Page 15 of Forgive You

“More to piss Jason off. He found out Jason was making a deal with NVS.”

It’s not a complete lie; it’s just not the full truth either. Jacob doesn’t give a shit about his brother’s deals or clients. He just wants to make sure I don’t tell his little brother the truth.

Like a fucking sleazeball, he jumped on a plane the second his mother informed him Jason and I were working together. He was even canny enough to google the NVS calendar and showed up with a tux in hand, informing me he was going to be my date.

Yay me.

“Doesn’t Jacob know you two aren’t talking?”

The sigh that erupts from her question is long, deep, and coming from every nerve in my body.

“Oh, he knows. He just wants to make sure it stays that way.”

It’s creepy how much he’s keeping track of my life. Something I need to find a solution for.

“I’m getting an aneurysm trying to make sense of this.”

“I know. They are both stubborn motherfuckers.”

This could have all been prevented if Jason and I were still on good terms, or if at least on speaking terms.

Just thinking about it makes my skin burn and my fingers tingle.

Jacob would’ve never pulled this off if he thought he couldn’t succeed. Keeping Jason out of the picture is in his best interest and that stubborn man is playing into his brother’s hands without even realizing because he refuses to talk to me like an adult.

It’s pissing me off more than anything. And it’s not like I haven’t tried to explain to him what happened. I tried to call him for fourteen days straight, until I gave up. I know what it looked like to him, and I can imagine it felt like more than just a dick move. But I deserved a moment to tell him what was going on.

Instead, he fucking ghosted me.

“I swear those Spencer boys need a spanking on their bare asses that would make my grandmother turn around in her grave.” I continue, all fired up and unable to calm my nervous system. “Presumptuous buffoons thinking they got it all figured out with their heads up their own fucking asses. The only good thing about Jacob being here is knowing it will make Jason’s skin burst and I need some fucking entertainment.”

“You don’t mean that.” Kayla giggles, and I shove up my chin a little higher.

“Every word. Jason Spencer needs to remove the stick from his ass and start communicating like a human instead of a wiggly dildo.”

If he would’ve done that in the first place, maybe Jacob wouldn’t have seen an opening when he did.

“Wiggly dildo?” She’s full-blown laughing now, and I can’t hold back the twitch of my lips as I turn around to head back to the main room.

“Yeah, you know–” My words are shoved back into my mouth when I collide with a hard chest before I juggle my phone to prevent it from shattering on the beige tiles.

Oh, shit.

When it’s safely secured in my grip, I glance up to a set of icy eyes that freeze every muscle in my body. My eyebrows shoot up involuntarily, my lips parting in shock with a loss of words. The not-so-bright lights suddenly feel like searing spotlights, their harsh glare intensifying under his piercing gaze. I’m paralyzed.

Trapped in the grip of his penetrating stare.

“Damn, you kiss my brother with that mouth?” Jason cocks one eyebrow, his hand in the pocket of his black pants, looking like he was meant to prance around in a tuxedo all day as if he’s living in theGreat Gatsby.

My gaze involuntarily roams over every inch of his broad shoulders, my heart missing a beat when it moves back to his features, all sharp and mesmerizing, with a five o’clock shadow I want to feel underneath my fingertips.

A Cheshire Cat grin sits in the corner of his mouth, and for the tiniest of seconds, it’s us again. It’s me and him in the safest bubble you can imagine. He’s my hero once more.

He believes me and he’s on my freaking team while we come up with a plan to destroy Jacob like he’s trying to destroy me. A warm, fuzzy feeling spreads across my chest, and a smile wants to expand to my ears at the sight of him.

Until a brunette I know better than I want to appears on his side and my bubble bursts to hell.

Shit.

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