“Fixed?” Liam asked.
I barked out a sharp laugh. “No, and it won’t be until at least tomorrow. The storm’s in early and I don’t want to freeze to death trying to fix it tonight.”
“But you can?”
“I don’t know.” I tried to shake off the cold, already regretting coming out and agreeing to help. “Your battery is dead, I know that much. I don’t know what else is wrong.”
“Shit.” Liam closed his eyes and tipped his face toward the ceiling.
I definitely didn’t take the moment to appreciate the shape of his jaw or the column of his throat, because that would have been wrong. Instead, I thought about the pile of sheets in my garbage can.
“Is there a good hotel around?” Liam asked, dropping his chin to his chest and opening his eyes.
“No,” the three of us answered in unison.
“Hey, I know,” Tai suggested, patting me on the back. “You can stay with Jasper.”
“No,” I said again.
“You have room,” Tai said, and I jerked my shoulders, shrugging his hand off of me.
“Could I?” Liam asked, as if I hadn’t told him no already. “I don’t know anyone but the three of you, and I apparently don’t even have a car to get to a hotel if I found one.”
The kid had a point, and I hated him for it. I looked up for Auden, hoping he would throw me a lifeline, but Jon was at the end of the bar and Auden had made his way down there.
“Please?” Liam actually batted his goddamn eyelashes at me and clasped his hands together in front of him like he was praying. “I’ll pay you.”
“I don’t want your money,” I answered.
“Then I won’t.” Liam dropped his hands into his lap and gave me the most pathetic expression I’d ever seen in my life, and that was saying a lot considering how Gus looked at me when I didn’t feed him on time.
“Fine,” I grumbled. “But pay your bill and let’s go. This storm is coming in fast and I don’t want to be on the roads.”
Liam’s face lit up like a firecracker and he waved his hands madly at Auden, who conveniently had returned.
“I need to cash out,” Liam said. “This guy says I can stay with him.”
A surprised look flashed across Auden’s face, but he proceeded to close out Liam’s tab.
“I’ll be in my truck,” I said, glaring at all the people I’d thought were my friends.
“Which one is yours?” Liam asked, scribbling his signature across the receipt.
“The white one,” I called over my shoulder, already halfway to the door.
This was a horrible decision, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it now.
4
Liam
Jasper has a great face.
Jasper doesn’t like me.
Jasper has huge hands.
He could have been a lumberjack if he wanted, I imagined, but I supposed mechanics had gigantic hands too. They had to be comparable to lumberjack hands. Though I’d seen neither up close before, I would not have been mad at a chance to become more familiar with Jasper’s hands… or the rest of his body for that matter.
His truck was easy enough to find in the parking lot, a big old white thing with a frosty window and a deep rumble coming out from beneath the hood. The vehicle suited him, large and unassuming, harboring a ton of power under the hood. I smiled to myself at the comparison.
Maybe my car breaking down in Burlington wasn’t so bad after all.
I didn’t want to say I’d made a habit of collecting bedpost notches as part of my trip, but I was young and attractive enough. At least, that’s what I’d been told. I didn’t think I was vain or anything. I wasn’t the type to turn down a good offer when one came up. So I rarely did. Jasper didn’t seem like the type to offer much, though, but maybe he would be agreeable to a proposition. A tit for tat.
It had snowed a considerable amount during my stay at the bar, and my sneakers crunched against the sidewalk as I jogged into the parking lot. I was cold, and while I’d objectively known I’d run into winter on the east coast, I hadn’t expected clouds one minute and snow the next. For the second time that night, I wondered if my road trip plans had been a little too ambitious. Or if not ambitious, at least ill-timed.
Five feet away from the truck, I slipped, landing with a rough thud on my hip. I yelped, curling into a ball on the asphalt. I could feel the wetness of the snow soaking through the knees of my jeans, but my hip throbbed like I had shattered it. I touched it tentatively, finding the bone intact but, fuck, that had hurt. And, God, my pride. It had taken the worst hit of all. Falling on my ass in front of the hot mechanic was not the best way to start off my propositioning.
