Page 9 of Only Ever Yours

Chapter Eight

Hollis

Ugh, he’s so frustrating.

The banter between Jase and me was as flirty as it ever had been. I couldn’t deny there might be something more to it this time. And it seemed mutual.

Strangely, I’d enjoyed making dinner for the three of us.

And even though I had done it for my own gain, knowing they’d appreciated the gesture, too, made it even more worthwhile.

Finn and I chatted a bit about the gym and agreed I would do another shift in the coffee shop tomorrow.

He wanted me to go over the latest membership figures and see how they stacked up against his targets.

When I got upstairs, I was still wired and not quite ready to sleep yet.

I picked up my phone. Scrolling through my socials, I found a few recent posts where Jase had been tagged.

Mostly, they were with Felicity Andrews, where she was draped all over him, and the photos had things like #hot, #myboy, #instalove, #relationshipgoals as taglines.

I almost laughed out loud. As far as I could tell, they had been a casual thing, and there was no relationship involved.

Turning my attention to his account, I noticed he posted a lot less.

There were a few of him on holiday with my brother and Barney last summer, plus some of them at a music festival a few weeks ago.

Almost obsessively, I swiped through the holiday pictures, trying not to stare at the ones of him shirtless, in only a pair of shorts.

I thought back to the first night I’d arrived and how he’d commented about pictures for my finger vault .

If I wanted something for that, I’d have found the exact material right there.

Shaking my head, I forced away those ideas.

This was Jase Dillon.

I’d known him for years.

He was my brother’s best friend.

I shouldn’t be getting any romantic thoughts about him. Should I?

But it was becoming more and more difficult to ignore how my feelings towards him were changing. Jase and Gil were polar opposites, and maybe, I hadn’t acknowledged quite how much I needed that. But Jase?

Of all the people…

Laughing to myself, I forced myself back to my main feed and accounts about fashion and kittens until, finally, I fell asleep.

The next morning, I made a round of decaf, oat, flat whites for the table of yummy mummies, whose number had just increased by another two.

It amused me how they always came in ones or twos, never all arriving at the same time.

Obviously, getting a child ready to go out was unpredictable, so coordinating with five other mothers would never be easy.

And it wasn’t like we were always super busy on a Wednesday morning anyway.

Finn and I agreed I would take a midweek shift at the gym’s coffee shop, which gave Tia and Jess the opportunity to have the day off and cover the rest of the week between them.

It also gave me the chance to check in on how things were going there.

Once I’d delivered the drinks, I went back to my laptop on the bar and started checking the membership numbers against the subscriptions.

It looked like everything matched up and the money coming in was correct.

The gym was much more streamlined compared to the garage, which I suspected had to do with Finn setting this up by himself.

The garage was a legacy of our father, and while he was a wonderful man who had been absolutely brilliant at fixing cars, back-office admin had never been his thing.

It meant I had to unpick a history of bad record keeping and inconsistent filing there.

“You’ve smashed this month’s membership targets,” I called out to Finn, who had finished up a PT session with a new client.

He grinned. “Your socials are working miracles; I almost have more interest than I do trainers. If it carries on like this, I’m going to have to start hiring new staff.”

“Be careful you don’t overstretch it on the wage bill,” I warned.

“Oh, God. She’s not banging on about money again, is she?” Jase walked into reception and leaned on the bar in front of me. “I get enough of that in the garage.”

My gaze swept over him. He looked ready for a gym session, dressed in a tight T-shirt that emphasised his muscular chest and a pair of grey sweatpants hanging low on his hips. Thoughts of his holiday pictures flitted through my mind, but I hastily banished them.

“I’m only making sure we don’t end up in the red.” I turned my attention to the screen, trying not to stare.

Jase looked between Finn and me. “Could that really happen? ”

I glanced over at Finn, who shifted uncomfortably. “Not now that things are going well here. A few months ago, it was touch-and-go with the garage.”

“Shit.” Jase shook his head. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Didn’t want to worry you unless I had to.” Finn shrugged. “And there’s nothing to worry about.”

I had inside knowledge on the finances of both businesses. And while there wasn’t anything to worry about in the immediate future, we had to be extremely careful about how and why we spent anything longer term. The last thing I wanted was for Jase to be out of a job.

“Right. Think I’ll go and beat the hell out of a punchbag now. Catch you both later.” Jase disappeared into the gym.

Once he’d gone, I pounced on Finn. “Seriously, why didn’t you tell him? He’s your best mate and an integral part of the garage while you’re spending more time here.”

“It got too hard, Hollis. What was I meant to say? Sorry, I know we’ve been friends for years, but there’s a possibility I might lose the house and make us both homeless. Finn slapped his hand on the top of the bar. “You weren’t around to see what things were like.”

“I’m here now. You don’t have to keep those things from me.”

