he was my brother. I wasn’t about to say no. “Yeah, okay. I’ll let the other two know.”
I messaged Christian as soon as I hung up. Typically, he took it all in stride. He and Cole did get on like brothers. so there’d be no problem there. And if I was being honest there were some things that Jasper might need help with that I’d prefer he asked Cole to do rather than Christian. Yes, I was jealous. A fact I would never admit to either of them, if I could possibly help it.
Now to tell Jasper, not that I thought he’d mind Cole staying. It just meant I had to admit to being stupid for not thinking of him in the first place. Again.
Jasper was awake when I went in, with Angus predictably asleep on his lap. “Morning,” he murmured when he saw me.
“How’d you sleep?”
“Not bad, I guess, all things considered.” He glanced down at his phone and laughed at whatever was on there. “I told Cole last night.”
“Yeah, he just rang me.”
“Oh?” He looked up, eyes meeting mine, and I remembered looking into them when I was on my knees offering him a blow job.
I scratched the back of my neck, feeling a little awkward in the light of day. “Cole wants . . . no, insists on staying for the week while I’m away.”
He frowned. “As well as or instead of Christian?”
“As well as.”
“Oh. Okay.” He stroked Angus a few times, considering things. “Do I need both of them? It’s only my wrist that’s broken.”
I sighed but then explained what I’d just been through with Cole.
“I was going to discuss it with you, but then this happened—” I gestured to his arm. “—and I forgot all about it.”
“He’s your best mate, and it’s your house.” He sounded off somehow, and I couldn’t put my finger on why.
“Yeah, but you live here too, so it wouldn’t be fair of me to change the arrangements without discussing it with you.”
“Because I’m your lodger.”
I frowned. “Well, yeah.”
“Right.” He went to fold his arms, then sighed in frustration when he couldn’t. “What time are you leaving?”
“Um . . .” His abrupt change of topic threw me for a moment. “After lunch. But are you okay with them both staying?” He’d still not said.
“Yeah, it’s fine.”
Fine.
What the hell did that mean? I left it alone though, figuring if he objected, he’d have said so.
“Okay, good.”
Whatever had been building between us last night, seemed to have disappeared, and I couldn’t help but feel it was my doing. “Is everything okay?”
Jasper looked at me for a long couple of seconds, then blew out a breath. “Yeah, I’m just tired.”
“You sure?”
He smiled, which was an improvement. “Yeah.”
“Can I get you some breakfast? Cup of tea, coffee?”
He moved Angus with his good hand and then pushed himself up into a sitting position. “I’d love a coffee and some toast, but first I really need a piss.”
Fuck, of course.
“Um . . .” I scrunched my eyebrows together. “What do you need me to do?”
That made him laugh. “Your face.” He held out his hand, and I took it. “You just need to help me up. I reckon I can manage to get my cock out by myself.”
“Give me a shout if you need a hand.” As soon as the words were out, I realised how that sounded. God, Finn.
Jasper laughed again, smile lighting up his eyes. “I will, don’t worry.”
I swallowed at the suddenly heated look in his eyes, and just like that we were back to where we’d been last night. And I still had hold of his hand. “You ready?”
“Yeah.”
Careful not to jolt his wrist, I hauled him up from the sofa. We were stood so close I felt his breath on my lips. Then I remembered he was dying for a piss, so I quickly stepped out of his way.
“Thanks.”
I watched him leave, listening as he walked down the hall to the downstairs loo. Angus yawned, stretched, and eyed me from his perch on the sofa.
I felt judged.
“You can shut up,” I hissed. “You’ve been all over him ever since we got back from the hospital.” He stretched out his front paws, looking all cute, and I couldn’t resist sitting down next to him and stroking along his back.
The toilet flushed, and a few minutes later, Jasper appeared in the doorway. “Brekkie?”
He stood there in his T-shirt and boxer-briefs. As attractive as that sight was, he was probably a bit chilly. “Do you