Chapter 14: Two siblings, a love interest and the Gay Best Friend walk into a game room...


I corrected my position within Jasper's lap so I was straddling him. I reached up and placed my hands on his ears and then I yanked his head down. The fact that his head actually moved told me that my distraction had worked. Or at the very least that he wasn't totally out of control. Shit could've turned ugly for me otherwise.

I pulled his face close to mine and I tried my fucking hardest to ignore the fact that I was crying. I couldn't stop it, but I sure as hell wasn't going to let that stop me from being a fucking badass.

"Not now, Jasper. I'm f-fine"

Once more with less weeping, please. It was fucking annoying that my voice had to break at the most crucial of times. Jasper spared me a quick glance before he turned his full attention back to Ariel. I swear he was trying to discover some new vampire mind powers so he could kill Ariel with his eyes alone.

From the way the annoying bitch was shaking, it had to be working in some way. It was hard to tell if she was shocked by what she had done or if she just remembered what happened the last time someone tried to injure me in front of Jasper.

"Nuh-uh. Eyes down here, baby." I said and gave Jasper's ears another firm tug. I was well aware that everyone was staring at us and this was so not the time to unleash the beast. No matter how fucking satisfying it would be.

He focused on me a little longer now. I didn't want to think about what I looked like. Attractive as fuck, no doubt, with tears and snot running down my face. My stomach fluttered when his face softened and he reached up to wipe the wetness from my cheeks.

"How bad is it...?" He asked softly. I didn't appreciate the way my heart reacted to the look on his face. All concerned and devastated and so ready to kill someone. It was so very wrong of me to think he looked damn fine.

I peeled back the sleeve of my undershirt. I hoped that the coffee stain would come out as it was one of my only plain shirts. Never to be worn on its own, but it was a great shirt when I needed layers to keep warm.

The coffee had hit me like an inch below my elbow. There was a red spot that did not look promising. I gave it an experimental poke and tried my best to contain my screech of pain.

"It's not... not too bad."

Tears, anytime you'd want to stop would be fine with me... Why did I have to be such a crybaby? I needed to nut up and put on a show, but I didn't handle pain well. Which was kind of ironic considering how hard I pushed myself at the gym.

"I didn't... It was an accident!" The dog-faced nightmare shrieked. What a fucking asshole.

"You shut your fat mouth or I'll fucking jam my foot in there." I hissed at her. Couldn't that moron understand that it was time for her to fucking disappear before Jasper decided not to humor me anymore?

He gave another low growl to just prove my point. Ariel let out a miserable gurgle and hurried away. Jasper started to stand up, with me still firmly lodged in his lap. I tugged at his ears again and pushed his nose into my neck. He inhaled deeply and his arms came to squeeze me close to him.

Holy fucking shit. I should get myself into trouble more often if this was the reaction he had. Too bad that I had zero desire to risk a serious injury. I was a fucking wimp when it came to pain.

My arm was hurting like fuck. I sniffed again. There were even more tears dripping down my face and I desperately wanted to wipe them away, but I needed my hands to keep Jasper from killing Ariel.

"I'm going to kill her." Jasper whispered into my neck. It was so fucking not the right time to get so turned on, but what could I do? He was all growly and deadly and protective. I challenge anyone to resist him like this.

"Sorry baby, but you can't. I called dibs on that years ago." I whispered back to him.

It was like there was a collective sigh of relief coming from my relatives. It had been deathly quiet and now people started to get back to their business. Fucking vultures. They were just itching to find out what would happen if Jasper was let loose.

I'd like to see their reaction when he'd start tearing heads off...

"I'm sorry, Ella. I should've been faster. More cautious. It's my fault that you got hurt..." Jasper continued to mutter against my skin.

My eyes might've rolled to the back of my head. My hormones weren't considering the time or the place to make themselves known. This was just amazing. I released my hold on Jasper's ears, hoping that we were past the critical stage and slid them up to caress Jasper's hair.

I also wiped the other side of my face into my poncho. It was gross, but you know... priorities. My hands were needed elsewhere and honestly, touching Jasper's hair was so worth the bodily fluids all over my face and clothes. Thank god I never wore anything other than waterproof mascara.

"Hey, this was not your fault. It was that fucking bitch and she'll get hers eventually. I'm fine, really. You saved my face so it's all good."

Whoa whoa whoa... his nose was doing some very dangerous snuggling against my skin there! I bit my lip to stop a really embarrassing sound from coming out. I was still somewhat aware that the breakfast buffet probably wasn't the best place to get your freak on.

But if Jasper was game, so was I...

I was somewhere between not-crying and feeling normal. It felt like any little thing would set me off again, so I was extremely fucking grateful that Jasper was holding me. It gave me a chance to collect myself and honestly, his scent was so fucking calming and attractive to me.

"I could feel her rage. I should've seen it coming... I just never thought that she'd... I'll kill her for this. I swear she'll pay."

It was a good thing that Jasper was barely making any noise. There was no chance that we were overheard by my bat-like relatives. He was straight up mumbling those words into my ear and they turned me on so fucking much. What tears? My body was all over that incident. It was way more interested in the sexy beast that was whispering them sweet nothings in my ear. It seemed that the way to my pants was promising to kill my nemesis. Who knew...

"Not your fault. Say you understand that. And you can't go around killing my nemesis. I'll be the prime suspect. Besides, I'm fine. It doesn't even hurt anymore..."

I lied. It did fucking hurt. My skin felt tight and uncomfortable and hot. But honestly, it wasn't that big of a deal. I was mostly unharmed thanks to Jasper's quick reflexes. That was the only reason why I was even bothering to restrain my sexy vampire killing machine. If that coffee had hit my face, then all bets would've been off. Hell, I would've joined in on the killing.