“Get up. Come on,” Jasper hollered from the truck, and I glared up at him just in time to see the window roll back up on the driver’s side.
With effort, I shoved myself into a sitting position, then a standing position. My pants were soaked and I couldn’t put all my weight on my right leg. Figures. I blinked in the truck's direction as I limped closer, but Jasper was clearly not going to come and help me, so I climbed into the passenger seat with enough muttered curses and hidden tears to last at least a week.
“Took you long enough,” he grumbled, staring out the windshield.
“It was really great of you to come help me after seeing me fall and hurt myself,” I said, forced cheerfulness and all. “Thanks for that.”
Jasper cast me a sharp glance out the corner of his eye and flexed his thick and calloused fingers around the leather-wrapped steering wheel.
“I’m giving you a place to stay,” he said.
“I know.” I shifted my weight, trying to get it off my hip and salvage my mood, and the night. “And thank you for that.”
Without another word, Jasper backed out of the parking lot and headed out of town. It wasn’t long until the only light on the road was his headlights, barely able to illuminate the asphalt ahead of us through the thick blanket of snow that fell. I held the door handle tight, my hand starting to ache from it.
“Is this a lot of snow?” I asked.
Jasper made a noise in his throat.
“I mean, obviously it’s not a lot a lot, but you know what I mean,” I said.
“No, I don’t.”
“All right.” I sighed and looked out the window, but there wasn’t anything to see, just darkness and a thick sheet of white flakes.
The rest of the ride was silent, which was probably better, and I pulled out my phone to text Manny.
Me: The car needs a rest for the night. Lumberjack mechanic letting me stay with him tonight.
Manny: That’s how horror movies start!!!
Me: He came recommended by the bartender.
Manny: LIAM! THE WHOLE TOWN IS IN ON IT OBVIOUSLY.
Me: I think I’ll be fine. If not, it’s not a bad way to go.
Manny: Hands?
Me: He has two.
Jasper turned left into a gravel driveway and I slipped my phone back into the pocket of my jacket. The headlights of the truck lit up what looked to be a big white, clapboard house with an attached red garage. Jasper pulled in front of the garage and shouldered his way out of the vehicle, fiddling with the lock on the garage door before throwing it open. When he jumped back into the truck, he brought the cold with him, a flurry of snow fluttering onto the seat between us.
He pulled into the garage and parked without a word, getting out again and closing the door. The passenger side door opened, and I startled, finding Jasper’s bearded face in front of me.
“Are you coming?” he asked before walking around the front of the truck.
I scrambled out of the cab and chased after him, maneuvering painfully over and around car parts and lumber as I went. The garage was giant—room for four cars—but only housing three. Jasper pushed open a blue wooden door and stepped into the house. He barely held it open for me, but I caught it, stumbling over a step up that I hadn’t seen in the dark.
I
landed hard against his back, my face pressing into the wet material of his jacket. I sucked in a breath and grabbed him to steady myself, one hand on either side of his hips. Jasper straightened and stilled, and I could tell the touch was unwelcome. I quickly righted myself and stepped back.
“Sorry,” I mumbled apologetically. And I was. I liked to play and sometimes it was messy, but I never did anything without consent.
He nodded and toed out of his boots, using his wool-sock covered toes to push the boots against the wall beside the washing machine.
“Shoes off?” I asked.
He turned and looked down at my feet, nodding again.
I kicked out of my probably ruined sneakers and arranged them next to his boots. He didn’t move after that, staring down at our shoes side by side without saying a word.
“I don’t mean to be a bad house guest,” I said, clearing my throat and bringing his attention back to me. “But can I ask for a shower? And a change of clothes?”
