The Rivals of Copper County (Copper County #2)

Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

WATT

It was cold as fuck the next morning—the kind of unseasonable cold that left a thick cloud of fog hanging over Copper Lake and made the folks grumble about how the weather folks never got their forecasts right.

Personally, though, I didn’t blame the meteorologists. If there was one thing I’d learned, it was that sometimes weird stuff happened you could never predict…

Like, for example, kissing the shit out of my former friend last night.

Two weeks ago, I’d have sworn up, down, and sideways I’d never even see Jasper again, let alone like him again. If anyone had tried to forecast the chances of me becoming his friend with benefits, the number would have been a negative.

Yet here I was at just-past-sunrise, walking down the damp grass at the campground past the one-room cabins Chris and Reed had fixed up last year, wearing a green sweater Oliver once claimed matched my eyes and grinning like a fool.

Weirder still, I wasn’t overthinking it .

Or… okay, I kind of was, but I wasn’t letting it stop me.

Last night, as I’d climbed into bed, I’d half expected to toss and turn all night. All the reasons kissing Jasper had been a terrible idea were right there waiting to be stewed over—He was a man. I sucked at relationships! I had no business being jealous over Delaney. Was I gay or bi or pan? Should I have told Jasper I was jealous of Delaney and not taken the out he’d given me last night? Was jealousy a thing friends with benefits did? What did friends with benefits even mean ?—but somehow, I’d slept like a baby.

This morning, when I’d woken from dreams of Jasper’s apples-and-whiskey taste and his happy, tipsy smile, not a single shred of regret had arisen.

My cock, on the other hand, had risen immediately, and when I’d taken myself in hand in the shower, I’d come with Jasper’s name on my lips and the memory of our kiss searing my brain. This was unusual for me—I didn’t usually get off to hot memories, possibly because I didn’t have many hot memories—but had been seriously fucking satisfying.

Which, come to think of it, might have explained my goofy smile.

And my decision to enjoy this for as long as it lasted because happy times like this didn’t usually last for long.

I’d barely knocked on the back door of the Wrigleys’ house when it flew open, and suddenly, Jasper was there, barefoot and messy-haired, wearing a pair of baggy, low-slung jeans… and a frilly, pink-flowered apron over his very tan, very naked chest.

My thoughts scattered like leaves in a breeze.

“Hey, come in! Holy shit, you look hot in a sweater and puffy vest. Lumberjack kink unlocked.” Jasper gave me a flirtatious grin that softened when a shrill buzzing came from deeper in the house. “Gimme five minutes. I’ve gotta fold and stretch my sourdough. Pain in the ass, but worth it.”

He grabbed my arm and towed me through the entryway lined with family pictures and into Mabel’s homey kitchen.

“Grab a seat… wherever you can find one.” Jasper waved a hand at the cluttered kitchen table with its half-barrel chairs off to the left before moving past me into the little horseshoe-shaped kitchen.

I was vaguely aware that the room looked clean and tidy but old . The white cabinets Abe had built were tired now and the Formica countertops stained and peeling in some spots, though the curtains framing the window over the sink looked freshly washed. It was hard to look at anything else, though, when Jasper was in front of me. “Coffee?” he asked. “It’s almost done.”

“I… uh…” I rubbed at the back of my neck. The air in the kitchen was oppressively warm… but none of that explained why my whole body buzzed and I already felt myself beginning to sweat. That was pure Jasper. “Yes?”

He bent to take something out of the oven, and I watched the muscles of his naked back flex and stretch beneath the thin apron strings. My fingers twitched with the urge to touch, but I stuffed them in my pockets.

Jesus fuck, that apron . Speaking of new kinks…

“I wasn’t sure when you’d be coming. I figured you’d be busy with chores and stuff,” Jasper was saying as he did something complicated to a bowl of dough. “Picking apples and… I dunno, milking cows and threshing wheat or whatever.”

I blinked out of my lust-daze and forced myself to act normal. I removed my vest, draped it over the back of a chair, and instead of focusing on Jasper, I fixed my gaze on an old hanging calendar on the pantry door that suggested it was still March of 2018. “No threshing. No cows, either. My parents tried the whole hobby farm thing and kept goats for a while there?—”

“Chickens, too. I remember.” Jasper spilled a pan of muffins onto the counter and then tidied them into neat rows.