And I was still going to kill her one day. Just, you know, when she would least expect it and I knew I would get away with it.

"Do you think they're even aware that we are all still here?" Brody asked, ruining the moment. What a fucking surprise. Ah well, I suppose it was alright. I didn't want to deal with a broody vampire all day long, so Brody's brand of annoying was just the distraction that we needed.

"Hush. Don't bother them! Look how cute they look, all huddled together like that." Faye said with what I imagined was the biggest shit-eating grin that had ever existed.

"Okay, that's disgusting. That's my fugly sister you're talking about. There's nothing cute about her."

I looked around the best that I could. Jasper was not letting me go, no complaints, so it was difficult to see if that psycho had managed to rub her two grey braincells together and slither away while she had the chance. She was nowhere to be seen. Thank fucking god. I could relax. And that meant I could start firing back at my idiotic brother.

"Fuck you, Brody. We all know who the ugly sibling is. Honestly Faye, just dump his ass already. You could do so much better."

Jasper lifted his head up, but kept his arms locked around me. Fucking fortunately. Was it wrong that I never wanted him to let go? I pressed my cheek on his shoulder and decided that I didn't care.

"I don't think it's even possible for Ella not to be cute. She's breathtakingly beautiful."

Fuck! The Southern gentleman was back with a bang! I blushed, like I always seemed to do whenever Jasper said something smooth like that. Faye giggled happily, bless her heart and Brody pretended to throw up. He was so fucking mature.

"No, but seriously, are you okay?" Brody then asked. There was a suspicious flash of something in his eyes and I knew I'd have my fucking hands full dealing with two overprotective macho guys who wanted to kill the woman of the hour. This was going to be a fucking splendid day. Thank you so fucking much, Ariel...

Honestly, I was a fucking saint. I'd like to see that selfish bitch do something like this for me. Then again, if and when I decided to assault Ariel, the bitch wouldn't walk away from it.

But before that day came...

"Ow. No I'm not. It huuuuurts!" I whined. The crisis was averted for now, so I could really embrace my true dramatic crybaby self.

Faye took my arm and gave it a once-over. I caught her eyeroll and stuck out my tongue as a response. I would've given her the middle finger, but people were still staring at us. Image was everything and I was trying very hard to put mine back up. And my fingers were very busy exploring Jasper's golden mane. It was an important job.

Jasper was being very helpful with the way he was squishing me against his body. It did wonders for my psyche and he was doing a very good job of convincing my brain that I should just focus on his infinite hotness again and let the incident pass. For now.

"Don't be such a drama queen. It's just a little red. It won't even blister."

What a party-pooper. She just couldn't let me have my moment. I was dealing with the utter fucking shock of my cousin once again trying to disfigure or murder me. I think I was allowed to be a little dramatic.

Not to mention that I had prevented yet another guaranteed bloodpath just now. Yeah, you're very welcome Faye! Shit... I seriously got no respect.

"You don't know that. It feels like it'll blister. I'm sure it'll get all gross soon enough!"

There was a slight chance that I was more upset the possible ugly mark on my skin than the fact that I had gotten burned in the first place. I mean, Ariel was going to get her just desserts for her latest attempted murder, but I had clear priorities. Namely my looks.

"What part of her is cute again? Dude, I'm seriously questioning your taste in girls." Brody remarked.

"Excuse you! I'm a healthy 15 year old girl with double D's, an ass that won't quit and a fucking face of an angel!"

"I think I just threw up in my mouth..."

My brother was an asshole. No redeeming qualities whatsoever.

000

What the hell was I going to wear? Ugh! Ariel had totally ruined my entire plan for the day. What was I going to use now? It was a cold day, so I couldn't just put on any cute outfit and call it a day. The poncho had been so cozy and pretty... but I couldn't wear it without my long sleeved shirt under it and I was not going to walk around with a fucking coffee stain on my clothes.

My jeans were still fine to use, but what was I going to pair them up with? I couldn't use my turtleneck because it had been my workout shirt. I couldn't wear the top I had worn when I got to this hellhole. It would look bad if I wore dirty clothes.

I did have a cute pink halter top I could totally rock, but I had nothing to put over it. For someone who lived in a cold-as-fuck town known for the chilling rain, I had way too few warm clothes.

Honestly, I didn't even know why I had brought the top with me. I just had a problem with overpacking and of course that only extended to useless stuff that looked cute as fuck, but were unwearable. Good job, Ella.

"It's been over 20 minutes already... Are you planning on being topless for much longer?" Jasper asked. He sounded kind of uncomfortable.

Okay, it was so not my fault that I needed a change of clothes! I had my outfits planned beforehand and now I needed to scrap all of that hard work and pull an amazing outfit out of my ass.

It just wasn't convenient for me to run to the bathroom every 20 seconds with a new shirt. So I had done the only logical thing and started changing my shirts in our living space. He could deal with it a little while longer.

Jasper was being a real gentleman. I hadn't seen him take his eyes off of the ceiling for the entire time I had been less than decently dressed. Of course, he could've been staring at me whenever my attention was elsewhere, but he at least pretended not to stare. Not that I would mind.

He was probably only still in the same space as me because he wasn't willing to leave me alone at the moment. He was still full on protective mode even if his 'grrrr' tendencies were safely tucked away for now. But I had a feeling I wouldn't be spending any time alone for a while.

I mean, who was to say that my crazy nemesis wasn't hiding in the bushes, just waiting for the perfect opportunity to finish the job?

"Oh, I'm sorry. I just need to figure out my outfits for the rest of this fucking trip on the spot. It's not like that's challenging or anything."

