Page 54 of Now or Never

This fucking guy.

Adam stared at Jasper’s face and wondered whether he’d get sued if he jumped over the railing and punched him in the nose. It might actually be worth it. He wanted desperately to break that motherfucker’s nose. It annoyed the crap out of him he was sniffing around Chelsea again. The guy clearly had a thing for her still.

And it wasn’t jealousy.

Not at all.

He just thought Chelsea was way, way, way too good for someone like Jasper. Adam had always been protective of his friends, and that included her.

“What are you doing here?” Jasper said, meeting his eyes with a scowl.

Adam stared at him, gave a smirk. “What do you think I’m doing here?”

Jasper bared his teeth.

He could almost hear Chelsea’s eyeballs rolling. “What do you need, Jasper? I thought everyone had left for the day,” she said.

Jasper looked at her face and dropped his scowl. “I had a meeting with the higher-ups. It was very important.”

Adam snorted. He couldn’t help it. This guy was just so desperate to look better than everyone else. He’d probably been on a phone call with his dog walker or something.

Jasper shot a glare at Adam before looking back at Chelsea. “I wanted to talk to you. In private.”

Adam’s hands fisted.

“Oh, I’m busy,” Chelsea said, looking uncomfortable. “And Ben will be here any minute.”

Run off, you scummy little rat. She isn’t interested.

“I think you’ll want to make time for this,” he said with a gross smile.

Chelsea let out a sigh. “Fine. What is it?”

Jasper glanced at him, then back at her. “I have an extra ticket to the premiere ofLoopat TIFF this weekend. I wanted to see if you’d like to come with me.”

Adam smiled to himself. There was no way she was going to agree to go with him to the Toronto International Film Festival. He couldn’t wait to hear her tell him to take a fucking hike.

He waited.

Waited.

Waited.

Finally, he turned to her and saw a look on her face that stopped his blood from circulating. She was looking at Jasper . . . wistfully.

“Are you serious?” she asked.

Jasper smiled. “Of course. Jeroen Peck gifted them to me.”

Okay. One more name drop, and that was it.

“Uh,” Chelsea said, seeming to weigh her choice.

He couldn’t believe she hadn’t already said no. Was she actually considering saying yes? There was no way she should go with him. It would probably be an event in the evening. They might stay overnight together.

In a hotel.

His head began to shake. He couldn’t let that happen. What kind of friend would let their friend make such a terrible decision?

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