I nodded. “Still have those. Sold off the other animals, though, when I took over and focused on the orchard. I’ve got 1,700 apple trees now, give or take, plus another 550 that are a mix of pear, cherry, and quince. I’ve got the U-Pick, and I also sell in quantity to a couple distributors. Too much for one person, so I hired a few seasonal employees. Then, I diversified a little. Come winter, I’ll offer online classes in sustainable orchard management and permaculture, and maybe a class for fruit-growing newbies this year, too, if I, uh… Anyway.”

I broke off with a cough. Christ, I was babbling. It had to be boring as fuck.

“If you?” Jasper prompted, not seeming bored at all. The coffeemaker—which looked new and fancy—beeped, and Jasper poured some into a pair of old-fashioned mugs.

“If I can manage to get organized.” I shrugged. “The trees are the easy part. It’s the admin that’s the killer. I love my orchard… but I’m also pretty damn glad the U-Pick is closing for the season after today.”

He gave me a teasing grin that made the butterflies in my stomach settle. “What I hear you saying is that you’re a self-made apple magnate.”

Laughing, I leaned a hip against the counter. “Yes. Exactly. Like Steve Jobs, but with actual apples.”

Jasper’s laughing eyes met mine and heated. He bit his lip. “Look, I know you probably want to talk about things and, like, come up with some stipulations and friendship rules.” He removed his apron and folded it on the counter with slow deliberation. “I respect that.” He moved around the counter. “But first… I want to greet you properly.”

“Prop—? Oh .”

Before I had a second to anticipate or brace myself, he’d wrapped his arm around my neck and pulled me into a searing kiss.

When our lips touched, it felt like picking up where we’d left off the night before. Familiar and comfortable, brand-new and exciting all at once. I wrapped my arms around him and nearly groaned at the feel of his hot, smooth skin beneath my palms and the tingly sensation of his fingers spearing through my hair.

Jasper’s phone vibrated noisily on the counter, and he pulled back just far enough to shoot it a glare but didn’t pull away. He looked up at me almost shyly. “Hi.”

“Hi,” I managed.

He bit his lip and looked away. “I’m jumping the gun on our rule-amending, but I’d been thinking about it since last night, and?—”

“Jasper.” I turned his face toward mine.

“Yeah?”

I bent my head and kissed him again, harder this time. My hands roved over his back, my thumbs snagged on his waistband?—

This time, it was my phone chirping that interrupted us.

“Fuck,” I said against his lips.

Jasper laughed. “People are so inconsiderate.” He nudged me toward the table and pulled out a chair covered in books, papers, and old magazines. He grabbed up the stack, looked around for a place to put them, and finally stacked them on the floor. “Go ahead and check it. Might be Derry or something.”

Because he was right, I pulled my phone out even as I said, “Doubtful. Derry’s at his mom’s until tomorrow, and his little brother has a piano recital that— fuck .” I clicked my phone off and quickly set it facedown on the table.

Jasper delivered my coffee and a muffin before clearing off another chair so he could sit opposite me. “What’s up? Crisis with the apple empire?”

“No, just Kayla asking when I can train with her for the 5K she’s coordinating?—”

“Oh, right! The Pilgrim Prance.” Jasper’s blue eyes were gleeful. “Kayla mentioned it. Folks at the bar last night said the runners are all wearing little buckled hats, which is a sight that I, for one, will be extremely thankful ?—”

“There are no costumes!” I said in genuine alarm. “Why do people keep saying that? It’s a charity thing to benefit the local hockey summer camp.” I briefly outlined what Camp Fair Shot was about, how important it was, and how it was in jeopardy.

“Aw. That sounds like a great cause.” Jasper leaned across the table to pat my arm. “And you’re gonna rock those buckles, buddy.”

“I hate you,” I muttered, ripping off the top of the muffin and sticking it in my mouth. I stopped abruptly. “Oh my God. What is this?”

