Page 8 of Only Ever Yours
Ooh, way to change the subject! If there’s any left over, I’ll have it for lunch tomorrow.
Finn
Fuck off, sis. And if you think there’s any chance of leftovers with Jase in the house, you’re deluded.
I laughed to myself, remembering the times Jase would come over to ours after school when he and Finn were teenagers. Mum usually restocked the cupboards after a shopping trip, only to discover most of it had disappeared a couple of hours later. She always swore she fed Jase more than his own mother did.
True See you later.
Ella approached the table with a bottle of wine, her cheeks flushed. She sat back down and poured us both a glass.
“You okay?”
She glanced over her shoulder at the barman and fluttered her fingers. “Think I just got asked out on a date by a child. He’s nineteen, Hollis. Nineteen!”
“And that’s bad because? Shows my brother what he’s missing.” I laughed. “It’s only?—”
Ella cut me off. “Six years younger than me.” She shook her head. “I can’t do it. He’ll want to go out at midnight, and I’ll want to go to bed.”
“You could always compromise and go to bed?”
“Shut up.” She started eating, cutting off any further conversation on the subject as we ate.
I giggled to myself. This was what nights out should be like. Fun, easy, enjoyable. Not having to worry about someone bothering you every five minutes because you didn’t reply to their message immediately.
“Anyway, I’m sure it will be a total blast staying with your brother and Jase for a while,” Ella said, changing the subject.
My mind went back to seeing Jase in only a towel before I’d left the house earlier. I rolled my eyes, pretending to myself that I hadn’t been affected by the sight. “Probably the same as when he used to stay over after he and Finn had been out too late when they first started drinking.”
“You’ll have to get used to the sight of Felicity Andrews in the morning, then.”
“Felicity? Why?” I frowned. Felicity had been in the same year as me at school and wanted to be my friend because her older sister hung around with Finn and Jase.
“They have this kind of friends-with-benefits thing going on.” Ella took the last piece of garlic bread. “Nothing serious, just a hook-up every so often. She still seems to think she’ll be the one he settles down with. She’s not the only one either. He has a bit of a revolving-bedroom-door situation going on.”
An unexpected bolt of jealousy shot through me. I didn’t like how that felt at all. Nothing had ever happened between me and Jase. Although, if he ever offered…
I stopped that train of thought right away. I hadn’t split up with Gil that long ago and shouldn’t have been thinking about another man so soon.Especially my older brother’s best friend.
“Right.” I feigned disinterest, pretending what Ella said meant nothing. Itshouldhave meant nothing; Jase and I weren’t anything other than friends. “How’s work going for you?”
We spent the next hour talking about work: how things were going for Ella in the vintage clothing boutique she had recently started work in and my job as a project analyst for a tech company in London. After I started yawning, we agreed we would catch up again soon, and I walked home alone.
The house was in darkness when I got back. I turned the key in the lock and let myself in. A light came from the kitchen, and I decided to get a glass of water before going to bed. Jase stood at the fridge, the door open, surveying the contents. At least, this time, he wore clothes: grey sweatpants and a dark T-shirt that clung to his torso, emphasising his toned body.
“Still hungry, huh?” I chuckled.
His gaze moved from the fridge to me, raking over me from head to toe. “Always.”
I shivered from the intensity of his look. “Any pizza left? Finn said you’d finish it all.”
“You still like the veggie supreme?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I saved you a couple of slices. Couldn’t have you missing out on your first night back home.” He took a plate from the fridge and handed it to me. “That’s ifyou’restill hungry.”
I sucked in my lips.Living with Jase Dillon is definitely going to test me.