“Right.” Jasper walked around a corner and pushed open a door. He flicked a light switch, bringing a surprisingly modern bathroom into view. He walked out of the laundry room and I peeked around, trying to get the lay of the land.
Jasper stood in the kitchen, hands braced against the counter on either side of the sink and he stared out the window in front of him, even though as far as I could tell, there wasn’t anything to see.
“Towels?” I asked.
From the other room, a dog barked and I yelped, jumping no less than five feet into the air. I fell back, my bruised hip colliding with the edge of the bathroom counter. A giant white beast of a dog came skittering around a corner, into the kitchen, and right past Jasper. The dog kept barking and Jasper sighed so hard I saw his shoulders rise and fall with it.
“Gus, stop,” he said, and the dog let out one more bark and retreated back into the kitchen.
“Is he going to eat me?” I asked with a nervous laugh, rubbing at my hip.
“He prefers kibble.”
I snorted, fairly certain the cranky mechanic had just made a joke, but not wanting to call attention to it lest his sense of humor would never be seen again.
“So, towels?” I asked again.
“Under the sink,” he said. “Do you have a change of clothes?”
I did, of course… in my car back at the parking lot in town.
I shook my head, suddenly feeling childish and small.
“I’ll get you some clothes and leave them outside the door,” Jasper offered.
“Right.” I cleared my throat. “Thank you.”
I shrugged out of my coat, hanging it on a hook by the garage door, next to Jasper’s, then I slipped into the bathroom and locked the door behind me. I stripped down, giving a once-over to the quickly developing bruise on my hip from where I’d fallen in the parking lot.
“Jasper?” I called through the door.
“Yeah.”
He was close. Really close. It sounded like face pressed against the door kind of close.
“I’m gonna need some ice for my hip when I get out of the shower.”
“Right,” he agreed, and I listened to his footfalls disappear, then somewhere in the house wood creaked and then the sound of heavy steps above my head.
An old heater rumbled to life, and a blast of cold air shocked my ankles before it warmed up. I turned on the shower and waited for the water to warm before stepping under the spray. I didn’t have my toiletries, or anything that wasn’t my phone or my wallet, so I used Jasper’s body wash and his loofah.
It smelled like pine, which somehow didn’t surprise me, and I stared at my toes as the soap swirled down and around the drain. It didn’t take long for the water to run cool, so I turned it off and toweled dry. The bathroom was steamy and warm from the heater and the shower, and I opened the door quickly, finding a pile of clothes on the floor that I yanked into the room.
Plaid pajama bottoms that were far too big for me and a well-worn sweatshirt emblazoned with a Burlington University logo across the front. It was warm and soft, smelling of fabric softener, and I wrapped my arms around my chest, giving myself a quick glance in the foggy mirror.
I looked like a drowned rat, or worse, a child. Wet and limp with clothes too big for me, and suddenly the soft comfort of Jasper’s too big clothes had lost their appeal.
“Fuck,” I grumbled, rolling the sleeves of the sweatshirt halfway up my forearms before hanging up the towel and opening the door.
Steam billowed out around me and I walked around the corner to the kitchen where I’d seen Jasper last, but he wasn’t there. I could see a dining room ahead, so I headed that way, also finding it empty. But the dining room led to the entryway which led to the stairs and another room beyond, which was where I found Jasper. He sat on the floor, throwing crumpled newspapers into a small black stove.
“There you are,” I greeted, and his head snapped up.
Jasper’s eyes were wide and dark, like it surprised him to find me in his house. From the couch, Gus barked once, then settled.
“The storm is pretty bad,” Jasper said, not looking at me. He stood up and, for the first time, I truly realized how massive the man was. “I’ll get you some ice.”
He walked out of the room and I found myself staring at the spot where he’d been. I was a small man; I’d always been small, but Jasper was built like a redwood, all tall and broad and…
“Stop it,” I mumbled under my breath.
Jasper was definitely hot, but he was also cranky. I knew better than to be attracted to a cranky person. They were always so much work.