“A pumpkin muffin?” Frowning, Jasper grabbed the rest of my muffin off my plate and took a bite. “What’s wrong? It tastes fine?—”

“It tastes fucking perfect,” I corrected. I stole the rest of my muffin from his greedy paw. “You made these?”

“Yes? I brought you a batch the other day, remember? I found some of Mabel’s recipe cards—” He waved a hand impatiently toward the living room. “—hiding in various locations, and I remembered you liked these.” He shrugged.

It was a simple thing, really. It shouldn’t have felt like such a big deal that he remembered. But it did.

“I had no idea you were the one who’d made those muffins,” I said softly. “I didn’t even know you baked.”

Jasper’s mouth twisted. “We know each other just enough to think we know each other entirely. But…” His hot, hopeful gaze caught mine and held it. “Maybe it’ll be fun learning about each other again?”

My heart gave a wild thump. “Yeah,” I croaked. “I?—”

Jasper’s phone clattered against the counter again, and his smile became a little forced. “Ignore that.”

“You don’t want to see who it is?”

He shook his head. “There are four people in the world who text me regularly. My mother’s already sent her weekly text, and she’s off to Fiji with her husband. I’ve already told Tam and Delaney I survived the night with no hangover. So by process of elimination, it’s my ex trying to get in touch with me…” He paused for a moment. “…from wherever he is in the world, since it’s practically the middle of the night in California. And before you ask, no, I don’t know what he wants, and no, I don’t care. Marty got a little too used to me coming when he called. I refuse to play his game anymore.”

Marty sounded like an asshole, and I wasn’t just thinking that because I felt… some kind of way… about him getting to spend years with Jasper, and share a name with Jasper, and have an “open marriage” with Jasper.

I suddenly had a shit ton of questions about his ex—and about Delaney—that I probably had no right to ask.

“So…” I began. I pushed my chair back to get comfortable, but the leg of the chair caught the pile of papers and bo oks Jasper had stacked on the floor, and they toppled. “Shit. Sorry?—”

Jasper huffed out a laugh. “God, don’t worry about it. Add it to the rest of the mess.” He waved a hand at the living room again.

“What mess?” I wondered. “You mean Mabel’s collectibles?”

He laughed again, though he sounded desperately unamused. “That… and the other stuff. When was the last time you saw Mabel’s living room?”

“I…” I shook my head. “I dunno. A few years?” More , I realized. “After Abe died, I tried to keep up with the property for her—mowing and gardening and stuff—and I brought her groceries in the winter. We’d sit here or out on the porch, and she’d give me a cold drink…”

Jasper nodded like this confirmed something he’d expected. He stood and held out a hand. “Come see.”

I let him grasp my wrist and tow me through the swinging door on the far side of the kitchen, and then I stopped, pulling back in shock.

Mabel and Abe’s home had always been filled to the brim with a variety of eclectic souvenirs from their cross-country road trips—kaleidoscopes and fancy teacups, vintage quilts and antique tools, souvenir spoons from all fifty states—and Mabel had loved to tell the story of where and how she’d acquired each item. Abe had even filled his garden with a collection of flowers and shrubs—some native to Copper County and some he’d gotten by “seed trading” with folks he met while traveling.

As a kid, I’d thought it was utterly fascinating, and I’d envied Jasper the opportunity to live in their cozy house full of treasures.

I was not feeling envious now .

Mabel’s handmade braided rug was now buried under piles of boxes, suitcases, papers, clothing, and collectibles. Atop what I imagined was the couch sat a pile of magazines, a stack of blankets and old T-shirts, and a steamer trunk that must have been hundreds of years old, while a stained glass lamp sat like a cherry on top. The piano Mabel loved was heaped with books, a set of socket wrenches, board games, sweaters, and a box of empty mason jars.

“Jesus,” I breathed, taking it in. “It’s…”

“A mess,” Jasper said softly. He entered the room and toed gently at a pile of afghans on the floor. Something in the pile clinked ominously. “And it’s not just in here, though this is the worst of it. I found Mabel’s Royal Doulton scattered around the house in various places—including one in the bottom drawer in the upstairs bathroom and another in the garage next to a can of old paint. There are family photos tucked into nearly every book…” He pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes. “Sorting through it is like trying to unpick a knot, and the knot is Mabel’s brain.”

