Page 7 of Off-Limits Mate

Uh. Okay. That’s not weird. “Well, obviously. Are you like, visiting for a while? How’s work? Are you still in that band?—”

“No,” Jasper says sharply. He sets his glass down so hard that for a second, I’m worried it will shatter.

My eyebrows raise. “Okay. Sorry. Guess it didn’t work out well?”

“You could say that,” he grunts.

I blink. Jasper is visibly upset by the topic of his band, or his New York job, or any of the other things that I brought up. Clearly, he doesn’t want me to know. Just another reminder of the fact that no matter what, Jasper Rayburn isn’t going to be my friend.

Time might have moved on. A lot might have changed. But that hasn’t.

Somehow, it hurts. I was expecting it, but still, it sucks to realize that Jasper is never going to see me as anything other than Nolan’s sister.

My stomach clenches with embarrassment. Instead of lingering, I pick up both glasses.

“Nolan will be home any minute,” I call over my shoulder as I head to the kitchen. “I have some stuff to do for a client, so I’ll see you around!”

I don’t wait to see his reaction. Jasper isn’t anything to me. No matter how handsome he is, no matter how sexy, no matter what he smells like. He’s here to talk to Nolan. Not me. And the sooner I get that through my head, the sooner I won’t feel like a dumb little kid, waiting for a crumb of his attention.

Chapter 4

Jasper

I’m such an asshole.

I didn’t mean to be so curt with Amara. It’s not like she asked anything outside of the range of just regular conversation, and it’s clear she doesn’t have any idea what happened at my job. But I snapped at her. I snapped at her and made her feel bad, and I’m such an asshole for not going after her.

I shut my eyes. I try to breathe just like the therapist taught me.

This shit is how I got in trouble. The band that I was working with in New York had a reputation for being a little off the handle. They were all young. All shifters, coyotes, so it was well known that they’d be into raising a little hell. However, raising a little hell was not exactly what they did, and I kept getting called in to pick up their shit.

The last time…

I breathe in through my mouth, out through my nose, trying to focus. The urge to shift is strong, because I want to just… run. Through the woods. Through the mountains. Somewhere that no one can ever find me, new truck be damned.

I have no idea how long I’m sitting there. I can hear Amara’s fingers occasionally clacking on a keyboard, which I assume is the graphic design job that she mentioned earlier.

I remember her doodling a lot, drawing little things in the margins of her papers or her books, so it’s kind of nice that she turned that into something she can make some money with…

The door slams, and I look up. “Hey,” I say, my voice still a little garbled.

Nolan’s smile makes some of the tension in my shoulders dissipate. I stand up and grab his hand. He pulls me in for a hug, thumping my back with a strong fist before he pulls back. “How the hell are you, bro?”

I grin. “Doin’ all right. What about you?”

“Saw the new wheels out front,” Nolan says, whistling.

I laugh. It’s hard to stay mad around Nolan. He’s literally everyone’s big brother. Charming, fun, but sincere. He’s the same height as I am, but we’re built differently. Nolan’s all thick muscles, looking like a linebacker, and I’m more of a quarterback.

It’s good to see him.

“Yeah. Well. Figured that if I was going to be back in town, I needed something to get around with.” I smile.

“I mean, most of us are still driving the same vehicles we drove here in during the move from Alaska. Not eighty-thousand-dollar trucks that can probably drive themselves.”

I wince. “It does have the self-driving feature.”

“Shit.” Nolan whistles again. “It looks sick, man. Love the black paint job and blackout windows.”

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