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Chapter Twenty
As soon as Jasper jogged onto the stage for that night’s show, he caught sight of Hollyn in the second row, her mane of curly hair catching the light and glinting gold. An odd rush of jitters rolled through him.Miz Poppy is here.That fact was intimidating. Yes, he and Hollyn had been hanging out for a few weeks now and had seen each other naked on multiple occasions, but this was different than performing for a woman he was seeing. In this world, she wasn’t only Hollyn. She was Miz Poppy—a woman with an evaluating eye and impeccable taste in entertainment. She’d never seen their full show, and last time she’d been here, he’d blown it completely. Tonight, he wanted to impress the hell out of her.
Hollyn’s head was turned to the side, and Jasper was ready to give her a little wink of acknowledgment whenever she looked his way, but then he noticed the big dude sitting next to her and how that guy had draped his arm on the back of Hollyn’s chair. Jasper’s flutter of nerves morphed into something decidedly different. That had to be Cal. Hollyn wouldn’t look so relaxed with a stranger being that casual with her.
Jasper surreptitiously checked out the best friend she used to sleep with while Barry did the intro onstage. Cal had longish hair, that scruffy-on-purpose look, and was built like a fucking wall. Plus, the guy played guitar in a band. He probably didn’t even have to flirt with women. He could just smile and strum a power chord and they’d jump in bed with him.
Cal leaned close to Hollyn’s ear and whispered something that made her laugh and lean into him.
Ugh.Jasper’s fists clenched.
He tried to ignore the territorial impulse that welled in him. He didn’t have the right to be jealous. Hollyn wasn’t really his girlfriend. This guy had been her friend since childhood. The one she’d had her first time with. Jasper was the new guy in this scenario, the easily expendable one. Cal would still be around when Jasper and Hollyn ended their lessons. Cal was the fixture. Jasper was the whim.
That thought dug right under Jasper’s skin, but Monique was starting the monologue, and he needed to pay attention. The last thing he wanted to do was mess up the performance. He needed to nail this shit. He wanted Hollyn rolling with laughter in her chair—breathless with it. Because after the show, she was going to introduce him to Cal as her boyfriend, and he wanted her to be proud of the man she had on her arm.
And if her goal was to make the boy jealous, Jasper was suddenly very down with that plan. He put on his game face.You may play guitar, rocker boy, but I can make her laugh. And I can make her forget herself enough to have a screaming orgasm up against a wall at work.
He recognized the pathetic act of setting up a nonexistent pissing contest, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to use that ire as fuel to kill this performance tonight. The monologue wrapped up, and Jasper jumped in.
Showtime.
* * *
The applause was loud and raucous as Hail Yes wrapped up the show. Jasper was riding high on adrenaline and the energy of the crowd. They’dkilled. Not just him but the whole team. Some nights he felt like it was a good show, sometimes a not-so-great one, and other times, there was a special kind of buzz that told him they’d climbed higher that particular night, had achieved truegroup mind, had brought the audience along with them on that magic carpet ride where everyone forgot there was a world going on outside the doors.
The group was all high fives and back thumps as they gathered backstage and changed out of theMen in Black–style suits they’d chosen tonight and back into their street clothes. The hum of adrenaline had Jasper’s blood pumping, his mood giddy. His hands were trembling with it. He shook out his arms, trying to work out the tremors. “Great job, y’all. That was… We kicked ass.”
“Hail Yes we did!” Antonio shouted, pulling on a fresh T-shirt.
Danica groaned at the old joke and tossed her necktie at him.
Antonio ducked the projectile and ignored her. “Did you get this one on film, Jas?”
“Yep,” Jasper said, running a towel over his damp face. “I’ll get the video up on the new YouTube channel tomorrow.” He looped the towel around his neck and unbuttoned his shirt. “Tonight was gold. Danica, that bit with the appliance-store commercial? I almost broke character and lost it. So fucking funny. You could expand that and make a sketch.”
“Thanks.” Danica beamed and scrubbed her hand through her damp pixie cut. “You were on fire, too. The male stripper scene at the political convention? Hilarious. Even though I know you were just looking for an excuse to take off your shirt and flash some nipple at the audience.”
Jasper snorted. “What scene can’t be improved by a little nip exposure?”
“Trying to impress your new lady friend?” Church asked, sitting down on a wooden storage box and pulling off his shoes, which filled the room with the distinct funk of Church’s feet and made Danica groan.
Jasper smirked as he tossed the black pants in his bag and then tugged on his jeans. He’d had to admit to the group today that he was seeing Hollyn because he didn’t want one of them to slip up in front of Cal. Monique had given him a look that could’ve peeled the paint off his car, and had pulled him aside to inform him that if he bailed on the group for another woman, she would literally never speak to him again. He’d assured her that this was a no-risk situation, and for good measure, he’d gotten on his knee, knight-style, and had sworn his fealty to Monique and the group.
“I’m notnottrying to impress her,” Jasper said.
Monique rolled her eyes. “Lord Jesus, pray for us sinners. Jasper has another crush.”
Barry laughed. “Aw, don’t bust his balls. Jas, you should have your lady friend come to every show. Nothing makes a guy be on top of his game more than when he’s trying to impress a woman.”
Monique shook her head. “I should’ve known when you said you absolutely weren’t interested in that girl that it meantI’m literally going to do everything to get her to sleep with me.”
Jasper zipped up his jeans and then lifted a hand, swearing-on-a-Bible style. “I swear this wasn’t some master plan. We’re just…enjoying each other’s company. It is not a big deal. This isn’t like last time. This isn’t a Kenzie situation.”
“It better not be.” Monique put two fingers in front of her eyes and then pointed to him, reminding him of their earlier conversation. “Eye on the ball, Jas. The buzz is building. And we’re all ready to put money into this theater project of yours. Don’t get distracted by another pretty face.”
“Not happening. I swear.” He reapplied deodorant and then pulled on a clean black shirt. When he’d confided in his group about his dream of their own theater, he’d been overwhelmed by their response. None of them had a lot of money to throw around, but each one of them had pledged to put in what they could if he could find a couple of investors to help get the building. The fact that they trusted him in that way again, that they wanted to be in long-term business together, meant everything to him. “The theater is my number one priority. I’ve been working on the business plan today.”
“Can we see it?” Danica asked.