“But… how?” I demanded. I knew I sounded angry, but it wasn’t directed at him. How the hell had it gotten like this? How had I missed the signs?

Jasper shook his head. “I don’t know. I talked to Mabel every week, and she seemed… fine. Truly. I mean, looking back on it, she did sometimes ask about my parents like she forgot they were divorced. And sometimes she’d talk about Abe like he was still around—like, ‘That dang leg on the piano bench is wobbling again, Jasper! Should’ve gotten a new one years ago, but you know Abe loves a project.’ —but at the time, I… I guess I thought that’s just how it must feel when you’ve loved someone for so long. Like they’re still with you even when they’re not. ”

I nodded. She’d done the same with me. I’d pitied her and hadn’t pointed out the obvious truth.

“She’d also tell me how she was getting together with her luncheon club, and whatever funny, outrageous thing Arabella Collins did this week, and what was blooming in the garden, so I thought—” His voice choked off. He sounded lost and guilty, and my heart squeezed.

“Jasper,” I said softly. “Arabella Collins died ten years ago. Maybe before Abe did. And… Mabel was living in an assisted-living place about an hour from here for a long while before she died. I think… I think your dad might’ve been paying for it. She had a stroke a couple years back, and she wasn’t too steady on her feet after that.”

He squeezed his eyes shut. “Yeah. The attorney explained all that when he called to… to say she was gone. He said you’d been taking care of the property. I wish… I wish he’d called me before, but we all thought my father was her heir. When I went to the Cape for her funeral, I found out he’d been lying to me about her, and she never said differently. I imagined she was still right here. That she’d be here forever.”

Jasper took a shaky breath. “I hate him for that, Watt. But I hate myself for it, too. I should have known.”

“She probably asked him not to tell you,” I said. And I could hardly blame Jasper for not suspecting the lie from thousands of miles away… when I’d been living right next door and hadn’t realized how bad things had gotten even before Mabel’s stroke. It was all too easy to accept what you saw on the surface.

Jasper nodded and smiled a ghost of his beautiful smile. “Probably. God, she hated for anyone to make a fuss over her. I’d ask how she was doing, and she’d say, ‘ Don’t you worry about me, Jasper. I’ll be around to bother you for a good long time yet . ’ And I get why… but it’s annoying, too, you know? I would have come back. I wish… I wish she’d wanted me enough to ask me and let me choose. ” He swiped at his nose and bent to pick up a teacup from a stack of photographs on the piano. “Anyway. I’m not sure what to do with any of these things yet. I’m trying to pick out the best things to send to various extended family. Mabel had some grandnieces over in Barton who were at the funeral. I guess there’s some stuff I could donate?—”

“You’re trying to sort it all yourself.” It wasn’t a question.

He stood stiffly, arms wrapped around himself. “Well, yeah. Since my staff is busy this week?—”

“I meant, I’m surprised you aren’t getting help.”

Jasper lifted one light eyebrow. “From you?”

I winced. Fair . I would have helped if he’d asked… but there was no way he could have known that. “Why not hire someone? There have to be companies?—”

“Not all of us are apple billionaires, Watt,” he teased. “But even if I had the money…” He set the cup down on the piano with a clack . “I can’t bring myself to let someone else sort through Mabel’s treasures and decide what’s worth keeping. What if they got rid of all the teacups because they have no resale value? What if they said there were too many quilts? You can’t just throw away a person’s whole past because it’s not trendy anymore.”

“You shouldn’t keep it all, either, if it doesn’t serve you. Keep the things you want, Jasper. The things that are important to you. Get rid of the rest.”

“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. But I still owe it to her to do it myself. I was a shitty great-nephew, no matter what she said.” He cleared his throat. “I should have come back a long time ago. ”

“Why didn’t you?” I whispered, coming up behind him and setting a hand on his shoulder. He straightened defensively, and I hurried to add, “That’s a question , Jasper. Not a judgment. I’m asking because I want to know. The whole truth.”

He sagged back against me. “When I said I wanted us to figure each other out and be friends with benefits, I was expecting there to be exponentially fewer clothes.”

I laughed. “Not sure you could be wearing much less than you are. Not that I’m complaining.”

