What the hell? That’s over. Done. Fuck, the last thing I should be thinking is how good it always was between us.
Concentrate.
“Anything I can do, let me know.” The words are gruff, and I’m still scowling, but this situation is like nothing I’ve ever imagined. I’ll make sure Bella, who keeps on top of the admin side of things at the Hammer, sends Jas any outstanding wages owed to her mom. Apart from that, I can’t think of any way I can help, but for old times’ sake and all that shit, I’ll do whatever she wants.
She catches my gaze again, and I’m lost in those deep brown eyes of hers, just like when she was fourteen and for the first time I saw her as more than the shy kid of one of the Bastards’ strippers. Even at sixteen I’d had my fair share of chicks already, but after that day she was the only girl for me. And I didn’t care who knew it, or how much grief the older brothers gave me for it. My fate was sealed the first time I kissed her, and I stupidly assumed she felt the same.
I forcibly relax my fists. Jas played me for a fool, but it was my fault for letting her. I damn well learned my lesson, and that’s a fact.
“That’s kind of you.” There’s a faintly husky note in her voice, and she clears her throat. The sane section of my brain is telling me to end this now, but I can’t walk away. Not when she’s obviously upset.I never could walk away from Jas.“But everything’s under control. I just need to clear out her apartment now, that’s all.”
The old Jas would’ve wanted my help. This neweverything’s under controlJas really is a stranger. Why do I care? The past we shared is dead to me.
And I still can’t move my fucking legs. “You staying there?”
“Yes. There’s heaps of stuff to sort out, so I’ll just work through the night. The quicker I finish, the sooner I can leave.”
Suits me. I sure as hell don’t want to run into her again. “Still living in Florida?” Her mom might’ve worked for me, but she never mentioned Jas in my hearing, and Jas was the last person I’d ever talk about to anyone, least of all her own mother. I didn’t care what she did after she left L.A.
Still lying to myself?I craved news of Jas, but never went digging for it, in case I found out she’d gotten married and had kids. It would’ve killed me.
Even after all these years I still don’t want to know.
“That’s right.” She doesn’t make any move to get in her car, but tension spikes from her as though I’ve crossed an invisible line. I don’t want to know about her life, but there’s a self-destructive streak that can’t let it go, that needs an answer to shut down the question that plagues me when the cheap booze and sex aren’t enough to numb my mind. And I’ll never get another chance to ask.
“Married?”
She gives a brittle laugh, as though I just asked something outrageous. “Hardly. You?”
Not married.Doesn’t matter. Morbid relief washes through me just the same.
“Nah. Why tie myself down to one chick when I don’t have to?”
She doesn’t answer right away, and for some reason my smart retort doesn’t make me feel as good as it should. Then again, this isn’t some random girl who means nothing to me. It’s Jas, and she’s the only one I ever imagined spending a lifetime with.
Get a fucking grip. Jas doesn’t matter to me anymore, remember?
“Well.” She pulls open the door. “It’s been good catching up, Ty. Take care.” And with that, she slides into the car and drives off.
I watch her disappear around the corner, but it’s not a sense of freedom that floods through me now that we’ve had our long overdue confrontation and she’s gone. It’s like I’m high on coke, wired to the max, and worse, my fucking hard-on is killing me.
Jas always screwed with my head when we were teens. Difference was, back then I liked it.
No chick rules my actions anymore. Not even Jas.Especiallynot Jas. I’ve business to sort in the Hammer, and tonight I’ll get wasted and laid and once again forget about Jasmine O’Brien.
Chapter Two
Ty
When I finish at the Hammer it’s too early to go straight to the clubhouse, so I stop off at my parents’ house. Even though I have my own place, I still spend half my time here. Mom’s always had an open door when it comes to the Bastards and their families, so it’s nothing unusual to find a couple of brothers there at odd times of the day or night.
Something smells good as soon as I walk in the front door. Guess that’s another reason it’s always a full house. There’s always food to spare.
I stroll out back where Mom, my sister Savannah, and her best friend, Kat, are on the deck. Mom takes my hand, and I drop a kiss onto the top of her head. We’ve always been close. Not like Jas and her mom.
It slides in, unbidden, an image of Jas invading my mind the way she used to so long ago. Not that she was ever that far from my thoughts, whatever else I was doing.Enough. That time has passed. I won’t get sucked into my memories again.
“Grace just asked Kat to be her bridesmaid,” Sav says.
