Page 5 of Only Ever Yours
“Hey, Sis.” He walked through the door, pulling it shut with a bang. “Jase.”
“Finn.” I gave him a pointed look.
Hollis placed her mug on the side, then went over to her brother. He enveloped her in a huge hug, stroking her hair and murmuring something in her ear. She sagged against him, and I swore I could hear tears this time. They broke apart, and Hollis swiped a hand across her face.
I looked between the pair. “You wanna tell me what’s going on?”
“Hollis has come to stay for the weekend,” announced Finn.
Observing the bulging bags she had brought with her, it looked like she planned to stay for longer than a couple of nights. Hollis had never been good at packing light.
“Hope Barney deep-cleaned his room before he moved out.” I sniffed.
She treated me to a tight smile. “I’m sure I can cope.” Glancing over at Finn, she jerked her chin in my direction. “Are you sure he’s okay with me staying?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” I directed at her.
“She’s been going through a tough time lately,” said Finn. “Needed to get away from London for a while before someone persuaded her to stay.”
Instantly, I wondered who thesomeonewas. A boyfriend, perhaps? Or a recent ex? I couldn’t be pissed at Finn. If I had a sister, I’d do anything I could to protect and support her, particularly if she was being messed around. I’d known them both pretty much since birth, and we’d always been close. Their mum had died after a short illness when they were in their early teens, and their dad had passed away from a heart attack a couple of years ago. They had inherited the family home, which Finn had still lived in at the time, and rather than find a new place, he’d asked me and another friend to move in. We’d always plannedto share somewhere anyway, but the fact it was the Sutton family home meant more to me. I had always considered Finn and Hollis the family I never had. No matter what, we had each other’s backs. In addition, Finn had taken over the family business—the garage I also worked in. Finn had been running it ever since and had recently realised his dream of opening a gym, as well. The Sutton family had never shied away from hard work, and that was never truer than now. In fact, you could almost class Finn as a workaholic, something I’d rarely been accused of. I wasn’t lazy, just not as obsessed as he was.
“In which case,” I declared, “we should get takeaway tonight to celebrate our guest’s return.” I nodded towards Hollis. “Reckon you can handle having Maplebrook’s finest pizza?”
She smiled back at me. “Anything will be better than your cooking, Jase.”
“Rude.”
Hollis lifted a shoulder. “Unless your culinary skills have improved, I’ll take my chances with the pizza.”
Finn glanced between the two of us. “If you’ve finished your flirty banter, I’ll take you home, Hollis.”
A frown crossed my face. I mean, we’d always had a bit of fun teasing each other. But me? Flirting? With Hollis?I couldn’t cross that line.
Chapter Two
Hollis
Dumping my bags on the bed, I surveyed my surroundings. Sure, it was a far cry from the cute apartment near Holland Park I’d been staying in recently, but being back in my old bedroom brought back a lot of memories. Whenever I’d visited Maplebrook in the past couple of years, I’d always stayed with a friend, or even at a hotel, because staying with Finn, Jase, and Barney left a lot to be desired. It had been less of the home I’d remembered and more like a frat house. It needed a little bit of freshening up—the distinct smell ofboydefinitely hung in the air—and the decor was pretty basic now. Tentatively, I pushed open the door to the ensuite, not knowing what I might find in there. Thankfully, it seemed relatively clean, and I could live with it for a few nights.
Tomorrow, I’ll sort everything out.
Tonight, I needed wine, pizza and an early night. I headed out of the room without thinking and almost bumped straight into Jase. A half-naked, towel-wrapped-around-his-waist Jase. My gaze took in his muscled pecs and ripped abs—clearly, he used Finn’s gym—checking out thetattoos which wound around his forearm and bicep, andis that a nipple ring?
Oh. My. God.
Jase had always been attractive, in a brother’s-best-friend kind of way, but I wasn’t used to him parading around in front of me like it was an everyday occurrence. And I wasn’t used to my reaction to him either.
This is Jase Dillon. Not some random guy I’ve never clapped eyes on before.
Clearly, the stresses of the past few weeks are getting to me.
“Did you want to take a picture? Something for your finger vault?” He smirked at me.
“My what?” I hadn’t realised I’d been staring until then before I clicked as to what he meant. “Oh.”
“Oh, indeed.” This time he winked, as well, making the word sound ridiculously sexual.
Fuck, I’m in trouble.