It was official. I had nothing to wear.

"What's wrong with the pink one?" He asked. He might've tried to be helpful, but he wasn't offering me any real solutions to my problem. Well, at least his question confirmed that he didn't just spend the last 20 minutes staring at the ceiling.

It was fine. Jasper Whitlock could ogle my goodies all day every day if he so chose. And if I was super lucky, maybe he'd let me ogle his goodies one day... a girl can always dream, right?

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. It's so cute and it goes with these jeans perfectly."

That's why this all was so fucking maddening. I knew it would look so cute on me, but I couldn't handle the gloomy Washington spring without some layers on me. Especially when the day was as fucking cold as this one was. Honestly, why the fuck was it still so close to freezing in May?

"So why aren't you..."

"Wearing it? Jasper, you do realize that I'm just a regular human being. I will die of coldness if I don't dress properly. I didn't bring a hoodie with me. I just have my two sweaters and I've already worn both of them."

Jasper got up from the bed and came to my side. He rolled his eyes at me and then reached for his side of the wardrobe. He pulled out a navy blue hoodie and handed it to me.

"You can wear this. Problem solved."

Okay, who gave my heart a permission to get all out of whack again? It certainly wasn't me! Did his chivalry know no limits? Fucking hell. He really should tone it down for the sanity of the world's

female population.

"...okay."

What else was I going to say? Of course I was going to wear his fucking hoodie! I didn't even care if it clashed with my other clothes or not. My fake boyfriend was doing the boyfriend move of giving up his clothes for the benefit of his girlfriend. I wasn't going to let the opportunity of wrapping his scent all around me slip past my fingers!

I finished dressing up and holy shit Jasper's hoodie was comfy! It was waaaaay too big for me, so it kind of swallowed me, but fuck if I cared. It was cute. Jasper's eyes crinkled as he smiled widely down at me. I grinned back at him. It was impossible not to. His smile was a fucking gift from the gods.

"You're drowning in it."

Well no shit. Maybe he hadn't noticed, but I was significantly smaller than him. First off, he was so tall... with beautiful shoulders that were much wider than mine... Goddamn he was so sexy.

What were we talking about again..? Right!

"Just admit it, I look adorable."

"Yes you do..."

I watched as his smile faded away and he started to look all serious again. His eyes got darker and I was starting to wonder if they did that all the time, or if my family was driving his emotions crazy. I wouldn't blame him. They drove everyone crazy.

Also, he just totally called me adorable. I was full-on swooning.

Jasper placed his hand on my shoulder and then trailed it down so he was holding my injured arm. I couldn't figure out if he was sad, angry or little bit of both. Probably the last one.

"Why did you stop me? She's not going to give up, Ella. She hates you."

Tell me something I don't know, oh great Major. It was like a totally new development in my relationship with Ariel. It wasn't like she had been trying to destroy me since we were kids.

"Um, let's see. Because everyone was watching. Because I've called dibs on her. Because if Ariel dies, I'll be the fucking prime suspect. And because..." I stopped myself. Why the fuck did I have to be so damn honest with him?

It was his damn eyes. Those beautiful fucking eyes that made me feel like I could share anything with him. Goddamn I wanted to hate his eyes.

"Because?" He asked. All concerned and earnest. And so damn cute.

"Because you think you're a monster and I don't want to be the reason that you'll end up hating yourself." I muttered, looking away from him.

Fuck it all. This was supposed to be a drama free day. We were supposed to save the big conversations for tonight. It was only 10 am for fuck's sake. I was so not ready for this shit.

His fingers gripped my chin gently and he turned my head back to him. I was back to staring at the liquid gold of his eyes. Or more like dark amber they currently were. At least they weren't all black again. Although I did have a certain... appreciation for his dark eyes.

"I think I'm a monster? Shouldn't this just prove that I am one?"

Okay, who was it that had made Jasper hate himself so much? I was going to find them and fucking kick their asses for making him think like this.

"Jasper, you are not a fucking monster. And if I ever hear you call yourself that again, I'll find a way to make you really hurt. You were protecting me. Defending me. Call me crazy, but that doesn't sound like something a monster would do." Were we really having this conversation again?

He looked at me for a long time again. Reading my face and trying to see if I was lying to him. It felt like he couldn't comprehend that his actions could be read as anything more than horrible. Fuck that. Jasper Whitlock was a good person. He was kind, polite, considerate and always, always trying to protect me and my sanity from my horrible family.

So what if he got a little blood thirsty from time to time? As long as he didn't go after me and the people I loved, we were good. I liked Jasper just the way he was. Murderous impulses and all.

He touched my face like he couldn't believe this was real. Yeah, you and me both buddy. All of this was so fucking unreal and damn if I wasn't happy that it was happening. Like, I could do without the psycho cousins trying to kill me, and the wedding in general, but all in all I was happy that this was actually happening.

"You are so beautiful, Ella. I don't know what I've done to deserve you in my life, but I am so, so grateful for it." He whispered. Oh boy.

Heart, any time you want to stop beating out of my chest... I let out a shaky breath.

I liked it when people called me beautiful. It made me breathe a little easier. All thanks to my mom, no doubt. But it was something that helped me cope with my fucked up life. If nothing else, at least I had my beauty.

But Jasper... I didn't think he meant that I was beautiful on the outside. I mean, I knew he thought I was beautiful. Unless he had been faking his reactions and lying to my face, but I trusted that he wouldn't do something so horrible.

I think he meant he thought I was beautiful on the inside too. That was a first. Nobody had told me that before. I could be way off, but I felt like he meant it like that.

