Jasper gave a shrug, running his hand through his messed up blond hair. A gesture he looked like he’d done a lot before coming here. “Right. If we can find out why Huntley hasn’t already come forward with the info. Anyway, it’s been a hard night, I’m going to catch some sleep. I’ll be at Ducis by lunch or something.”
His voice was totally flat, and he didn’t even give my naked tits a second glance before leaving.
“Uh, what the fuck was that?” I demanded of Beck when he closed the door again.
“What was what?” he replied, coming over to me and pushing me back into the pillows. “Other than you giving Jasper spank bank material for the next thirty years. How many times do I have to tell you thattheseare mine, Butterfly?” He was teasing, but the possessive way he cupped my breasts made me groan.
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about,” I said, keeping the conversation on track before he distracted me with another orgasm. “Jas didn’t evenglanceat my tits. No jokes, no sly grins, nothing. He was like a robot. Not to mention the fact that he didn’t so much as flinch seeing you open my door in the nude.”
“Ah, that.” Beck let out a sigh, rolling off me and propping his head up on his hand. “I suspect whatever he did to get Layla’s help isn’t sitting comfortably on his conscience.”
My brows shot up. “Jasper has a conscience when it comes to women? Color me shocked.”
Beck gave me a quick grin. “You know he does. The thing with Layla last year was over before we really knew much about it, but I know she messed him up a bit. I even thought he was a bit heartbroken for a while there.”
I shook my head, confused. “So what changed?”
“Nothing, Jasper just went back to being Jasper. We haven’t really talked about her since then, until we came up against this hacking issue. That’s what put her on his radar, you know? She hacked his computer and tried to blackmail him with all the naked selfies he had saved. Clearly, she didn’t realize how widely distributed those pictures already were.” Beck laughed lightly at the memory, and I smiled.
Still, it made me feel awful for our friend. This chick must have been someone pretty special to have such a profound effect on Jasper.
“I feel bad,” I confessed, sighing. “I never want to put you guys in awkward situations to help me.”
Beck snaked a hand around the back of my neck, pulling me toward him and kissing me firmly. “Jasper would happily walk through broken glass to help you, Butterfly. We all would. Don’t act like you’re forcing us to do shit we don’t want to do.”
I grumbled, but knew he was telling the truth. I might only be sleeping with Beck, but all the guys—and even Eddy—had found places in my heart. And me in theirs.
“Come on, get dressed and we can stop for donuts on the way to Ducis,” Beck suggested, and I eagerly bounded out of bed.
“Fuck yes!” I yelled back at him as I entered the bathroom and started the shower running. “Gimme ten minutes.”
* * *
The first halfof my day went by pretty uneventfully. I’d become pretty used to having one of the boys shadowing me, and Evan was good company so I wasn’t complaining. Better yet, Eddy didn’t seem to have the same desire to fight with him that she had with Jasper, Dylan, or really even Beck. So it was a peaceful sort of day.
“Is this weird for you?” I asked my best girl friend as we put our books away in our lockers after Chem. “I know when I arrived here you didn’t really hang out with the guys at school. Now you’re queen of Ducis.” I was teasing but also kind of serious.
She snorted a laugh. “Princess, at best. And only because I’m friends with the real queen.” She poked me in the side, and I laughed. “But yeah, it is kind of weird. Our whole lives, Jasper has been my brother in private and a stranger in public. The other four were even worse than that. Ever since Oscar—the oldest of the heirs—turned thirteen and the board took more interest in the boys lives, none of them had really even acknowledged my existence outside of the Delta estate.”
“You know that wasn’t our choice,” Evan commented, and Eddy whirled around to scowl at him.
“Private conversation, dickhead. At least pretend you’re not listening.” She propped her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes in challenge, to which Evan raised his hands in surrender.
“I’m just saying,” he forged on, risking Eddy’s ire, “We were just doing what we thought was best. No one ever accused teenage boys of being the sharpest tools in the shed, right?”
Eddy folded her arms and huffed. “You’re not a teenager, Evan.”
“I was then,” he countered, rolling his eyes. “We all were. By the time we realized that wasn’t the only way to play it, you seemed to hate us all. It took this walking tornado to shake shit up and blow away the past.” He shrugged and jerked his head in my direction.
I gasped with mock outrage. “I resent being called a tornado,” I muttered.
“Whatever,” Eddy replied, dismissing Evan with a wave of her hand. Like he wasn’t just going to keep walking with us, regardless. “Anyway, it’s kind of nice.” This was said back to me, answering my original question. “Not the whole thing where everyone treats us like we could crush them if they cross us ... but it’s nice being close to Jasper again. I missed him.”
Evan made a loud fake cough, and Eddy rolled her eyes.
“I guess the others aren’t as bad as I thought too.” She paused, looking wicked. “Except Evan. That guy is a total prick, right?”
“Hey!” Evan yelled, “Little shit.” He tried to grab her, but she danced out of his reach with a peel of mocking laughter.
