Heat Race - Tanya Chris Page 0,47

have to worship Jasper or be part of his pack or anything. We’re just minding our business, like you said.”

“The whole town’s going to end up being your business, like it or not, but you’ve got a friend in me. I won’t take sides with respect to Jasper, but I’ll take your side. Now, come on back here and let me show you around.”

Jack Henry scurried eagerly around the counter. “Maybe you can hang out for a bit?” he suggested to Saul.

On the one hand, dance studios were his domain. On the other hand, Dee’s words had made him realize there might be more reason to fear for his safety than he’d previously imagined.

“I saw a drug store on the corner,” Saul said. “I’ll run and pick up some stuff. You know, to make posters.” Saul’s wink made warmth blossom in Jack Henry’s chest—not just because he knew what Saul was really picking up at the drug store but because Saul had understood exactly how much protection to offer without making him feel smothered.

“Thank you.” He blew Saul a kiss, then followed Dee through the curtain behind the counter. The back area wasn’t big, just a single-stall restroom, a tiny kitchenette, and an absolutely chaotic office.

“What happened in here?” he asked as he surveyed the stacks of paper piled on the guest chair, the desk, the floor even. Only the chair behind the desk and a very small square of desk in front of it were clear. How much paperwork did it take to run a dance studio?

“I happened,” Dee said with a sigh. “What can I say? I have an artistic temperament.”

Yeah, so did Jack Henry, but…

“It’s the waivers,” she explained. “Everyone has to sign a waiver, which I’m supposed to file. And then there are invoices and receipts. Some people pay for a whole term with a credit card, and others pay for a single session with cash. And it’s all just—” She waved at her office in explanation.

“How do you know how much you’re making?”

“I pay the bills, and if there’s money left at the end of the month, I’m happy. If there’s not, Roy covers me.”

“You need help.” He wasn’t an accountant, but he could do better than this.

“I can’t afford to pay you,” Dee warned as he started sifting through the pile of paperwork closest to him.

“You don’t even know whether you can afford to pay me or not. Let’s find out.” Maybe they could turn this into a two-person operation. If not, he wouldn’t take anything except the tuition from his omega pupils. But either way, this mess had to be dealt with.

Dee’s Dance was going to be his home just as much as that cabin in the field, and no babies could be conceived until everything was settled, until the pack had a safe and sanitary place to live, enough income to support themselves, and the assurance that they weren’t about to be run out of town on a rail.

The four of them were kids practically. Building a pack, integrating with a town, having children—it seemed like more than a bunch of teenagers could be expected to handle. But this—Dee’s office—he could handle. And teaching a class for omegas. He could handle that too. The rest would have to wait.

JASPER

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Since that first night they’d slept in the cabin—when he and Jack Henry had talked about Elias being the weak point in their bond—Jasper had been trying to figure out how to fix it. The first thing he did was put Elias in charge of escorting Jack Henry to and from the dance studio every day. He didn’t have much choice in that, truth be told, since only Elias and Jack Henry went into town for work. Saul was building their new home, and Jasper’s job was at the farm. He could’ve insisted on driving Jack Henry anyway—would’ve preferred to, really—but he didn’t, hoping that giving Elias an important job to do would help him bond.

Unfortunately, it didn’t work.

The four of them slept next to each every night, and they had plenty of sex before they went to sleep and just as often when they woke up. Jasper enjoyed fucking both Jack Henry and Saul on a regular basis, but Elias didn’t want to get fucked, and even if he did, Jasper wasn’t particularly interested.

So Elias’s connection to the pack kept deteriorating, and the bond in general suffered as a result, as if his failing connection rotted the entire fabric. Jasper was pretty sure