Page 126 of Not That Impossible

I folded at the waist and said to my knees, “You might hate me after. I’m thinking we should have sex first.”

“I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

“Well, you’re wrong. I think it’s a great idea, and we should do it right now.”

“No.” His hand rested between my shoulder blades, a comforting weight. “Tell me in your own time.”

I groaned. “Why aren’t you freaking out? I could have done something awful. Historically, I have done awful things.”

“Like what?” Amusement tinged his steady voice.

“How I behaved at your wedding,” I muttered.

“You didn’t commit any crimes.”

“I’m pretty sure what I did to your car was vandalism.”

“Vandalism, sure. Or a prank by a broken-hearted boy. I didn’t tell you that to make you feel bad, Jasper. Making you feel bad is the very last thing I want.”

“See how you feel in a minute,” I said.

The hand between my shoulder blades slid up to my neck and squeezed firmly. “Trust me,” he said quietly.

I sighed, and mumbled, “I write stories.”

“I know you do. Your last one caused quite the splash.”

“About you.”

Even though his hand was just resting there and holding me, I sensed him go still.

“Not published or anything,” I said, sitting up sharply. “Oh my god, no.”

Liam was watching me. It was his cool, assessing, professional cop face.

“No,” I said again, “I wouldnever. I would die first.”

He continued to watch me.

“They are all on an encrypted hard drive, and I save them locally only. They don’t sync to the cloud at all, not even for backups. The app is encrypted too, and they’re all password protected.”

“Those are robust security measures,” he remarked.

I nodded enthusiastically.

“Which I find alarming. What kind of stories are you writing, Jasper?”

“Erotic.”

Liam’s face didn’t change. He didn’t say anything. He barely even breathed. Eventually, he said, “Not articles, then?”

“Oh. No, of course not. Was that why you looked worried? No. Fiction. Um. Do you know what fanfic is?”

“Yes, of course I know what fanfic is. Who…?” He trailed off.

“You. I write erotic Liam Nash fanfic. A lot. I’ve been doing it for years.”

“Huh.” He sat back.

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