Slade: A Stepbrother Romance (15 page)

“He
’
s not going t
o
let this keep on, Jase,
”
she said in a quiet voice.
“You
’
re becoming his golden boy at the MC,
but he wants me as far away from it as he
can get
me
. You can’t
honestly tell me you haven’t noticed what
’
s been going on since we got together
…”

“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, Jas
e? 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 dad. 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 friends 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 Henry
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 crosse
d 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 toothp
ick 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 the 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?
”
said Maggie.

In a
bit of embarrassment, Will
’
s lopside
d 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 heavily. Next to her, Jase said.
“
He really needs me t
o 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 squ
eezed
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.
”