Gus barked again, and I smiled at him.
“I know,” I said, sitting on the couch and petting the equally large dog on the head between his ears.
Jasper came back, a Ziplock filled with ice clutched in that giant hand of his, and I gave him what I hoped was a relieved smile. I shifted away from Gus and stretched out, pulling up the hem of the sweater and tugging down the waistband of the pants.
“What are you doing?” Jasper stalled his approach, eyes focused on the exposed and purple strip of skin across my hip.
“Icing my hip,” I replied, turning my body so I could rest. “Can you just put it right here?”
Jasper inhaled and closed the space between us. He dropped into a squat and I caught a whiff of him, that pine soap and wet snow and something else I couldn’t put my finger on. Heat radiated off his body, and when he touched me, I expected it to burn. It didn’t, of course, because he didn’t touch me, at least not with his hands. Jasper settled the bag of ice onto my hip. Easy at first, until I had time to get used to the cold.
Jesus, take the wheel.
It was a good thing this guy had a massive house because if there was only one bed, I would have made it my mission to plaster our bodies together for the duration of my stay.
“How’s that?” he asked, voice gruff, yet quiet.
His breath smelled like apples.
“Jasper,” I started, not even sure of what I wanted to say besides his name.
Underneath his grip, the ice cubes crushed against each other, and a rough breath tumbled out of his mouth. My entire body was on high alert. He was close to me, and he was close to touching me and, God, I wanted him, even if it was only for a night.
“Jasper,” I said again, angling myself closer to him.
I didn’t know what I was doing, because if there’d ever been a man who sent mixed signals, it was Jasper. He looked at me like he wanted to eat me, but he talked at me like he wished his dog would do the honors.
I still didn’t know what to say, but I reached a hand out to touch him. My fingers grazed against the placket of his flannel, rough and warm, and then there was a loud pop and all the lights in the house went black.
5
Jasper
Liam’s hand reached toward me and everything went dark.
For a second, I thought I passed out, which would have been reasonable considering a passing glance at
his bare hip had all the blood leaving my head and flooding straight to my cock, but I hadn’t. The power had gone out. I stood up in a flash, turning away from Liam even though, in the dark, he wouldn’t have been able to see the evidence of my arousal. The light from the fire in the stove flickered, illuminating through the small grates, and my eyes adjusted to the dark while I waited for the generator to kick on. But it didn’t kick on. The propane wasn’t that low; there should have been enough left to at least get it going.
“What happened?” Liam asked from behind me, his voice small and trembling.
I glanced over my shoulder, relieved to see he’d pulled up his pants. “The power’s out from the storm,” I told him, although it should have been self-explanatory.
“What do we do?”
“You stay where you are,” I said. “With Gus. I’ll go check the generator.”
Upon hearing his name, Gus barked and sat guard beside Liam’s knees. I left the room and grabbed my coat from the laundry room before heading out back to check the unit. The snow was really coming down, and it was absolutely pitch black outside. I clicked on my flashlight and fiddled around with the generator, but it wouldn’t catch.
This was fine.
It would have to be fine.
Thankfully, Liam had just showered so there was hot water in the pipes and they wouldn’t freeze. I hoped it would be enough to hold through the night until I could get a better look at the generator. On the way back in, I grabbed some candles from the workbench in the garage and carried them into the house. The kitchen was a little cold already, if not steamy from the remnants of Liam’s shower. It smelled like pine, meaning he’d clearly used my soap. I dragged my tongue across the front of my teeth, giving myself a moment to process all the ways that made me feel.
I’d caught the scent of pine and amber on him when I’d put the ice on the hip, but I hadn’t had time to register why it was so familiar. That meant he’d been in my shower, clearly naked, and he’d used my soap… had he used my loofah? Had he cleaned his whole body with it? Or had he used his hands? I’d never know, and I really didn’t want to know.
Daybreak Page 3