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“Midnight,” I sigh, knowing there’s no hiding the truth from him now. He nods as he looks around.
“Fine. At midnight I’m going to take you home and you are going to show me inside the building you’ve been living in. Then I will decide how much I’m going to tell Christian and the others.”
“Prick,” I curse under my breath. Jason’s nostrils flare.
“Watch your mouth, Jazzy. I could change my mind and drag you out of this shithole now! I’ll be over here until you finish your shift, don’t eventhinkabout sneaking out before then, you won’t like the consequences,” he warns before walking to the bar. Fuck I’m in the shit now.
???
The whole shift Jason sits at a table and watches me. He only takes his eyes off the bar when he’s typing on his phone or talking into it. Every time I see him with it to his ear my heart races panicking that he’s on the phone with Christian.
I’m not scared of him, but I know if he was the one who turned up here tonight, he wouldn’t have let me finish my shift, he would have thrown me over his shoulder and carried me out of here like a protective caveman no matter how much I kicked and screamed. I also hate the idea of disappointing any of them, Christian especially.
Even though I’m worried about what he will say, there’s a part of me that wants him to march in here and save me. I want him to take me back to his place and tell me it will be okay, whilst he holds me and puts my life back together like I know he could, as they all could. But that’s one of the reasons I’ve distanced myself from them. The older we get the harder it is to just see them as my big strong stepbrothers. They are becoming the strong men in my life whom I want in a way I really shouldn’t.
“Time to cash up, want me to do it so you can get whatever you have going on with Mr moody pants over there sorted?” Lynsey asks. I look over at Jason and see him holding an empty glass, watching me.
I let out a sigh and grab a tray, “I’ll do the glasses, he can stew for a little longer,” I whisper as she gives me a cheeky wink.
“That’s my girl,” she replies before glancing back over at Jason. “I’m still not buying the whole stepbrother thing though. If he was my stepbrother, I would have nailed it years ago,” she whispers before looking at me grinning. I roll my eyes and walk away from her yelling ‘whatever’, over the music. I take my time collecting the empties and cleaning the tables purposely leaving Jason’s table to last.
When I reach him, I hold out the tray for his glass.
“I’m not the bad guy here Jazzy, we’re worried about you.”
“I know,” I reply with a deep sigh. “I’ll put this through the washer and then I’ll go get my coat, meet me at the front door?”
Jason nods, before heading down the stairs.
“You sneaking out the back?” Lynsey asks as soon as I get back to the bar.
“No point, apparently he knows where I live now,” I sigh before filling the dishwasher. I try to take my time with it, but Daz marches upstairs.
“The guy waiting for you just told me to make sure you finish quickly,” he snaps coming behind the bar and handing me my wages for the night.
“Let me guess he tipped you too?”
Daz nods and points towards the stairs. I sigh and say a quick goodbye to Lynsey before heading off to get my coat. I get to the front door where Jason’s waiting for me.
“You didn’t need to tip my boss to make sure I finished quickly,” I snap as I storm past him and out of the door into the cold night.
“I wasn’t waiting around in that dump any longer whilst you dragged your feet,” Jason snaps back as I groan and cross the road before heading to my apartment.
“Who knows where you were tonight?” I ask trying to ignore the growing tension between us. Dread fills me as I think about taking Jason inside my apartment. At least it could be worse, it could be Sean or Christian, both would explode, drag me out of there and never let me return.
“The guys knew I had tracked you down and that I was going to be with you until late.”
“Do they know about the bar?” I ask. Jason looks at me and shakes his head, I let out a sigh of relief.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet, Jazzy. That doesn’t mean I won’t be telling them,” Jason warns.
“This is it,” I whisper as I look up at the building. It’s just a townhouse that has been converted into two apartments. I send up a silent prayer that Sam has already passed out and won’t come out as soon as he hears me like he usually does. I take a deep breath and open the door.
It’s pitch black inside and the smell of weed and dampness hits us instantly. I don’t say anything, I head up the stairs knowing Jason’s following. I unlock my front door and switch on the light before stepping back and watching Jason’s large form walk into my one-floor apartment.
Jason closes the door behind him and looks around. He doesn’t say anything, and with Jason, you never know what he’s thinking. He walks further into the apartment and looks at the small open kitchen and the lounge.