And now I was crying again. Great.

I gave him a watery smile and wiped my once again wet face into the sleeve of his hoodie. Thank god for waterproof mascara. I would probably need to reapply my foundation and concealer, but hey, at least I didn't have raccoon eyes.

"But, can you please stop placing yourself in my way when I'm on the verge of losing control?"

I started laughing. His grin came back as well and I knew we were okay. At least for now. I didn't think he necessarily agreed with me, but he was willing to go with it. I just hoped that my moronic cousin had the brains to keep her distance for now, or her head would end on a pike. Like, literally.

I didn't think there would be anything I could do to stop Jasper if Ariel came at me again. It kind of made me feel all warm on the inside.

There was a slight chance that I was a psychopath or something. Because while I didn't want her to die, at least not yet, it was for completely selfish reasons and I knew I would enjoy her brutal demise so, so much.

"Hey, if it works... By the way, did I hurt your ears? I really went for it because I figured you'd be able to take it."

I just wanted to know... for science. And totally not because this could be something I could use against him in the future...

Now it was his turn to burst into laughter.

000

Okay, I had to admit it. The game room was fucking awesome. Like, sure it was kind of dim even with all the lamps turned on, and it was kind of gloomy with the bare white walls and stone floors.

But it was so awesome! I looked around me in glee. There was of course the pool table that Brody had mentioned. It was huge and the centerpiece of the space. There was a row of cue sticks attached to a rack on one wall. It also had a long wooden shelf that had all the balls in three neat rows. It was a cool way to storage them.

There were three ratty leather couches pushed against the walls and a handful of uncomfortable looking wooden chairs stacked on top of each other in one corner. The air smelled musty and I figured nobody had used the room for a while.

Faye went straight to another group of shelves that were bursting from magazines and what looked like board games. She rummaged through the different magazine titles before she pulled out one number of the corner stone of every woman's cultural identity, Cosmopolitan.

"So, what do you think?" Jasper whispered in my ear. I shuddered pleasantly and squeezed his hand. I didn't even have to turn and look at him to know he was sporting one of his sinfully hot arrogant smirks.

I tried to come up with an answer that would wipe his smirk away, but I was drawing a blank. Jasper's thumb rubbing against the palm of my hand might've been to blame. He was clearly bullying me, using my weakness to his sex powers against me. It was so mean.

"I think that for once, Brody actually came up with a smart idea. Good job, big brother! I'm so proud of you." I decided that the best way to go about it was to ignore his sexiness and focus on ripping into my brother.

What can I say, even Brody had his uses from time to time.

Jasper scoffed and pulled me against him, wrapping his wonderful hands around my waist. My hands came up to rest on top of his chest. Ready to either push him away or possibly to pull him closer. I didn't know which way I wanted the situation to go.

"Ah, but this was not Brody's idea. It was all me, lil' darling."

Oh my lord, the arrogance in his voice! What the fuck was he doing to my body? My stomach tightened and I had to squeeze my thighs tightly together again because certain parts of me were very eager for his attention.

And right in front of my brother, of course. I swear that Jasper had some fucking strange kink or something. It felt like he wanted to make me as horny as possible whenever I was around my family.

It really should've bothered me more than it did. Fuuuuck, I was so sick. Completely insane.

"Really? Well, then I guess I should be thanking you, shouldn't I?"

Yeah, that was way too flirty. Bad Ella. Let's just remind ourselves that Jasper Whitlock was off limits. I wasn't allowed to fall head over heels here. And I definitely shouldn't be this fucking flirty, because I wasn't supposed to go for guys who were taken.

Now if only my fucking brain and heart would get over this stupid thing and get with the program.

"Mmh... I think you should. I think I deserve that..."

Well, now he was just asking for it. I mean really, what was I supposed to do when he was being like this?

I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled his head down. He raised an eyebrow, curious as to what I was up to. He went along with it and his eyes were getting into the dark amber territory again.

I stood up to my tip toes and brought our faces closer. He inhaled deeply again and there was this anticipation all over his face. His arms tightened around me and he pulled me closer to his body. God it was delicious... it would be so easy to just give in.

But I couldn't. I would like to say it was because I was doing it because it was the right thing to do, but I was way too far gone. I wanted him so fucking badly that in moments like these I couldn't give a rat's ass about the fact that he had a badass vampire wife who could kill me. Nope. The reason why I was not going to kiss him senseless was because we were playing a game and I wanted to win it.

"Thank you, Major Whitlock. You're my hero." I whispered softly and quickly pressed my lips against his jaw before letting go of his neck and pushing him away.

His arms fell open and I stepped out of his personal space and grinned up at him. Oh, the look on his face! He hadn't expected that. Ha! Served him right for teasing me constantly. See, I could be a bully too!

"Okay, are you two done making googly eyes at each other? It's making me nauseous." Brody's annoying voice ended our moment. How fucking frustrating. I was pretty sure Jasper had been close to being pushed over the edge and now he was back in full control. So unfair!

"I don't know what you're talking about. You must be imagining things." I said with a huff. Jasper snorted and shook his head. He went to get himself a cue stick and positioned himself next to the pool table.

But seriously, how glorious would it be if he would just lift me on top of that thing and then just...

Bad, bad Ella! No more thought about having wild sexy times with Jasper Whitlock!

"Are you ready to face the champion?" Brody boasted and actually flexed his muscles to Jasper. I rolled my eyes. What a fucking idiot.

"Oh? I thought I was going to play against you. Where is this champion you're talking about?"

Guys... I wondered how long it would be before they'd put their dicks on the table and measure them. Some things were just universal, I guess.

