Page 33 of Only Ever Yours
“Hey, I moved back to Maplebrook to look after the family business, not to cook for you.” I put my hands on my hips, pretending to be offended.
“Shame.” He winked, biting into the croissant. “I’ll finish this, then we should get off.”
Ten minutes later, we checked out and went to the van. Jase put the box and the bag with the remains of our feast from the previous evening into the back, and soon, we were off again.
The weather made for a much smoother journey, and we drove back without any issues, the underlying tension between us a thing of the past.
“Where have you two been?” Finn demanded the moment we got through the door.
“Shouldn’t you be at one of your two businesses?” Jase countered.
Finn pointed at the laptop balanced precariously on the arm of the sofa. “I’m doing some admin.” As if trying to contradict him, the laptop fell slightly to one side, and I could see he was on a ticket website, looking at gigs.
“Admin, huh?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Hey, I needed a break, and I have questions for you anyway about next month’s budget.”
“Can I at least get back in the house first?”
Jase stood in the doorway and gestured to Finn. “Give me a hand getting this stuff in? It’ll be quicker with the three of us.”
He wasn’t wrong, and soon, my old life was packed intomy new room. Dancing around the boxes, I realised I’d need to have a clear-out because everything from London wouldn’t fit into Maplebrook, in more ways than one.
“Thanks, guys,” I said. “Couldn’t have done it without you. Well, without Jase.”
“Yeah, thanks, mate. You definitely dodged a bullet with this one,” he added, with a sly wink in my direction.
I couldn’t be sure if he was being serious or not. My feelings were confused enough as it was, and I kept telling myself nothing had happened, no matter how much I might want it to.
Once Jase and Finn had left, I was grateful. I needed some alone time and space to think about what the past couple of days had meant. If anything.One thing was certain. I had to sort out a new phone number, one where Gil couldn’t track my movements.
Spending an increased amount of time with Jase alone, plus the overnight stay, had me thinking all sorts of things.
I shouldn’t be interested in him.
Icouldn’tbe interested in him.
But…
Grabbing my phone from the side, I fired off a message.
I have a problem…
Thankfully, it didn’t take Ella long to reply.
Ella
What’s wrong? Is everything okay? Where are you?
Can you talk?
Instead of replying, Ella called me straight away. “What’s up? Did something happen?”
Even though I’d made the decision to be honest with Ella, I couldn’t quite work out how to tell her. Or rather, what to tell her. It all sounded a bit like we were back in college.
My friend fancies your friend.
I let out a long sigh. “It’s complicated. And you have to swear not to say anything to Finn.”
