stop. At this point I wasn’t sure what I was laughing at any more, I just couldn’t seem to stop. Jeez. “Sorry,” I gasped out.
He shook his head at me, but his frown was gone, a smile curving his lips and growing wider by the second. Much better.
“Wanker.” He nudged me hard and I fell over onto the cushions. Angus jumped down in disgust and wandered off.
When I finally got a hold of myself, I wiped at my eyes and sat up again. “Fuck, sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh, but your face . . .”
An eye-roll was all the response I got, which was probably fair. “I meant it though. You’re allowed to not be over the moon about your mum’s relationship.” He still looked sceptical. “When did your mum and dad split up?”
“Um . . . seven years on January tenth.”
The fact that he knew it down to the day told me it was still a sensitive topic. “So, you’ve essentially been the man of the house for the past seven years.”
His expression told me he knew what I was getting at. “I suppose.”
“So, don’t you think it’s understandable to feel a bit of resentment about someone coming in and taking that spot from you?” I was no therapist, but it made sense to me. It’d been just Jasper and his mum for years; he was bound to feel animosity to any new addition to their family.
“I don’t know . . . maybe.” He fisted his hair and blew out a breath, clearly frustrated. “Still doesn’t make it okay.”
“You should talk to her, let her know how you’re feeling instead of feeding her bullshit lines about needing your own space.” Fuck, I’d not meant to say all that, and I bit my lip, convinced I’d overstepped.
Jasper huffed out a laugh, thank fuck. “Thank you, Dr Walker, I didn’t realise my monthly rent included an hour’s therapy. Or is that extra?”
I grinned back at him. “That’s on the house. Next one will cost you though.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” He yawned then, the action contagious.
I checked the time, surprised to see we’d been chatting for over an hour. Christ, where did that time go? I hadn’t sat and just talked like that to anyone other than Christian for a long while. For someone so young, Jasper was surprisingly easy to talk to. I enjoyed his company far more than I’d expected to. I saw a big fat “I told you so” in my future if I ever let on to Cole.
Which I never would, obviously.
When Jasper yawned again, looking adorably sleepy cuddled into my sofa, I decided it was time to call it a night. I needed the clarity of a clear head to remind myself why he was off-limits. I stood and stretched my arms above my head, grunting at the satisfying crack my back made.
“I’m going to head to bed. Got an earlyish tee time tomorrow.” My T-shirt had ridden up, exposing my stomach and I caught Jasper staring at it before he glanced away quickly.
Even as I reminded myself I had no interest in him like that, I couldn’t deny that sort of attention was nice, flattering. My bruised ego would take every bit of that it could get these days.
“Night,” I said, offering him a smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow at some point.”
“Yeah, night.”
Angus appeared and dutifully followed me up the stairs, jumping onto the bed and settling down with his eyes closed in seconds. Christ, I wish I could fall asleep that easily. I left my door open a crack in case he needed to use his litter tray in the night, pausing when I heard Jasper coming up the stairs.
When the door to his room closed, I shook myself, trying to dispel the weird feeling that had settled in my belly. Having someone else here was bound to take some getting used to after living on my own.
It had nothing to do with a hot guy getting undressed just down the hall from me.
Not a hot guy, I reminded myself.
Cole’s best mate.
I played that on repeat until I fell asleep.
Hopefully it’d sink in by the time I woke up.
My alarm went off at 8.00am and I snoozed it with a groan. Golf was something I loved, as well as helping me do my job, but getting up early at the weekend would always suck.
Clearly Angus thought so too if the glare he sent me was anything to go by.
Especially in winter when it