I went to sit next to Faye and leaned against her so I could read the magazine with her. It was an old number, published in the 80's. I was digging the poofy perms and padded shoulders.

The boys started their game of eight ball, throwing insults at each other and laughing like idiots. It was weird to see them get along so well, but I guessed it was better than the awkwardness they had on our drive here.

I'd still rather they weren't being so fucking chummy. It just screamed trouble for me.

I lifted my knees up and half-way into Faye's lap. I kept my attention neatly divided between reading the magazine with her and staring at the boys. I just had to make sure Brody didn't do anything that would embarrass me. Like start telling stories from my awkward years. He was such an asshole that he'd reveal everything if given the chance.

"I think Brody has a neferious plan to make Jasper stick around even after this weekend." Faye said quietly, a knowing smile on her lips.

Fuck. That was the one thing my life was missing. My brother trying to set me up with a married vampire. Now I could die happy.

"He'd better not. I don't need Brody's 'help'." I grumbled. Faye giggled.

"Oh yes. I can see that you're doing pretty well all on your own."

Okay, was she mocking me or was she insinuating that something was going on between me and Jasper? I couldn't tell.

"What?"

Somebody once said that there were no such things as stupid questions. I disagreed with that. I was a fucking master at asking stupid questions and that was one of them. I so did not want to have this conversation, especially when the vampire with superhearing in question was right here in the same room. Yeah, this would go over well.

Faye gave me a long look, as if she was trying to figure out if I was playing dumb or if I was dumb. Of course it was the latter. She seemed to come to the same conclusion and I thought I should feel insulted by that. Then again, it was the truth, so...

"Seriously? You two are all over each other, all the damn time."

Like she was one to talk. Miss 'I can't seem to keep my hands away from my fiance, not even when his little sister is standing right next to us' was saying that I was all over Jasper. Yeah right.

"No we're not." I said quickly. And did I just imagine it, or were Jasper's ears twitching? That bastard. I mean, I knew he couldn't help it, but did he have to look so damn happy about it?

Of course, I could only see his back, but still. I was willing to bet good money on the fact that he was feeling mighty smug again.

Why did his confidence have to be so fucking appealing?

"Oh please. I haven't seen you two being apart for even 10 minutes ever since we got here."

What a liar. We had spent many, many hours apart thank you very much. And Faye had even been a fucking witness to it. Or did she forget yesterday already? Because me and my overactive hormones hadn't forgotten the panty-free night of fun.

"Um, we are just acting. We need to be belieavable in front of the family."

Faye gave me a real shit-eating grin and looked me up and down. Okay, I was so not comfortable with the way this conversation was going. And let's not forget that Jasper could hear everything. But how was I supposed to tell Faye that? I couldn't just tell her to shut up because there was a supernatural being in the room with us.

"But Ella, there was nobody around just now. It was just us and we know the truth. And now that I think about it, there were no nosy relatives around yesterday either when I came to your cabin. And you two were being very cute and clingy then too."

No no no no no no no! I was not having this conversation. I was not in love with Jasper! It was because we were pretending.

"We're friends."

Yeah, that's it. We were just friends. Friends who were insanely attracted to each other.

Married, Ella. Remember that he's a married man. Don't you fucking do it...

"Uh-huh. I get it. I always drape myself all over my friends too."

Now she was just being mean. And it made me panic. I wasn't willing to admit having any feelings for Jasper, so I said the first thing that came to my mind.

"He's like my gay best friend."

Jasper missed his shot. Like, he flinched and his cue stick nearly destroyed the pool table. Uhh... oopsie? But honestly, it wasn't my fault that he was eavesdropping. Faye snorted next to me. What a bitch.

She opened her mouth to say something, so I did the only logical thing I could think of. I jumped up and marched up to Jasper. I tugged at his sleeve to get his attention. A pointless thing since I was sure that I had his full attention at this point.

If I hadn't seen his reaction, I'd think he hadn't heard me at all. He looked completely unaffected by the time he turned to look at me.

"Yes, lil' darling?" He asked with that fucking smirk on his face. Goddamn, he made my hormones go crazy. This was such a bad idea... but I wanted an excuse to get away from Faye and her intuition.

And really, would I ever say no to a chance to be close to Jasper? I think not.

"Can you teach me? I've never played pool before. Looks like fun."

"NO! Go away! I'm about to make a come back!" Brody wailed dramatically. Jasper rolled his eyes.

"Just give up, man. I'm going to pocket the eight ball on my next turn. You still have three balls left."

Brody was being a bitch. Like, dude he's not that into you! Get with the program and let me hang out with my fake vampire boyfriend.

"I can't believe you're ditching me for my sister! What happened to the bro code?" Brody continued.

Bitch please. You two first spoke like two days ago. How was the infamous bro code applicable here? Then again, I hadn't been speaking with Jasper that much longer, but I was still a lot closer to him than Brody was. So naturally that meant I had dibs on his company.

Jasper wrapped an arm around my waist and made a shooing motion with his hand. Goddamn he was so hot.

"Your sister is much more fascinating to be around than you. And with a little practice I'm sure she'll be able to give me a decent challenge."

Ha! Jasper Whitlock was in for a big disappointment if he thought I was teachable. Mrs. Saunders would disagree strongly.

"Yeah, you're only saying that because you want to get into my sister's pants."

Eww, why was he still talking?! I was so not in the mood of discussing Jasper's potential attempts to get into my pants... especially when it was my brother who was doing the talking. So gross. Faye burst into giggles. She put down her magazine and looked straight at me with gleaming eyes.

"Oh honey, haven't you heard? Jasper is like Ella's gay best friend!"

