Kellan (17 page)

“We’ve
been together a long time,
”
said Jase. He wouldn’t look at her.

“
As friends, yes. And he was fine with
that. But the second we crossed that line
…”

Jase
shook his head but said nothing.

“He
’
s kept you as busy as possible with club
stuff. He
’
s kept me here as much as he can, and
when you
’
re not here, he makes very clear that he
isn’t happy about us. Haven’t you noticed that every time you stop by when he
’
s here, he finds some way to get
you out of the house quickly? I mean, why are you even here
right now, Jase? You have work in less than six hours.
”

“
It was the only time we
…”
he trailed off.

“
It was the only time we could find where
Henry wouldn’t be around,
”
said Maggie for him.
“
Where
we knew he would be busy
and we could steal a few hours. Is that how you want this to be
—
us forever sneaking around my dad?
”

“
If you moved in with me, this wouldn’t
be happening,
”
said Jase.
“
He
couldn’t stop us then.
”

“He
’
s your president, Jase. He
’
s my d
ad. And
he practically owns this town. Moving in together isn’t going to make those
relationships magically disappear.
”

Jase
sighed.
“
What are you trying to say, Maggie? What
do you want?
”

“
I want you to move away with me,
”
she said.
“Let
’
s go find a new
start somewhere else, away from all of this. Let
’
s have our own lives.
”
She ran her hands up his chest and
looked up at his face with hopeful eyes.

Instead,
she saw only pain on his face.
“
Maggie
…”
Jase took her hands in his.
“
My whole life is here. My fr
iends are here. My mom wouldn’t have anyone else if I left.
”

In
all her imagining of this moment, Maggie had not prepared herself for this. She
thought she had, but she discovered a level of pain for which she had no name
“Don’t
you love me?
”
said Maggie,
unable
to stop the tears surfacing in her eyes.

“
Of course I do,
”
said Jase. He kissed her hands with
fervor and looked into her eyes.
“
Of course. I love you. That
’
s why I want you to stay and make a life
with me here.
”

“
Jase, what if I can’t? What if Henr
y won’t
let us?”
she said.

“
He will. We
’
ll make
—“
Jase was interrupted by the sound of a
motorcycle rumbling down the neighborhood street. Both he and Maggie froze and
looked at each other.
“
What is he doing coming back this early?
”
said Jase.

Maggie
saw the look on his face, and gave him a sarcastic one of her own.
“
I thought we didn’t have anything to
worry about from him?
”

Jase
frowned and made a soft, grumpy noise at her. He walked over to the window and
stuck his fingers between the blinds
to get a look
outside.  Maggie stood behind him with her arms crossed and listened to the
bike pull into the driveway and park.

“Oh,”
said Jase as he let out a breath.
“It
’
s not your dad, it
’s just Will.
”

“
Like that
’
s any better,
”
said Maggie as she moved
to put some clothes on. Jase was right behind her, stepping
into his jeans and fumbling his white shirt over his head. By the time he had
his cut on, they could hear Will
’
s soft knocking on the front door.
“
What’s he doing here?
”

“
How should I know?
”
said
Jase.
“I’ve
been busy the last few hours.
”
He nuzzled up to her as she pulled her
hair out of her shirt. As upset as she felt, she couldn’t resist his embrace,
but the kisses she gave him were short. She followed Jase down the hall to the
front door.

Will
leaned patiently against the porch railing, chewing
on a toothpick and staring into the dark sky. He turned to them with a smile.
“
Hi, guys. I
’
m sorry to interrupt.
”

“
Everything okay?
”
said Jase as he straightened his cut.

Will
tossed the toothpick into t
he garden as he
straightened.
“Henry
’
s been looking for you, he needs you for
something, but you weren’t picking up your phone.
”

“
Yeah, I turned it off,
”
said Jase.
“
For a reason.
”

“
Well, he
’
s…
insistent,
”
said Will with a soft shrug.
“
I said I might know
where you were.
”

Maggie
stepped up to the doorway.
“
You didn’t tell him, did you?
”

Will
shook his head, pursing his lips.
“
Not that you two are a secret, or anything. But I think we
all have an unspoken code to, uh
…
move around the facts.
”

“
How
’
s that?
”
sa
id Maggie.

In a
bit of embarrassment, Will
’
s lopsided smile made an appearance.
“
I think Henry knows exactly where Jase
is when he
’
s not answering his phone, and he
doesn’t mind me offering to be the one to possibly catch you in the act.
”

Maggie
sighed he
avily. Next to her, Jase said.
“
He really needs me to come right now?
”

“Captain
’
s orders,
”
said Will.

“You don’t say,”
Maggie
said in a flat voice. She felt emotions rising and turned away from the men at
the door. She heard Jase speak softly to Will for a few moments.

Jase
came up behind her as she stared at the dark living room fireplace and wrapped
his arms around her
shoulders. He nuzzled into the
side of her hair and kissed her.
“I
’
m sorry, he says it
’
s important.
”

“
Shocker.
”

He
held her tighter, as if his embrace could wipe away the truth. Maggie felt
tears running down her cheek and wiped them away nonchalantly. In
the dark, he couldn’t see.

“
Just stay with me,
”
said Jase into her ear.
“
I
don’t
want to lose you. You
’
re my world, you know that don't you
?”
He squeezed her again.
“
You have been my world for a very long
time.
”

Despite
herself, Maggie sighed and nuzzled
into him. She
planted a few tiny kisses on the side of his warm face.
“You
’
re mine, too.
”

He
held her for a few more moments before he released her, leaving her feeling as
cold as she ever had.

Maggie
trailed Jase to the front door like a ghost, clinging
to
his hand. Before he walked out, he turned and kissed her deeply.
“
Just hang on for me, okay? Things will
smooth out.
”

Even
though she didn’t believe that, Maggie gave him a tight, teary smile, and a
nod. She said nothing, only kissed him on the side of
his
mouth.

“
I love you.
”

“
I love you too,
”
she said.

After
one last lingering embrace, Jase finally pulled away from her and headed down
the porch steps towards the driveway. Will was already on his bike; he gave a
smile and a wave up to Maggie, and she
returned it.
Jase climbed on his waiting bike, shiny and chrome under the steady glare of
the streetlights. She felt her heart race a little at the sound of them revving
up, and waved at her biker boyfriend one last time as he backed out of the
drive.

As t
hey pulled away, Maggie
’
s face turned to look down the hallway
towards her room. Under the bed, she could see the shadow of the suitcase she
had already half-packed. She stared at it as she listened to the bikes
disappear into the night.

Sanctum available now on
Amazon

And
now, as promised, here is the complete novel
Slade: A Stepbrother Romance