Page 25 of I'm Not in Love (I Promise)

Leon slumps on the edge of his bed, resignation in his tone. “I’m sorry, okay? We’ll deal with the repercussions of tonight later. Let’s just make sure Jas pulls through. You sure about this girl? Where’d you find her?”

“Of course I’m sure about her. She’s in med school, we started talking recently, that’s all you need to know.” I drum my fingers against the wall and avoid his scrutinizing gaze. “What?”

“I know who she is. It took a minute but I knew I recognized her. She’s the brunette from that house. The one I saw in the?—”

“Don’t finish that sentence,” I seethe. “I don’t want to go in there and shoot Jasper all over again for putting a camera in my girl’s bathroom.”

He plays with his lip ring, a habit he always does when he’s thinking. And the guy’s always fucking thinking. “You’re dating her? How’d that happen? We’ve been working nonstop since we got here.”

“What’s with the cross-examination? I wasn’t aware my personal life was on trial.” I walk into his ensuite and take a quick piss with the door open. I know Leon, and he’s not done grilling me.

“She got a mask kink or something?” he asks as I shake my dick.Fuck.I’m so damn exhausted I didn’t think of a reason for the masks.

I flush and face him as I wash my hands. “Fine, Leon. Since you have to know my business, we’re not dating. Or she doesn’t know we are yet. Happy?”

He grabs me by the shoulders and spins me to face him. I don’t put up a fight. It’s not worth it. If I know Leon, and I do, he’ll go through what Jasper and I have coinedThe Stages of Colter. Colter being Leon’s last name.

Step one: he’ll stress the fuck out over whatever I tell him—red face, lip ring twisting.

Step two: he’ll berate me like I’m a child in his pretentious British accent. I’ll ignore him even though I’ll want to punch his stupid, handsome face.

Step three: satisfied that he’s said and done all he can, he’ll stoop to making passive aggressive comments any chance he gets. Step three is usually where I get way too close to smothering him in his sleep.

And finally, step four: acceptance. We’ll hug it out and he’ll say he’s washing his hands of me, which really just means he’s given up on whatever the issue is and we can go back to living with normal, pleasant Leon. By pleasant, I mean insufferable. But fuck, I love the guy like a brother, so what can I do?

“You’re obsessed with her, aren’t you? Tell me you haven’t gone full Olivia.” He’s referring to the woman I had a thing for in Florida, which we’ve already gotten past stage four on, so there’s no reason to bring her up.

“It’s not like that. Blake’s different. And we already cleared everything up with Olivia. Left it in Palm Cove. I don’t know why you’re bringing her up. Come on, we need to be there for Jas.” I shrug away from him and cross the room, ready to be done with this conversation.

“Right then, but we’re not finished discussing this,” he says, his voice full of defeat.

“Yeah, whatever,” I mumble, pulling my mask back over my face. We both have more important things to worry about.

Soft light filters in through Jasper’s bedroom window, casting Blake in an ethereal glow. I stand outside the door fora moment, listening to her gentle encouragement and watching her careful fingers stitch Jasper’s wound. She’s holding her chin high, exuding confidence, but I know the Blake beneath that facade. She’s terrified that she’ll fail Jasper, somehow lose him while trying her best. She wants to please him… to please me. If it takes me a lifetime, I’ll show her that she’s perfect. That she’s more than enough. I’ll stoke her flames and happily get burned in the process.

“How’s it going, big guy?” I move to the side of the bed, eyeing Jasper’s half-masked face. His eyes are hooded but open and his breaths come in shallow pants. I try to keep my tone upbeat even though seeing him this way twists my insides.

“Never been better,” he says through gritted teeth.

“Grab me that gauze from the bag,” Blake says. “And I could use more light.”

“You got it, Doc.” I grab what she needs and stand next to her, holding my phone flashlight against Jasper’s stitched wound. “Looks good, nice and clean.”

She shrugs. “Yeah, well, I’m doing what I can. He got lucky, although I’m worried about nerve damage and there’s always the chance of sepsis. Any number of things can go wrong. Like I said, I’ve never done this before, only read about it.”

“What?” Jasper rasps, meeting my eyes.

“Don’t worry about it,” I reply and turn back to Blake. “What else can I do? Are you hungry? Thirsty?”

“Don’t think I can eat pancakes while I’m cleaning a bloody wound, Freddy.” She’s playing with me and I fucking love it.

“Freddy?” Jasper asks.

“Yup,” she says. “Freddy Krueger, my new kidnapper.” Jas manages a strained laugh.

I press against her back and lean in to speak low in her ear. “Should I buy some special gloves just for you? I do like to playwith knives.” She sucks in a breath and the apples of her cheeks color. “You’re so pretty when you blush for me.”

“Nothing I do is for you,” she says after regaining her composure. Too bad for her, I can read her body like a book. “Grab me the wound wash.”

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