Jasper laughed, too, and then sighed. He stepped away and turned to face me, determined and a little defiant. “The truth is… I don’t have an amazing reason. I have a lot of little stupid ones. My parents’ divorce, for one thing. My career, for another—my mom was determined to make sure I succeeded at something, mostly as a giant fuck you to my dad, and since I had no other skills besides this—” He lifted his hands to frame his gorgeous face. “—my options were limited.”

I scowled. “Bullshit.”

“And Abe and Mabel came out to visit me a couple times, so I told myself I didn’t need to fly east. And… shit, Mabel hated Martin—” He shook his head. “Even though he was only my agent when we met. If it smiles like a snake and talks like a snake, best believe it’s got the fangs, too, Jasper . I thought she just didn’t get LA culture. But she was right. Martin was a snake. The strangling kind.”

“Is that why you didn’t tell her you got married?” I wondered.

Jasper shook his head again. “Oh, no, she knew. If she didn’t talk about it, it was probably because she was disappointed I married someone I wasn’t in love with, and she didn’t?— ”

“Wait, what?” I said, holding out a hand to pause the conversation. “You weren’t in love with him? Why did you agree to get married?”

He paused. “We were together casually for a while, both physically and professionally,” he explained. “But then Martin heard about some study where married men earn, like, twenty percent more than unmarried men. He and I were already running our modeling agency together, already sharing a house because it was owned by the business, and he thought it would be good for our professional reputation if we could tell people we were married and maybe make more money, look more established and trustworthy. ‘ It just made sense ,’ he said. This was only…” He paused to consider. “Three or four years ago now? At the time, I agreed because he was right. It did make sense. We had so much shared history, and he seemed like the most constant part of my life at that point. But now… well, I’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure out what the hell I was thinking.”

Jasper inhaled and exhaled. “I guess… I guess I thought making it official would change things. It sounds so stupid and cliché when I say it out loud. I just… I wanted a partner. Someone to respect and love, even if we weren’t in love. Someone who’d respect and love me in return. I wanted security. I thought when Martin brought up the idea of marriage that meant he was ready to settle down and embrace those things, too, you know?”

“Yes. I definitely do know,” I admitted. “Rachel and I had similar thoughts. That getting married would suddenly make everything fall into place like satisfying puzzle pieces.”

“Except you loved her,” Jasper said, folding his arms over his bare chest. I may not have known him well as an adult yet, but I still knew him well enough to recognize his pretend-chill stance.

“I did. I loved her for being my first. I loved her for caring about me and my feelings when we found out she was pregnant. And I loved her for giving us a shot and trying to make it work. For giving me Derry and for loving him and helping me give him the best life we could. Yes. I loved her. I love her still, in a way.”

I made sure to meet his eyes before continuing. “But I was never in love with her.”

The air seemed charged around us, but I wasn’t sure if it was just enough to shed warm light on the emotions between us or a dangerous surge that would blow everything to smithereens.

“Oh,” Jasper said softly.

“It sounds like we took similar paths.”

“Except it wasn’t the same at all,” he said, looking devastated. “You tried to make a family, to give Derry a good life. I…”

“Jasper.” I didn’t know what I wanted to say, but I could tell he was overwhelmed.

“It wasn’t just about Martin. The longer I stayed away from Copper County, the more it felt like I needed to make the time and distance worth something. Like, I… I needed to earn a billion dollars or become famous or whatever, and then when I came home, I could say, ‘ See, I stayed away because I was doing this brilliant thing that you can be proud of, and now all the years away are worthwhile. ’ Like a gambler who keeps betting… and betting… and betting, because… because if they stop, they’re a failure who’s gambled away his family and his home, but if they can win just once, then they’re a… a hero . And they’d deserve to go home again. ”

“Oh, Jasper.” I took a step toward him, but he took a step back, nearly into the piano bench. His eyes sparkled with unshed tears.

“And the truth is… I was scared, too,” he went on. “Mabel and Abe and Copper County were this perfect utopia in my memory. Like a safety net. If I came back and things were different, if this place wasn’t my safe harbor anymore…” His voice broke, and he sniffled.

