Page 52 of Major Love

He swipes his tongue over his lower lip, eyes dipping to my mouth for the briefest moment.

And I can’t help but notice that his warm palm is still holding my hip.

A thick muscle slides in his throat and then his eyes are back on mine.

“Case is gonna tell you everything, but he’s waiting for the right moment. Wasn’t my secret to tell. And he’s excited for you to find out about this.”

My brow creases in confusion, even as a speck of understanding flickers in the back of my mind – my subconscious making sense of this situation even when I’m not one-hundred percent sure what it means.

Jason’s unblinking eyes stare into mine. “Don’t try to work it out.”

I quickly blink away from him, blushing the same shade of baby pink as the thermal shirt under my jacket.

“I’m not trying to work it out,” I lie, even as my eyes flicker back to the stack of paperwork across the counter.

It’s as if my mindknowswhy Casey has done this, even though I don’t have all of the details yet.

If Casey decided to buy a bar…

“Sunday.”

I blink innocently up at Jason.

“He’ll tell you when he wants you to know.”

I twist my lips to the side.

“But promise me that you won’t tell him that you know about this place yet.”

I almost smile at that. “Why? Will it get you into trouble?”

That handsome mouth lifts slightly at one corner. “I always get into trouble when it comes to you.”

My heart pounds in my chest because, yeah, he always did. Covering for me, spending time with me…

Being close with Jason in high school was like having my own personal bodyguard, who not only was the biggest stud on campus but my closest and most treasured friend.

My eyes trail down the strong muscles of his chest, rising and falling steadily as he watches over me.

Someone clears their throat to my left and Jason reluctantly glances over at them.

“Yeah?” he asks.

“Y’all gonna make out or what?”

I roll my eyes and move to get out from the cage of Jason’s body but he suddenly plants a large fist on the counter beside me. I glance up at him, half-expecting him to be laughing it off, but his expression is totally neutral, unfazed by the taunt.

Then his palm recaptures my hip.

“Not with you watching.”

Jason’s crew member smirks, nodding in defeat because he’s been outplayed.

But then I remember that Iwon’tbe making out with Jason – because if he’d had any interest in doing that, he wouldn’t have turned me down the first chance he got.

So I plant my palms on his chest and gently push him back a step, as I come to terms with everything that’s happened here.

Jason has been working on Casey’s secret bar, but I trust him enough to believe that what he said is true. If Casey is excited for me to find out about his secret, then I’m not going to ruin the surprise by calling him up on it. I mean, I know that running a bar was originally my area of expertise, but we aren’t the kind of siblings who get jealous or territorial – and the timing really couldn’t be more perfect. The bar will be ready for opening as soon as Casey’s due to come home, so maybe we could even use it to throw him a homecoming party when he returns.

---