Page 25 of Bulletproof Love

His thumb traces small circles on my skin, and I can’t tell if he’s trying to comfort me or himself. Maybe both. “Okay,” he finally whispers.

My forgotten phone buzzes, breaking us apart. I remember the reason I came in here. “Shit,” I say. “I need to show you something.” A ghost of a grin lines his face and I know where his mind is going. “Not that. How are you thinking about anything even remotely sexual right now? You know what? I don’t need to know the inner workings of your mind. Just look.”

I restart the video, taking notice of the additional fifty thousand views and dozens more comments from when I first watched it. As much as I want to turn away, I force myself to watch the entire thing again with Jasper.

“Shit,” he mutters once it’s played through. “Hold on.”

He rushes out of the bathroom, his towel barely holding on, and grabs his phone from his bed. “What are you doing?” I ask, utterly confused.

He taps away at the screen and brings up a video. When I look closer, I see it’s a local news channel that does live streams and recaps. “If it’s gone viral, there’s a chance the news picked it up. Did you see any press there when you got outside?”

I rack my brain but the events of the night are such a blur. There were people everywhere, everything happened so fast. “I don’t know. Maybe. This is bad.”

As the words leave my lips, a headline flashes across the screen, along with a video of me and Blake getting into the ambulance.

Drama At Downtown Bistro: Off-Duty Doctor And Restaurant Patrons Rally To Save Woman In Anaphylactic Shock

“So fucking bad,” he says.

CHAPTERTEN

JASPER

Blake got home an hour ago,looking and feeling much better. The swelling in her face has gone down but some of the welts still remain.

Falin and I spiraled last night, going back and forth on whether or not we should tell the guys about the news headlines. I wanted to, but she argued that they had enough on their minds and didn’t need the added stress. She wasn’t entirely wrong, but I know my brothers. They’d want to know.

When she took a bathroom break, I texted them from my burner. As expected, they flipped out.

With Falin keeping Blake comfortable, the three of us opt to climb up to the rooftop to talk. The cool winter air chills my face, but it’s exactly what I need.

“There’s nothing you can do to scrub that shit off the internet?” Damon asks Leon. The steam from his cup of coffee billows around his face.

“No. Plus, the damage has already been done. I can’t make people unsee it.” Leon grips the metal handrail, staring off at the dusting of snow on the rooftop across from ours.

“What are the odds thatthey’veseen it?” I ask. I want to be optimistic, but by the look on both their faces, I’m the only one. “No one really watches the news anymore anyway. And we don’t even know if that King asshole is looking for us. He could have moved on.”

“That’s not a gamble I’m willing to take. Until we figure this out, I want Blake home with at least one of us at all times,” Damon says.

My eyes dart to Leon while I wait for him to acknowledge what Damon said. He finally looks up. “We can’t abandon our reason for being here, and there’s that gala. Blake will fight us on this.”

“I don’t care if I have to chain her to the bed. She’s not fucking going. The doctors said she needs to rest for a week. Added stress on her body could land her back in the hospital.” Damon scrubs a hand over his face and paces a few steps.

“I’ll go,” I say. “Schmoozing a bunch of rich pricks is what I do best.” Damon stops pacing to stare at me while Leon chews his lip. I wasn’t imagining it. They really think I’m useless. Aggravated, I ask, “What’s with the looks?”

“Are you sure you’re up for this?” Damon asks. His tone loses its edge. “Don’t think we haven’t noticed the pills, J. You haven’t been at your best.”

“Why are you just telling me this now?” I let out a harsh laugh. “It doesn’t matter. Yeah, I’ve been taking pills. Yeah, I’ve been off my game. But schmoozing these assholes is muscle memory at this point. Unless you’ve got someone else who can pass for Blake’s brother while also searching the place for answers?”

Damon shoots Leon a look that only pisses me off more. “Lee?”

“If I could I would, but don’t think I can pass for a middle-aged white dude, even if I wear a mask.”

“Right,” Damon huffs. “I didn’t think of that.”

“I’ll be fine,” I say. When Leon raises his brow, I add, “I’m off the pills. Falin found my stash and tossed it last night. I want to do this. Fucking need to.”

“I guess we don’t really have a choice,” Damon says. “But you’ll have to take Falin as your date.”

---