It had literally never occurred to me that beautiful, confident, teasing, challenging Jasper could be so damn insecure. That he might feel like he had to prove something in order to come back or earn his place in his own family.

Every inch of space between us felt intolerable. I needed to hold him.

“Come here,” I whispered. I opened my arms as I walked toward him. “Please…”

Jasper heaved a shuddering breath and stepped forward until his forehead rested against my chest, and his tears soaked my sweater. His back felt cold under my hands, so I pulled him in tighter, trying to warm him.

“I just thought I’d have more time. Even after twenty years,” he whispered.

I knew he was talking about Mabel, but it felt like he could have been talking about us, too. And I really didn’t want to waste another second trying to keep my distance from him.

“Mabel loved you exactly as you were,” I whispered into his hair. “She liked knowing you were living your life and having your adventures. And she knew you loved her and this place, too. She refused to sell it because she wanted you to have a home to come back to.”

Jasper’s arms snaked around my waist, and he sucked in a shuddering breath .

“She was so proud of you, Jasper.” I rubbed a hand up and down his back soothingly. He smelled delicious—like soap and baked goods—and my gut clenched with want.

Jesus Christ, Bartlett. Not the time!

“She’d show me pictures of you in magazines,” I continued. “She’d say, ‘ You see that boy, Watt? You can see the goodness in him, and that’s what makes him so pretty. ’”

Jasper snickered and pulled back to look at me. His gorgeous eyes were red-rimmed and puffy, and just like the other night on the dock, I was struck by the idea that this was a Jasper no one else got to see. The real Jasper. My Jasper.

The only man I’d ever wanted.

“And what did you say?” he demanded. “I mean, you agreed, obviously?—”

I ran my thumbs over his cheeks, wiping away his tears. “Fuck no,” I said, deadpan. “I said, ‘Mabel, that right there is a picture of a shit-stirring asshole who’d tickle a man to win a bet so often we had to make a fucking rule about it?—’”

Jasper’s whole face creased with laughter, exactly as I’d hoped. He punched me lightly in the stomach… but then rested his head against my chest again.

It should have felt strange, holding him like this.

It did not .

“You know,” he said finally in a much calmer tone. “I had all these people with expectations of me. My dad, pressuring me to visit him. My mom, pressuring me to make money. Martin, telling me how to behave and what to wear, and how to talk to people, and what he thought I should study when I finally decided to go to college. But you know who never gave me one shred of guilt or expectation?”

“Mabel,” I said softly. “Because her love didn’t come with expectations. ”

He nodded against my sweater, then pulled away. “Ugh. Jesus, I suck. I had a plan here, Watt. I invited you over this morning so I could seduuuuce you with baked goods, and instead, I vomited emotions all over you.” He shook his head angrily and turned toward the kitchen. “Come on. I’ll get you another muffin, and we can start over?—”

I grabbed his shoulder, spun him against the wood-paneled wall, and kissed him hard and fast.

“Jasper Wrigley,” I rasped out. “You seduce me by breathing.” I paused. “Which is a little overwhelming, honestly. I’ve never had a friend with benefits before.”

“No?” Jasper blinked up at me. “Wow.” He licked his lips. “Well, for a, um, first-timer… you’re doing okay.”

I took a deep breath. I knew he was teasing, but his words were an unwelcome reminder that I didn’t know what I was doing. Talking, flirting, kissing… with Jasper, those were easy. But I had no idea what came next or how to ask for it…

Until Jasper made that easy, too. “So, Watt…” He smirked and lifted his arms to my shoulders like we were slow-dancing middle-schoolers. “When you said we’d amend our friendship rules… how amended were you talking?”

“Uh… pretty amended? I don’t know,” I admitted. “I’ve never been with a guy before.”

I could have said more—that I’d never really been attracted to a man besides him or that I’d never been attracted to anyone the way I was to Jasper—but I held back.

I liked being with Jasper. Hell, in my entire life, I’d never felt so fucking consumed by anyone. And because I hadn’t, this felt like a big deal to me …

But it wasn’t.

I was still a guy who had no clue how to relationship . And even if I miraculously got a clue, Jasper was leaving in just a few months anyway. The last thing I wanted was to ruin our second shot at friendship by trying to turn it into something it couldn’t be. I’d seen that film before, and I knew how it ended.

