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Turning, I hurried up the sidewalk, anxious to see where the day might potentially take us regardless of the wounds of our pasts.
Chapter7
Mason
The scent of coffee roused me, and I filled my lungs while blinking my eyes open.
Jasper sat against my headboard, a Dunks cup in his hand. “Hey, sleeping beauty.”
His sweet voice caressed me like a lover’s touch, and I smiled, stretching. Popping old joints to wakefulness, my body reminded me I’d been beaten up the night before. “You left me,” I teased since he smiled down at me.
“Coffee called.” He shrugged and sipped, his eyes alight with happiness. “I got you one too.”
“Black?” I asked, pushing up to sit beside him and taking stock of my aches. Not nearly as bad as I’d expected.
“Yes. I figured you could fix it how you wanted.”
“Perfect as-is.”
He retrieved the cup from the bedside table beside him and gave it to me. Our shoulders brushed, fingers grazing as he handed it over. Warmth raced through my body. Whatever trepidation or wariness that lingered deep inside me had faded.
Falling for Jasper would be too easy. Or perhaps, I’d already tumbled head over heels. I supposed time would tell.
“Thank you.”
“My pleasure.” His voice flirted, and I bit the inside of my lip while checking out his mouth. “Drink your coffee, Mason,” he prompted with a soft smile. “I’m not going anywhere. You’re pretty much stuck with me.”
“For how long?” I lifted my focus to his eyes.
“Definitely those full twenty-four hours, but I’m thinking at least until you’re feeling back to normal. A couple days or a week if you need me—we’ll see how things go.”
My shoulders relaxed at how easily he’d taken the lead and made a plan for us rather than asking what I wanted. Myforeveranswer would have sent him skittering for the hills. Sipping my coffee, I eyed the lack of morning scruff along his jawline, knowing my whiskers had to have grown an eighth of an inch while I’d slept.
“You have such beautiful skin,” I said, wishing I could rub my face all over him.
“And you have a sexy as hell beard and the perfect amount of chest hair.” Jasper trailed his fingertips over my fuzzy pecs, fingernail grazing my nipple.
I hissed, my focus jerking up to his amber eyes.
“Like that?” He repeated the action, which made my blood pool in my groin.
“Yeah,” I rasped. “Feels good.”
Jasper glanced over my chest with hungry eyes. “The things I want to do to you,” he mused quietly, his hand falling to his lap.
“Yes, please.”
Chuckling, he sat back once more and reached for a couple of bags on the bedside table. “I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I got a bit of everything. How’s your pain level?”
I considered the state of my head, shoulder, and the rest of the aches littering my body thanks to my attacker’s boots. At least the fucker hadn’t kicked me with enough force to cause serious damage. “Not too bad, surprisingly.”
“Think over-the-counter meds will be enough, or do you want the good shit the doctor prescribed?”
I rifled through the first bag to find a strawberry jelly donut—score. “I’d rather not take any narcotics.”
Jasper left me to my breakfast and retrieved some painkillers from my medicine cabinet and a glass of water.
While he was gone, I checked my phone to see Kellen had tried calling and had texted me a couple of times after I’d had Jasper turn off my cell while I’d been in the hospital.
