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Jasper couldn’t stay irritated with the guy for long. Clearly, he cared for Hollyn and wanted what was best for her. If Cal was feeling protective of his friend, then Jasper would just have to win him over, show him that he wasn’t going to hurt Hollyn. “We’re working on it. We did a little camera work already, and she was very smooth.”
Hollyn’s gaze darted to Jasper’s, startled, and her cheeks went full red. Jasper bit his lip. He hadn’t meant any double entendre with the wordsmooth, but now that she had read that into it, he couldn’t help the little jolt of heat that went through him. Hollyn had been smooth—and hot and slick and tight.
She cleared her throat, breaking him from his racy thoughts. “I think it’s time to get out of here. Y’all ready?”
Jasper surreptitiously adjusted the fly of his jeans and stepped next to Hollyn, offering his arm. “Lead the way, gorgeous.”
Hollyn slipped her arm into his, a little shiver going through him at the feel of her, and they headed out.
Cal followed behind and said something under his breath that Jasper didn’t catch.
* * *
The Gee-N-Oh club was buzzing with conversation and music, the air thick with the scent of perfume, sweat, and alcohol as Hollyn scooted into a curved booth, ending up sandwiched between Cal and Jasper. A blanket of awareness and awkwardness wrapped around her as they got situated. The walk over to the club had been fine, but there was some weird vibe going on between Jasper and Cal, and she had no idea what that was about. Penises, she suspected. They were usually to blame. Why had she thought this was a good idea?
A dark-haired guy with no shirt and tight red pants with suspenders sidled up to the table before they’d even settled in. He leaned in, his glittery eye shadow catching the light. “What can I get you beautiful people?”
“The house IPA,” Jasper said.
Cal looked over the photo menu on the table. “The high-octane daiquiri.”
The waiter turned his eyes on her. “And you, sweetie?”
She leaned over to see the menu. Was there one that cured awkwardness? She picked the biggest and the prettiest. “Um, that one.”
“A Cat 5 hurricane for the lady,” the waiter said and then glided off, dodging the crowd like they weren’t even there.
“A hurricane,” Jasper said with a sly grin. “You’re going for it tonight, huh?”
“I’ve always wanted to try one,” she said, only half lying.
“I guess she thinksrolling stonewe’re going to be boring company,” Cal said with a smirk. “She wants tohella goodget smashed.”
“Says the dude who ordered a drink with the words ‘high octane’ in its name,” she said, arching a brow at Cal.
“I can handle my liquor,” he said. “You, on the other hand—”
She quickly pressed her fingers over his mouth. “No embarrassing teen stories for Jasper. You will not do that to me.”
Jasper leaned forward on his forearms. “Well, now I have to know.”
She lowered her hand and looked at Jasper, shaking her head. “No way.”
“Let’s just say,” Cal said, “someonehella goodfound out that for some people, liquor canpanic stationquiet tics and decided to test the theory when she was fifteen withhella hellashots from my dad’s whiskey stash. This experiment may have ended up with someone swimming in her underwear in my neighbor’s pool and then throwing up on their poor dog when he tried to alert them about the trespassing teenagers. Poor Boris was traumatized for life.”
Hollyn put her hands over her face and sank back against the booth. “You’re dead to me, Cal. He’s totally lying, Jasper. Don’t believe a word he says.”
Jasper laughed and squeezed her knee. “Did you get arrested for animal cruelty?”
She dropped her hands and gave him a deadly look.
Jasper bit his lip, clearly enjoying teasing her.
“The neighbors.Hella rolling stone.Didn’t call the cops. But we had tohellagive the dog a bath in the middle of the night.”
“And Mr. Redmond saw me in my bra and underwear. So, there was no looking him in the eye ever again,” she added.
“But she wasn’t ticcing,” Cal announced, clearly pleased with himself. “Experiment successful.”