For once in my damn life, I would try not to overthink this and simply enjoy it while it lasted. I would take whatever Jasper offered. I’d follow his lead.

Like Mabel, I wouldn’t put pressure on him to do something he didn’t want to do.

“You are definitely attracted to me, though?” Jasper said, jolting me out of my thoughts.

I laughed out loud. He actually had to ask?

“Um. Yeah .” I palmed my cock, which was still half-hard, and his eyes lit with interest. “But I don’t know exactly what to do…”

“And you hate not knowing what to do.” He grinned slyly. “It’s gonna kill you that I’m better than you at this, isn’t it?”

The provoking little shit knew exactly how to play me. He always had.

“You won’t be better,” I shot back. “Lack of experience is not the same as lack of talent. I mean, just look at your skills on the ice.”

He shook his head and gave me a smile that promised retribution. My cock throbbed against my jeans. “I bet I’ll make you scream my name, and if I do…” He hesitated for a second, probably trying to think of some dire punishment.

“If you do, I’ll help you clean out the house,” I said promptly.

Was this a foolish offer, when him cleaning out the house faster meant he’d disappear faster, too? Probably. But after witnessing his raw emotion earlier, it also wasn’t something I’d let him do by himself.

“And if you don’t…” I paused, tapping my lip thoughtfully.

Jasper turned us around so I was the one backed against the wall. He twisted his fingers in my hair and kissed me messy and deep. His evil grin widened as he reached for the hem of my sweater. “Then I’ll keep trying until I do.”

He pulled off my sweater and T-shirt at the same time, leaving me as bare-chested as he was. But where Jasper’s chest was a hundred acres of smooth, golden, tanned skin… mine was not. My shoulders and chest were pale and covered in dark hair.

Before I could feel self-conscious about that, though, Jasper let out a shuddering breath, and his eyes glazed with lust.

“Oh, fuck,” he breathed. “You are so hot.”

Was I?

Before I knew what was happening, Jasper had sunk to his knees between my feet on the hardwood floor. His palms slid up the front of my jeans in a way that felt both careful and deliberate. Like he was savoring the moment.

Every inch he touched sent a ripple of heat through my body, and I couldn’t help hissing in a breath.

He looked up at me, blue eyes dark with mischief and so intense my pulse raced.

“Relax,” he murmured, like such a thing was possible when his hands were now on the button of my jeans. The teasing lilt of his voice was gentle. “You trust me, right?”

There was something electric in the way he said it, and the words curled through me, making me feel both exposed and grounded .

I nodded, swallowing hard. Part of me couldn’t believe I was here with him like this. The other part couldn’t believe it had taken so long—literal decades—for us to get here.

My heart hammered in my chest as he oh-so-slowly slid down the zipper over my straining cock and pulled my jeans to my knees.

My cock jumped out with embarrassing eagerness, already rock hard just from his teasing, from his scent, from Jasper existing in the same room with me.

“Oh, Watt,” he said approvingly. “Now, this is a mature adult peace offering that might just have been worth waiting twenty years for.”

His lips quirked in that familiar, bright smile that had gotten me into trouble more than once, and his fingers traced lazy patterns on my bare legs. I felt like I was unraveling under his touch.

“Are you going to talk about it?” I demanded. “Or are you going to do something?”

Jasper leaned in closer, his breath ghosting over my hip, and pressed a chaste kiss there… so close yet teasingly far from where I needed him. The warmth of it sent a shiver up my spine, and I exhaled a shaky laugh.

“Contrary fucker,” I muttered. “Stop teasing.”

His smirk widened. “But Watt… teasing is what we do.”

I opened my mouth to retort, but before I could, his lips moved up to trail soft, wet kisses across my lower abdomen. There was zero rush to his movements, like he had all the time in the world… like he was savoring every part of me, including my frustration.

Heat pooled low in my stomach, tension building with each slow, sensual glide of his lips and every breathless pause as he got closer and closer.

And then, finally, his mouth closed over the tip.

