“God.” Cal ran a hand over his face, his expression weary. “You don’t realize what you’ve stepped into. You don’t know what Hollyn’s been through. How isolated she’s been all her life. How hard everything has been for her.” His throat worked as he swallowed. “Kids were cruel to her. People avoid her because they don’t understand. Every interaction with a stranger has been anxiety-ridden for her. And her mother didn’t help by locking her in a virtual prison to try to protect her. There were times I worried she’d just…decide to not go on at all.”
Cal looked down like he was trying to gather himself, and Jasper’s throat tightened at the thought of Hollyn being that depressed.
“And finally, she’s making some progress, putting herself out there.” He looked back to Jasper. “I’m so glad for that. Seeing her working outside the house, making friends, meeting new people. She’s been fighting hard to create a life she wants. But as tough as she is in some ways, she’s so fucking vulnerable to someone like you.”
Jasper’s defenses went up swift and tall. How many times had someone referred to him that way? Someone like you. The stupid one. The foster kid. The problem child. The fuckup. “Someone like me?”
Cal gave him a smug look. “The good-looking guy who knows how to say all the right things. You’re the prom king asking the wallflower to dance just to feel like he did something nice.”
Jasper’s temper surfaced, his voice rising. “I’m not dating her out of fucking pity.”
But the words sounded hollow in his ears. He and Hollyn were just pretending to have a relationship. He wasn’t actually her boyfriend. He was helping her. Exchanging favors. Being nice. Did that mean there was some truth to Cal’s accusation? Even though Jasper was attracted to Hollyn, was he doing all this just to feel like a good guy after fucking up so royally? Was he trying to prove something to himself?
“Even if this isn’t about pity or getting publicity, even if it’s just about getting her in bed and having a little fun,” Cal said, “she’s not hardened to that kind of thing yet. She hasn’t been through the meat grinder of the dating scene. Her defenses are weak at best. She looks at you like…”
“Like what?” Jasper asked.
Cal’s frown lines deepened, his eye contact steady. “Like you’re the guy.”
That took the wind right out of Jasper. No way. Cal had it all wrong. Hollyn was just a better actress than she gave herself credit for. She was selling the lie hook, line, and sinker. He shook his head. “Cal—”
“Hollyn deserves someone who’s going to love her and stick around,” he continued. “Someone who puts her first. I could be that guy. You—are not that guy.”
That pressed all of Jasper’s fuck-off buttons. “You don’t know me.”
“I know enough,” Cal said. “You don’t do what you do unless you’re fame-hungry. I bet your career is everything to you.”
“Says the dude in a band. And a career and a relationship aren’t mutually exclusive last I checked.”
“Right,” he said, tone dismissive. “If a big break gets tossed your way, you gonna turn it down to stay with Hollyn?”
“If your band gets a record deal and is asked to tour the world, you gonna turn it down to stay with Hollyn?” he lobbed back at Cal.
“Yes,” he said without hesitation. “I would.”
“Then you’re dumb,” Jasper said, derision in his voice. “Nothing like starting a long-term relationship with a big, heaping pile of resentment that you gave up a life dream to be with someone. I wouldn’t expect her to do that for me either.”
It was why Jasper hadn’t fought harder to work things out with Kenzie. She had chosen her career over him. He hadn’t liked how she went about it, but he hadn’t blamed her for putting her ambitions first. She would’ve resented the hell out of him if he’d held her back in any way.
“Love is more important than any career goal,” Cal said after taking another swig of wine. “See. I know your type better than you think.”
Jasper’s teeth pressed together. “Look. You’re not her dad. I don’t have to declare my intentions to you. Like I said, this is new.”
“Right. Which means if you don’t have any thoughts of it turning into something lasting, then you should do her a favor and let her down now,” he said, a plea in his voice. “She’s already getting in too deep. I know her. I can tell. She’s let you in.”
Something twisted tight in Jasper’s chest at that.
“Don’t get her all knotted up with feelings for you and then dump her. I will fucking punch you if you do that, whether you want to fight or not,” he warned. “If you care about her at all, do the right thing.”
Jasper was so done with this conversation. He was arguing over a fake freaking relationship. Why was he letting Cal push his buttons? He got to his feet. “Right, let her go so that she can go running to you?”
He shrugged. “I love her. She loves me. I could make her happy.”
Jasper stared down at him, something new burning in his gut. “I know I haven’t known Hollyn for all the years you have. We don’t have that kind of history. But I know that she isn’t some shrinking violet who would appreciate her friend manhandling her love life and ‘protecting’ her from the big, bad world. If you haven’t noticed, Hollyn is a badass. Quiet and shy but strong as hell,” he said, thinking of the woman who boldly asked him for exactly what she wanted, the woman taking her fears head on to make her career happen.
“So maybe you’re not with her right now because she’s not looking for a shield from the world. She’s looking for someone to be on the front lines with her, someone who believes that she can handle herself just fine. Plus, she deserves someone who will fight to be with her, who will lay his ass on the line to get the privilege. Not someone who sits around for years in some passive self-righteous state waiting for her to come to her senses.”
Cal grabbed the wine bottle again, his knuckles white against it. “Fuck you. You have no clue what our relationship is like.”
“And you have no idea what ours is like,” Jasper said. “Maybe we’re goddamned soul mates and you’re trying to derail the start of our epic love story. Maybe she’ll be the love of my life.”
The words were out before he could evaluate them, but they reverberated in his brain like a thunderclap. Maybe, maybe, maybe…
They should’ve sent a panic through him.
Didn’t.
“Yeah right.” Cal snorted, his lip curling. “Go home, Jasper.”