came home and managed to wrestle him out of the building. He was still shouting all sorts at me from the street until the early hours of the morning. Once he’d finally gone, I called Finn, packed a bag, and came back here. ”

“Wow. That’s intense.”

“I knew if I didn’t get out when I did, I might never be able to. ”

We fell silent for a few moments. I sipped some wine, the taste in my mouth sour. Even talking about Gil did that to me.

“Do you think you’ll go back?” Ella asked.

“Who knows? I guess I’m lucky to have an understanding brother who has a spare room.”

She snorted. “And no girlfriend to have to worry about.”

“He doesn’t know what he’s missing.” I reached out and touched her arm. “You two were really good together. He’ll have to get used to having you around again because you’re my friend, and I’m going to need you to help keep me sane in a house with Finn and Jase.”

Ella laughed. “You got it.” She glanced down at the table, fiddling with her napkin. “It’ll be hard seeing Finn.”

I wanted to ask her more about that, but the waitress arrived with our food and set it down on the table. After she’d gone, I lifted the bottle from the cooler and discovered it was empty.

“Shall I get us another bottle?” Ella suggested.

I shrugged. “Why not? It’s not like I have to be up for work tomorrow.”

“I do, but I don’t care. It’s lovely to see you again.” She went to the bar, and the barman instantly appeared in front of her, ready to take the order.

My phone, face down on the table, vibrated across the surface, and I flipped it over.

Finn

Where are you?

Finn

Jase said you went out for wine and that was ages ago.

Finn

Are you okay?

Finn

Hollis?

Why send one message when four will do instead? Honestly, it was like being around Gil again.

Picking up a bit of crispy squid, I bit into it and started a reply.

I bumped into Ella buying wine and we decided to catch up instead. We’re in Bar 1380.

Finn

Oh, okay. How’s she doing?

You could always ask her yourself…

Finn

I guess you don’t want pizza then?

Ooh, way to change the subject! If there’s any left over, I’ll have it for lunch tomorrow.

Finn

Fuck off, sis. And if you think there’s any chance of leftovers with Jase in the house, you’re deluded.

I laughed to myself, remembering the times Jase would come over to ours after school when he and Finn were teenagers.

Mum usually restocked the cupboards after a shopping trip, only to discover most of it had disappeared a couple of hours later.

She always swore she fed Jase more than his own mother did.

True See you later .

Ella approached the table with a bottle of wine, her cheeks flushed. She sat back down and poured us both a glass.

“You okay?”

She glanced over her shoulder at the barman and fluttered her fingers. “Think I just got asked out on a date by a child. He’s nineteen, Hollis. Nineteen!”

“And that’s bad because? Shows my brother what he’s missing.” I laughed. “It’s only?—”

Ella cut me off. “Six years younger than me.” She shook her head. “I can’t do it. He’ll want to go out at midnight, and I’ll want to go to bed.”

“You could always compromise and go to bed?”

“Shut up.” She started eating, cutting off any further conversation on the subject as we ate.

I giggled to myself. This was what nights out should be like. Fun, easy, enjoyable. Not having to worry about someone bothering you every five minutes because you didn’t reply to their message immediately.

“Anyway, I’m sure it will be a total blast staying with your brother and Jase for a while,” Ella said, changing the subject.

My mind went back to seeing Jase in only a towel before I’d left the house earlier. I rolled my eyes, pretending to myself that I hadn’t been affected by the sight. “Probably the same as when he used to stay over after he and Finn had been out too late when they first started drinking.”

“You’ll have to get used to the sight of Felicity Andrews in the morning, then.”

“Felicity? Why?” I frowned. Felicity had been in the same year as me at school and wanted to be my friend because her older sister hung around with Finn and Jase .

“They have this kind of friends-with-benefits thing going on.” Ella took the last piece of garlic bread.

“Nothing serious, just a hook-up every so often. She still seems to think she’ll be the one he settles down with.

She’s not the only one either. He has a bit of a revolving-bedroom-door situation going on. ”

An unexpected bolt of jealousy shot through me. I didn’t like how that felt at all. Nothing had ever happened between me and Jase. Although, if he ever offered…

I stopped that train of thought right away. I hadn’t split up with Gil that long ago and shouldn’t have been thinking about another man so soon. Especially my older brother’s best friend.

“Right.” I feigned disinterest, pretending what Ella said meant nothing. It should have meant nothing; Jase and I weren’t anything other than friends. “How’s work going for you?”

We spent the next hour talking about work: how things were going for Ella in the vintage clothing boutique she had recently started work in and my job as a project analyst for a tech company in London. After I started yawning, we agreed we would catch up again soon, and I walked home alone.

The house was in darkness when I got back.

I turned the key in the lock and let myself in.

A light came from the kitchen, and I decided to get a glass of water before going to bed.

Jase stood at the fridge, the door open, surveying the contents.

At least, this time, he wore clothes: grey sweatpants and a dark T-shirt that clung to his torso, emphasising his toned body.

“Still hungry, huh?” I chuckled.

His gaze moved from the fridge to me, raking over me from head to toe. “Always. ”

I shivered from the intensity of his look. “Any pizza left? Finn said you’d finish it all.”

“You still like the veggie supreme?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I saved you a couple of slices. Couldn’t have you missing out on your first night back home.” He took a plate from the fridge and handed it to me. “That’s if you’re still hungry.”

I sucked in my lips. Living with Jase Dillon is definitely going to test me.