One of the mothers approached the bar, breaking into our heated discussion. “Um, sorry to interrupt. Can we get another round of coffees?”

I switched on my friendly barista smile. “Absolutely. Same again?”

“Please.”

“No worries. I’ll bring those over as soon as they’re ready.” Turning to the coffee machine, I glared at my brother. “We can talk later.”

There was a strange atmosphere between us for the rest of the day. Both of us had been busy, and we never got the chance to chat. By the end of it, I knew I didn’t want to go home and spend the evening in the house with that tension hanging over us.

Fancy grabbing a pizza and some wine tonight? It’s been a day.

Ella

Sounds like a great plan. I know what you mean!

See you at Amalfi in an hour?

Ella

“Is that my top?” Ella asked as I sat down opposite her.

I rolled my eyes. “Of course it is. I have, like, three tops of my own at the moment.” While I’d been grateful for Ella’s kindness in lending me a bunch of stuff while I worked out how to get my own back, we weren’t quite the same size, and our signature styles were definitely different.

I guess it had gone some way to pushing me out of my comfort zone when it came to clothes, though.

I reached for the wine bottle in the cooler and poured myself a generous glass. “What’s been going on with you?”

“I’ve been trying to find an outfit for the wedding, and I can’t find anything I like. You would think working in a clothes shop would make it easier.” Ella sipped her drink. “You are still coming with me, aren’t you?”

With everything that had been going on, I had totally forgotten about Barney and Lenora’s wedding. “If you’re sure you want me to. I don’t want to stop you from missing out on a date. ”

Ella groaned. “If I could get over your brother, it would be so much easier.”

The waiter came over, and we ordered a large pizza with everything and a salad to share. Never mind going on a diet before the wedding—I would only be going as an insignificant guest, and I could blend into the background.

“Well, in the time I’ve been back, I haven’t heard Finn mention any other women.

Maybe there’s a chance he’s still interested.

” The first part was definitely true although we weren’t the kind of siblings who discussed our personal lives in detail with each other.

Which, if my increasing attraction to Jase was genuine, could only be a good thing.

I twirled the stem of the wineglass between my fingers.

“Do you know if Jase is still seeing Felicity?” I asked, hoping I’d come across with the right amount of casual interest.

“No idea.” Ella shrugged. “I mean, they hook up, but whether there’s anything serious going on, I have no idea. Have you seen her at breakfast since you’ve been back?”

I shook my head. “No, thank God. I don’t know what I’d say to her.”

Back off my man perhaps?

My friend’s eyes narrowed. “Why are you concerned about what Jase and Felicity do anyway?”

It would have been easy to brush it off, but because I needed the advice, I came right out with it. “I think I’m starting to see Jase in a different way.”

Ella practically sprayed her mouthful of wine all over the table at my admission. She composed herself and stared at me. “I’m sorry. Did you say you’re interested in Jase ?”

Letting out a hard breath, I sipped some wine and stalled for time. “Well, I mean, we’ve always been good at the flirty stuff.”

“Yeah, I’ ve seen that.”

“And being around him more lately has been…interesting.”

“Wait, have you seen him naked?”

There had been more than a small number of times when we’d bumped into each other on the landing after he’d showered, wearing nothing more than a towel wrapped loosely around his waist. I couldn’t deny his body was ripped and tatted, and it might have turned me on more than I was prepared to admit.

“Of course not!” I held up my hands. “It’s just…how he’s acting around me. Like looking after me when we went out after I first got back. Gil would never have held my hair while I was being sick.” Then again, I wouldn’t have got drunk in Gil’s company because I couldn’t be sure how he would react.

“Are you sure you’re not seeing him with rose-coloured glasses? Your ex sounded like a total nightmare, and maybe you’re clutching at crumbs of goodwill, seeing something that isn’t there. Jase has always looked out for you, even when we were younger.”

Oh, Ella, why do you always have to be the voice of reason?

“Plus, you know Finn would go absolutely ballistic if anything ever happened between the two of you.” She laughed.

“And anyway, Jase only ever seems to have casual relationships. They never last for more than a few weeks or a couple of months at most. The friends-with-benefits thing he has with Felicity seems to be his longest-lasting one. You don’t want to be just another notch on his bedpost. You wouldn’t want to risk everything for a fling. ”

She has a point. I’m wasting my time even thinking about it.

Our food arrived, and the conversation turned to the problems Ella was having with her boss, everything about Jase forgotten.

As we finished eating, my phone screen lit up with a message.

Finn

I’ve managed to sort a van out with Rob. How does Thursday work for you?

At least we would have the opportunity to talk more about the businesses while we were stuck in the same vehicle for hours on end.

Sounds great. Thanks, Finn. Really appreciate it.

At least I would be getting one part of my life back on track.