The hot, perfect clasp of it sent a shock wave of pleasure through me—a pleasure that was echoed by Jasper’s low groan. His long, smooth fingers gripped my base as he pulled back to lap greedily at my slit.

“God, you taste good,” he breathed.

I wanted to say something clever… to say anything at all… but all I could do was moan. “Please. Please , Jasper.”

Endless blue eyes locked on mine, and the lust in his gaze sent an extra jolt of heat through me as he slowly took me into his mouth.

His head bobbed slowly and rhythmically as he sucked me down, teasing and exploring and learning exactly what drove me insane. It felt like he was mapping out every sensitive spot—or, fuck , like he’d somehow known them innately—finding the perfect balance of pressure and softness, and bringing me closer to the edge with every passing second.

My breath quickened, hands trying to find purchase on the wall behind me to hold myself up as my legs turned to jelly. Just when I thought I couldn’t take any more, he eased back with a maddening grin while his hand gently massaged my balls.

“Am I winning?” Jasper asked, voice rough. “Just checking.” He sounded arrogant, but the way his cock bulged insistently against the front of his jeans said he was just as into this as I was.

I could not, for the life of me, force my mouth to make words. My head swam. My body trembled under his touch.

He was winning. He was so winning…

And so was I.

He chuckled softly, clearly pleased with the effect he was having on me. “Don’t worry,” he whispered before swallowing me down again. “I’m just getting started.”

The warm suction of his mouth was indescribable as he found his rhythm again, this time more focused and more intent, as if he knew exactly how to push me to the brink.

I was vaguely aware of him jerking himself beneath me—the sway of his arm moving and the little huh huh huh of his breath as he got closer. I wanted badly to see him come—to make him come—but I couldn’t make myself move. My whole consciousness was focused on the heat rising in waves from my balls to my stomach and the way every nerve in my body seemed to come alive under his touch.

“F-fuck!” I cried. “Yes. Shit, Jasper. I’m coming…”

He groaned eagerly, and the vibrations were the last straw.

My orgasm hit so hard I felt like I’d had the wind knocked out of me. The world narrowed to pinpricks, and my body forgot how to breathe automatically—I had to force each gasp of oxygen into my lungs because my muscles were too lax with pleasure to function.

So this was what sex was supposed to be about.

Jesus Christ. How had I gone thirty-seven years and never known?

Jasper pulled off and licked me slowly, his lips curving into a wicked smile as he lapped up every drop.

I hissed at the pressure on my oversensitive flesh and pulled him to his feet. After pressing a kiss to his lips, I pulled him against my chest, buried my face in his neck, and muttered, “Holy. Shit.”

He laughed. “Good, huh?” His hands roamed up and down my back, soothing me as I caught my breath.

Suddenly, the worries I’d been holding off began creeping closer to my consciousness. Why him? Why now? Why am I letting myself go down this path when I know it’s a dead end? This isn’t a real relationship. Would I want it to be? He’s leaving soon. We’re barely friends again. This would complicate everything ? —

“You know,” Jasper began, “I feeeeel like I heard you say something right at the end there…? I can’t quite remember, but it sounded like… my name?”

Amusement flashed through me like lightning, pushing back the too-serious thoughts. “Did I?” I pretended to think about it, then shook my head against his shoulder. “Sorry, I can’t recall. I might have nodded off there for a minute and muttered something in my sleep…”

Jasper’s clever fingers dug into my ribs, making me squirm.

“Hey!” I grabbed his hands in mine. “New rule. Absolutely no tickling when anyone’s dick is out.”

“Hmm.” He cocked his head. “Denied.” He broke my hold and aimed for my ribs again.

Laughing, I pulled him against me. “Okay, okay. I’m way too blissed-out to deny it. You won.” I pulled back to meet his eyes and added, “This time.”

“This time? So… we’re doing this again?” The words sounded like a tease, but something in his eyes suggested he was serious. That he really didn’t understand the effect he had on me.

“Hell yes,” I said. “As often as possible.”

Jasper smiled up at me—his genuine, gorgeous smile—and the cold morning air around Copper County had to have grown ten degrees warmer.

There were still a billion reasons why this was a terrible idea, but right then, I was only too happy to let that smile get me into trouble one more time.