Fucking bitch. Faye was officially on my shit-list. One day I'd find a weakness I could use and then she'd go down. Brody was still young. He could find a new main squeeze.

Jasper's eye twitched. It would've been funny if it wasn't so damn embarrassing.

"My man... I am so sorry."

Oh my fucking god. I wanted to scream. Why the fuck was this conversation still going on? I knew it was a bad idea for Brody and Jasper to interact. Yesterday was clearly a huge fucking mistake. I was going to regret this the rest of my life. I just knew it.

"Go away, you moron!" I glared at him. He was just so damn annoying. How were we related? One of us had to be adopted and I hoped to god that it was me.

"Whatever you want, sis. Come on, the queen of my heart! Let's leave these gay besties to their devices and have a game of mini basketball."

Gag. I swear that Faye's girly giggles were the most disgusting sound in the world. It was only a matter of time before they would start making the googly eyes at each other. And they had the fucking gall to say that me and Jasper were bad.

I sighed and looked up at Jasper. I wasn't sure what to expect. Merciless teasing, maybe? He hadn't expected being labeled the gay bestie, that was for sure. I was like really good at surprising him. But he was also super good at composing himself quickly so he was more than ready to respond by now.

He was smiling. It was just a regular polite smile. Fuck. It couldn't mean anything good. Jasper didn't do the polite smiles with me. There had to be a catch. I was going to suffer, I just knew it.

"Uh, so..." I tried to come up with something to say. Why were words so damn hard?

"The gay best friend?" He asked in a pleasant tone of voice. The itch behind my knees was back. This would not end well for me.

Say something, Ella. Just give him an explanation. Anything...

"It was the first thing that came to my mind! She was being so nosy!"

Okay, so it wasn't my best work, but it was the truth. Well, half truth. I had been thinking that I needed to change the way I view Jasper and then my stupid horny brain had figured that I'd be able to keep being close to Jasper if I thought of him as gay. Yeah, I was stupid like that.

"I feel like I need to up my game if that's the first thing that comes to your mind."

Holy shit. My jaw popped right open and I just stared at him. The polite smile was gone and it had been replaced by the sexiest of self-assured smiles anyone had ever seen. My knees wobbled and I had to use Jasper's body as a support or I would've ended crumbled on the floor.

Fucking hell his powers were strong. He closed his eyes for a second and breathed in deeply. What a fucking cocky bastard. He knew exactly what he was doing and he was just fucking basking in the power he had over my stupid hormones. Jasper was just a big pervert with even bigger ego.

"Please don't. I think I might actually explode if you up your game."

Great. Just tell him how you really feel, why don't you? Why did I keep saying these things... And Jasper was enjoying my misery way too much.

"Never change, Ella Johnson... Now, did you actually want to learn how to play?"

No, I didn't actually care about learning how to play pool. I got the gist of it. You hit the balls with the stick in a certain order and that was it. But, I was very interested in having Jasper teach me something.

Especially if that something meant he'd be sticking veeeery close to me.

"Yeah sure. It'll be good to know how you teach me. I mean, I'm still expecting those tutoring lessons once we get back home."

Jasper handed me one of the big sticks. I had seen movies where people play pool so I had the basic idea of it down. I crouched over the pool table and mimicked the way I remembered people held the cue stick in their hands.

"So it's something like this, right?" I said and gently pushed the stick forward. There were no balls for me to hit, but I was just trying to get the movement down.

It was my humble opinion that the table was way too tall. It was super discrimitory towards vertically challenged people like myself. I had to kick one of my legs up and stand on my toes just to have some sort of control over my movements.

"Not quite like that. If you adjust your fingers like..." He said softly and fixed the position my fingers were in. I was enjoying the shit out of his very physical instructions. Honestly, there was no such thing as too much Jasper's touch.

He stepped behind me and leaned over me, one of his hands coming to cover my hand that was resting against the pool table and his other hand found its way to my hips. He pressed his legs against mine and adjusted my stance. He was also stopping me from kicking my legs up, which was bothersome, but I would much rather suffer from my lack of reach than have him step away from me.

He was so fucking warm. It was decided; Jasper Whitlock should eat every single day to keep himself all warm and squishy. Keep that blood pumping, so to speak.

"Okay, now give it a light nudge. You want to hit the center of the cue ball."

"That's the white one, right?"

I breathed my lungs full of his wonderful scent and attempted to do what he told me to. I missed the ball completely. I know, I was so fucking talented.

"That was... a good start."

I giggled. Yeah, it was an awesome start. I could already tell that I had so much potential in this game. Jasper's chest was vibrating suspiciously so I was pretty sure that he was trying to hold in his laughter. He was probably trying to be polite. He was so goddamn good!

"That was pathetic. You know, you can be honest with me. I can take some criticism."

Well, I couldn't take criticism very well. Actually, I was horrible at it, but I had a feeling that Jasper would be able to give some constructive criticism without it feeling insulting.

Besides, if I was being all brutally honest with him, I would like him to be honest too.

"It was your first try. It wasn't that bad, lil' darling. Let's just try it again, yeah? Take it a little bit slower and focus on the aiming part."

Yeah, I think it would've been easier if I didn't have this unbelieavably sexy vampire hugging my body from the behind whispering stuff in my ear in that orgasmic voice.

"It's because this table is too high." I muttered. I could always blame everything on my height. It was one of the many perks of being so fucking short.

Jasper gave a little laugh and then he nudged my stick-holding arm just the tiniest bit so I would get a move on. I poked out my tongue in concentration and tried to give a slow and steady push.

This time I managed to hit the ball... in the bottom part. My stick hit the table and it left a nice little scratch on the velvety surface.

"Oopsie!"

