The night air was still thick with humidity but had cooled. His skin felt too hot in comparison and his side still hurt. He looked down the sidewalk both ways and spotted Hollyn about two blocks down, walking with a quick stride.
“Hey!” He called out but she didn’t turn.
And what woman would on a city street at night. Hello, psycho. With one look back at the bar, he set off for his second jog of the night. Hopefully, she wouldn’t mace him.
Not that he didn’t deserve it.
Chapter Six
Hollyn’s feet ached from walking so swiftly. Thump, thump, thump. Her footfalls against the pavement matched her racing heartbeat. She didn’t know whether to cry or scream or punch something. She’d like to punch him. How dare he? How dare Jasper make fun of her and her coworkers as some schtick to get laughs?
The sick feeling that had washed over her when she’d realized he was talking about her had made her go cold all over, dragging her back to a place in time she never wanted to revisit. Then the blond woman had started to mimic Hollyn’s facial tics, and anger had rushed in, replacing the sick feeling with rage. She’d spent all afternoon smiling over her texting with Jasper, and now she realized it was all bullshit. He hadn’t been flirting with her. He’d been gathering material.
She wanted to punch his handsome face. Or better, give his stupid show the most scathing review Miz Poppy had ever penned.
Asshole.
A man shouted from somewhere in the distance behind her. She didn’t turn around. She’d learned early on to ignore catcalls on the city street, especially at night. Eyes forward, hand on cell phone and purse. She’d parked her car farther away because she’d planned to make one more stop at a club down the street tonight, but now she couldn’t. She wouldn’t be able to concentrate enough to review anything else. She needed to get home or she’d end up marching back to that bar and throwing a drink on Jasper mid-performance. Her breaths were coming fast, and she realized she’d shifted into a near run—not the best choice in the heeled boots she was wearing.
“Hey, wait up!” The voice was closer. “Hollyn!”
Hollyn spun around at the sound of her name. Instead of some random drunk dude like she’d expected, Jasper was jogging toward her, his skin slick with sweat. Relief flooded his face when he realized she’d stopped walking. He adjusted his glasses, which looked ready to slide off his nose. “Thank God. Please. Stop. Just. Give. Me. A second.”
Hollyn’s grip tightened on her purse, and her teeth ground together as Jasper halted in front of her and braced his hands on his knees, panting, his face flushed. The guy looked too fit to be that winded, but maybe he was just one of those annoying people who looked athletic without having to work out.
“I have nothing to say to you,” she said coldly and turned to continue walking to her car.
“No please,” Jasper said. A hand landed lightly on her shoulder. “Please. I’m sorry. I—”
She whirled around, shrugging off his touch. “You’re sorry?” she demanded, her voice louder than she’d expected, the unfamiliar volume foreign in her throat. “How could you do that? What the hell is wrong with you?”
Jasper blanched and lifted his palms to her. “I’m so sorry, Hollyn. I was just joking. I didn’t mean anything—”
“By what?” she asked. “By making fun of my face? Fuck you.”
He frowned and pressed a hand to his side like he was in pain. “Your face? I wasn’t making fun of your face. I like your face.” He winced and gasped a little. “I was making fun of me. How much I obviously annoyed you that first day, or how I must’ve smelled. You kept wrinkling your nose. I didn’t mean—”
Hollyn pointed at her face. “I have Tourette’s, you asshole. It was flaring up that day.”
You make it flare up.
His lips parted, and he went a greenish shade of pale. “Oh shit. I didn’t mean—”
“Whatever.” She turned again, needing to be done with this. With him.
He hurried to the spot in front of her, still hunched over, but blocking her path. He put his hand up again, a mournful expression on his face. “Please. I really am sorry. I would’ve never—”
“Made fun of a neurological disorder? But making fun of the people you work with is fair game?” She crossed her arms. “Andi is a supernice person. She doesn’t love serial killers. She hosts a podcast that tries to help people protect themselves from crime.”
He cringed. “I know. I know. It was a dick move. Sometimes I talk before I think. A lot of times I talk before I think. I didn’t mean any harm by it.”
“Your show is crap.” She stepped past him. “Don’t talk to me at work.”
“Hey, please—” He huffed in frustration. “Dammit, Hollyn.”
She wasn’t going to turn around again. She dodged a couple walking hand in hand.
“Shit. Ow.” Jasper let out a sharp hiss and a string of cursing.
Not. Turning. Around. Keep walking.
Another sound of pain and then a thump. “Fuck.”
Hollyn couldn’t help it. She turned.
Jasper was on his knees, one hand braced on the sidewalk and another pressed to his right side. His face was beet red now and contorted in pain.
People moved past him on the sidewalk—someone falling down drunk on the street not a rare sight in this part of the city.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, warily taking a step closer to him. “Have you been drinking? Are you going to vomit on my shoes now?”
He looked up, his face shiny with sweat. “Not drinking. Could vomit. Side. Hurting.” He took a breath. “I know you…hate me right now…but before you go, can you maybe call 911?”
Her eyes went wide. “What?”
He hunched into a fetal position. “Hurts. Side, stabbing pain. Something’s wrong. Like really wrong.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she muttered and looked down the street, wondering if she could go back and grab one of his improv friends to help. But the walk was too far, and Jasper really did look like he was in rough shape. “Shit. Can you walk at all?”
He made an agonized sound but nodded. “As long as I don’t have to be fully upright, maybe?”
She glanced up and down the street, secretly hoping some other magical option would present itself, but none appeared. She wasn’t going to pawn him off on a tipsy stranger. “Look, my car is only a few steps away. I can drive you to the hospital and get you there quicker than waiting for an ambulance. UMC isn’t far from here.”