Page 36 of Jasper
“I think that might be a little deep for me,” she responds before turning to scan the room briefly one more time. I like that—curious and alert but not shrinking away from what she’s seeing. So I just stand there admiring her.
Eventually, we find a spot at a high-top by the wall. I motion for Silver to bring us a couple of sodas. She gives me a death glare before complying. She’s stuck cooking, cleaning, and tending bar without any hookups with the brothers, alcohol for herself, or free time. It’s a good punishment for a club girl who likes to manipulate the prospects into fighting over her and has the audacity to publicly insult the club’s VP. It mightsound mean, but if she don’t like it, she can leave. The only real question is how long it will take her to learn her lesson, and whether this time it will stick.
When Silver storms over and drops off our drinks, Tessa takes the glass of soda and leans back against the wall like she’s trying to figure out the rules of a game everyone else already knows.
“Do you hate everything about club life?” I ask.
“No,” she replies, studying the girls without blinking. “I just don’t understand the point of all this.”
“The point is that some people don’t have families or people they can rely upon. They get tired of being lonely, feel beaten down by life, and want to be part of something greater than themselves. My brothers and I are lucky that we have our family. My parents didn’t have anyone when they were young, so they started the Sons of Rage MC. It was their found family.”
“That actually makes a lot of sense. I’m one of those people who doesn’t have anyone, except my gran. If anything ever happens to her, I’ll be all alone in the world.”
“No, you won’t,” I say sharply. “Because now you have me and our kid.” Sitting back again, I add, “My ma took a real shine to you tonight.”
Her eyes flash up to mine and her face lights up. “Queenie is amazing. You really lucked out in the mom category. You know that, right?”
“I agree. She has a strong personality, and it’s all our fault. My brothers and I were hellions growing up. If she hadn’t had such a firm hand, we might have all ended up following each other off a cliff or something equally tragic.”
She laughs, catching my humor. And it warms me all the way down to my bones.
Onyx appears out of nowhere, grinning like a madman. He knocks his knuckles against the table in front of her. “You passed the test, you know?”
She arches a brow, and her expression freezes in place. “What test? I didn’t know there was a test.”
“Our folks have a long list of things they find off-putting in a potential girlfriend. You didn’t act terrified of us, didn’t cower, and sure as hell didn’t insult anyone. Good job. Now, I don’t suppose you have a sister stashed away somewhere, do you?”
She gives him a withering look, stating, “No sisters, but even if I did, I wouldn’t throw her to a wolf like you.”
He barks a laugh, loud enough to earn him a few looks from nearby tables. “Damn,” he says. “Your kitty’s got claws, Jasper.”
“If you don’t stop annoyin’ her, I’m gonna hold you down and let her scratch your eyes out, brother.”
He gives me a careless shrug with one shoulder. “You and whose army, brother?”
I start to get up out of my seat, but, as always, Onyx lifts both hands in surrender, amused. “Just trying to congratulate you both on earning some respect from our parents.” Shooting Tessa an exasperated look, he adds, “You have no idea what an impossible feat that can be.”
I give him a rough shove, and he strolls off, still grinning.
I watch Tessa out of the corner of my eye while she sips again, lips wrapping around the straw.
“You want to play pool?” I ask.
“I don’t know how.”
“I’ll teach you.”
I expect her to make a hard pass to that idea, since the only open table is right beside the couple who was having sex not long ago, and they’re passed out on the pool table even now. What I get is her sliding off the stool with a contented smile. She follows me to the open pool table. I pull a cue from the rack and chalk the tip. When I hand it to her, our fingers brush.
She looks up and holds my eyes for just a second, long enough for me to wonder if she’s as attracted to me as I am to her. I toss that idea right out the window because literally nothing in my life is ever that easy. Still, she keeps sneaking glances at me that are laced with interest.
“Careful,” I murmur.
“Of what?”
“If you keep looking at me like that, I’m going to forget we’re supposed to be playing pool.”
She doesn’t have an answer for that. She just turns to the table and leans in to make the first break of the night.