Jasper sighed heavily and dropped his head on my shoulder. It felt like he was shaking his head, but I wasn't sure as I still couldn't see him.

"I'm blaming all of this on your very distracting sex powers." It just slipped out. Fuck me and my stupid honesty. It was getting ridiculous!

At least I made Jasper snort in laughter again. I felt accomplished. I might've sucked at pool, but hey, I was excellent at making him laugh. That had to count as some sort of skill, right?

"But aren't I your gay best friend? Why would I use my 'sex powers' on you?"

Fucking hell. He was fucking purring right in my ear. Like, his lips were touching my ear and I was so done. The Niagra falls were fully operational in my pants. Jasper wasn't allowed to do shit like this! I had specifically asked him not to up his game or I'd be a fucking goner!

I turned around so I could face him. I slapped his chest to show my disapproval. It might've been more effective if I hadn't been eyefucking him. It was so not my fault, though!

"That's so unfair!" I huffed, leaning against the pool table. Jasper's arms came to rest on either side of me, blocking any chances I had of escaping.

Not that I could think of a situation where I'd want to escape from a position like this. This was a special kind of heaven and I was all for it.

"You started this, lil' darling. You know I don't like to lose a challenge..."

I rolled my eyes. He was impossible. But you know, I could respect that. I didn't like to lose either and I was a stubborn bitch.

"So are you going to do something about it, or are you just all talk, Major Whitlock?"

Fuck... what made me say that? I was so fucking stupid! Why did I have to start something I knew we couldn't finish? Damn these fucking hormones...

Jasper's eyes bled black and it was a fucking party in my pants. I let out a little 'eep' as Jasper took a hold of my waist and hoisted me up on the pool table. Hello, my dirty fantasies! I never thought you'd come true, but damn!

"Oh, the things I would like to do to you, Ella Johnson... There are so many ways I'd like to make you scream in utter pleasure. You shouldn't play with fire like this."

We agreed on that. I had a fucking tunnel vision when it came to Jasper. It was so fucking easy to forget everything when he was being all sexy and playful and dangerous. Like he fact that this all was just supposed to be pretending. I shouldn't be encouraging him and I sure as hell wasn't supposed to be throwing myself at him whenever I got the chance.

"See, this is exactly why you should be my gay best friend. This is so fucking dangerous..." I mumbled.

I wrapped my arms around his waist and pressed my cheek against his chest. We had to bring things down a notch, but I wasn't willing to make things awkward by putting distance between us. I figured that cuddling would be the perfect way to go. It was something that friends did, right?

Jasper's arms slid highed up my back and he started rocking us gently. Mmh, yeah this was good. Comforting and warm and wonderful.

"Should I start talking in stereotypically effeminate voice?" He asked quietly. I couldn't see his face, but I was pretty sure he was smirking.

I snorted in a very un-ladylike manner. My whole body shook as I laughed quietly into Jasper's chest. I kind of wanted to hear him go full gay with his demeanor, but it would probably be offensive. Not that there was anyone around to care about such things, but it was the principle of the thing.

"Okay, how is this considered teaching? You two just need to get a room and get it out of your systems." Brody interrupted us. Of course. What a fucking nuisance.

We pulled apart. I was still feeling all sorts of tingly and horny, but I thought I had it under control. For now. I pressed my hands against my hot cheeks and tried to get a mental picture of how messed-up I must've looked.

"Why did you have to interrupt them? You are cock-blocking your sister." Faye said with a wide grin.

Of course when Faye decided to get all potty-mouthy, it has to be because she's bullying me. I gave her the finger. She deserved it.

"Hey! I just suggested that they get a room. I'm all for Jasper getting his freak on with my sister, but I don't want to witness it. I'm into some kinky shit, but that's not my scene."

GROSS! Ew ew ew ew ewewww!

"WAY too much information! You are such a pig!" I screamed, covering my ears and shaking my head violently.

Gee, thanks for that mental image that would forever haunt me.

"Oh please. You were just minutes away from dropping your pants there, sis. That would have been too much information. Besides, we need you two. Faye is cheating again, not that she'd ever admit that, and we decided that we need teams. Girls vs Boys."

Brody tossed the miniature basketball in his hands. Faye let out a small huff that told me she was strongly disagreeing with my brother. I turned my attention back to Jasper. He was observing us with a slight grin on his face. Okay, he was having way too much fun with our family dynamic.

"You want to get your ass kicked by a little girl?" I asked, pushing the last of my horny thought to the back of my mind. To the crowded company of all the things I didn't want to deal with.

Jasper raised his eyebrow at my challenge. Yeah, he might've been a bad-ass vampire, but I was the fucking mini basketball queen. And with the actual basketball prodigy in my team, the boys were fucking going down.

"Bring it on, Johnson."

Oh, I was going to.

000

"How did this happen? Brody, I thought you said you were great at basketball!" Jasper cried out. He was leaning against Brody's frame. Pretending to be exhausted on the floor. It was adorable.

I learned a new thing about Jasper. He did know how to lose gracefully. Or more accurately, he was willing to restrain himself enough so he could be beaten by a puny mortal girl in a friendly death-match of basketball.

I had my arm around Faye's waist and I was fucking glowering. We had won. No surprise there. Faye was the captain of her school's basketball team. They actually were pretty fucking successful for such a small school. Faye and Leah Clearwater were an unbeatable combination.

"I also told you that my fiance is a goddess of basketball, didn't I?" Brody muttered darkly, panting heavily.

I raised my eyebrow.

"Are you forgetting someone, brother dearest?"

I fucking wanted my recognition. I deserved all the glory. I had been a fucking magnificent beast on the 'court' that we had constructed. Hell, I had even tackled my brother so hard that he had a bump on his head.

I should probably feel bad about that, but it wasn't like Brody had much of anything worth protecting in that big head of his. Besides, all was fair in a game of basketball between siblings.

"You were cheating the entire time! That tackle was against the rules!"

"Dude, what rules? You are just a sucky loser. Grow a pair."

"Me?! Who was the one that started crying when-"

"Stop it, you two. It's lunch time already. Should we head out?" Faye broke up the fight before we could even get warmed up. Spoilsport.

I didn't want to leave the room. It was a fucking sanctuary, being so far away from my relatives. I was more than happy to stay here for the entire weekend. Just stay here for the entire day and then sneak in to the cabin when it was time to sleep.

But, I was actually kind of starving. I hadn't actually eaten anything at all over breakfast. Even my berries had gone untouched after the Bitch Supreme had graced us with her toxic presence. Nobody would be hungry after that.

Now my stomach was growling and I was so not happy about it. I wasn't mentally prepared to go back out there.

Not to mention that there was the very real chance that either one of the guys would lose it the moment they save Ariel's doggy face. Brody, as annoying and stupid as he was, did take his role as my big brother super seriously when we were faced with our relatives. And Jasper...

Well, I was pretty sure he hadn't given up on his newfound dream of ripping Ariel into shreds.

"Do we have to?" I asked, ignoring my body's demands for food. A little fasting wouldn't kll me. I could stop eating for a couple of days. Hell, it might even do some good after all the shit I had been munching on the last couple of days!

"Yeah, let's go see that darling cousin of ours..." Brody said darkly. Way to change the mood there, brother. I rolled my eyes at him. Boys and their violent ways.

"Not you too. I swear you two think violence is the answer to everything." I said.

Jasper gave me a side look that was screaming 'are you for real'. Okay, so I did say I was going to kill Ariel one day. And I meant it. The bitch was going down, but that would be years down the line. I wouldn't do anything before my plan was perfect. And until that day came, I fought this war the female way.

The fucking right way.

"What do you guys think will happen if you go and smash that doggy face in? We'll be the bad guys in that situation. Going after her directly like that will do us no good."

Faye nodded along with me. See, she got it. She had been in her fair share of conflicts with other girls. She knew exactly how things like these should be handled.

"Oh? And how should we go about it? Let her get away with it? I don't think so, lil' darling." Jasper said, getting up from the floor and wrapping his arms around me.

So warm...

Argh! He was making it so hard to think straight. It had to be intentional. He was clearly trying to butter me up so I would let him have his fun with Ariel. I was so fucking tempted to do just that. It would make him so happy... at least for a hot second before his conscience would come knocking. Then he'd be no fun to be around.

Yeah, I needed to have words with the person who was responsible for Jasper's shame of himself. I had a sneaking suspicion on who was to blame, but I couldn't just say that particular name out loud. It wasn't my place to stick my nose into other people's relationships.

"Who's letting her get away with it? I'm just saying that beating her up isn't going to do me any favors."

"I wasn't planning on beating her up, sweetheart..." Jasper whispered under his breath. Fucking shivers, man! My whole spine was tingling deliciously. There was just something about him promising to kill my enemies that made me feel so fucking special...

"Ella is saying that doing things your way isn't the right way to go. Girls have their own way of fighting and it's much crueler than just a busted up face." Faye said with a fucking lethal grin.

Okay, so she could stick around after all. Her earlier behavior was forgiven and she was back on my good side.

Brody took a cautionary step away from his fiance. Yeah, I didn't think he was willing to ever piss off Faye ever again. Not that I was aware that he had ever done so, but now he would pay extra care to keep her happy. He was so whipped.

Jasper looked like he was mulling it over. He wanted to go for the easy kill, but my way was just so much more satisfying. He just didn't know Ariel like I did. He had no idea what her soft targets even were. But I did... and I intended to attack every single one of them for the sole purpose of ruining her fucking wedding.

"Fine, I'll drop it for now. But Ella, if she even thinks about hurting you again, I will end her. Your safety is more important to me than revenge." He eventually said, close to my ear so Brody and Faye couldn't hear him. Although I was pretty sure they were back in their own little world and oblivious to everything around them.

"And that's why I love you."

Wait...

What?

What did I just say...?

Oh god... oh dear god, please no.

No... no no no no no no no no! FUCK! Great. You fucking idiot. Ella, you had just one job! This couldn't be happening. This wasn't supposed to happen. I didn't want this to happen. Fuck it all!

I was in love with Jasper Whitlock.

Just kill me now.


Author's Final Notes:

Gasp! Oh no she didn't! Don't we all just love Ella's inability to keep her honest feelings to herself? ;)

Now we're getting somewhere with this story. Ooh, I wonder what's going to happen next... Not literally, of course since I actually know the answer to that. But hey, tension!

Also, I didn't quite manage to hit my goal, but we're getting there folks. And this is improvement from the last time, right? Let's just hope that I'll keep getting better at sticking to my schedule. This was another rather lenghty chapter, so I'm going to give myself another pass.

I promise that I'll do my best to update this story soon, as nobody likes a long-ass cliffhanger. But I'm going to apologize anyway because I am leaving a cliffhanger to begin with. I'm just cruel like that.

Hey! We have almost reached 10 000 views! Thank you all so much. It makes me feel important. And I still get butterflies every time my phone notifies me that someone has followed/favorited/reviewed my story. It always makes my day a 100 times better. So really, from the bottom of my heart; Thank you!

Okay, that's enough for now. I must go and start working on the next chapter. I hope you liked this long-ass chapter!