Mind Blowing, page 2
He barely heard Callahan’s soft, “Thank you.” Blake handed him his beer and then stayed hidden behind him sipping hers, no doubt eavesdropping. After Callahan had a water placed in front of her, she turned, surveying the rest of the overcrowded bar.
“Are you looking for your roommate? I think she’s over by the pool tables in the back.” He smiled, trying to appear as nonthreatening as possible. Callahan seemed skittish, like a rabbit ready to bolt at any small disturbance in its atmosphere.
Her stunning green eyes narrowed slightly, her button nose scrunching up. “How do you know who my roommate is? Wait. Never mind. Who are you?”
Jasper ignored the beer that splashed all over his back after Blake spit it out in barely contained laughter. “Jasper.” He pointed to himself. “We met the other day, remember? We have English lit together. I asked about your study club.” Which was when he’d learned it was full and exclusive, and he wasn’t invited. He hadn’t cared. He hadn’t actually wanted to join. He simply needed a fucking in so desperately he was willing to give even library time a try.
“Right.” She sipped her water, taking a calculated step away from him. “Okay, still, how do you know who my roommate is? That’s, well, unsettling.”
“I know your roommate’s best friend.” Their encounter was not going the way he’d hoped it would. Blake was right, he sounded like a stalker to this poor chick. No one wants to nail their stalker, not in real life anyway. “Catherine?”
“Oh. You’re that Jasper. Delightful.” She sent him an altogether withering glance. He knew what that one looked like too. He got them all the time from the females in his pack. “I’ll make sure to tell her you said hi.” She took another step away.
“Wait.”
She glared at him over her shoulder. “Yes?”
“I’m not a dick.” Her eyes went wide, as did his. As if they were both shocked at the words tumbling out of his mouth. “I mean, I didn’t like screw her over or anything.” Was that any better? Fuck no.
Callahan nodded slowly, her lips pursed. “Sure. Okay, Jasper. See you around.” She disappeared into the crowd before he could utter another ridiculous word.
“That was hilarious, and painful.” Blake patted him on the back. “Come on, buddy. Let me buy you a shot.” Jasper stuck out his bottom lip, resting his head on her shoulder, more than ready to drink away Callahan’s swift rejection.
Two strikes, One more and he was out.
Chapter Two
Jasper
Jasper sat up, his sheets pooling around his waist, his head pounding. Slightly. He was a shifter after all. Hangovers never lasted long thanks to his ability to heal in his sleep. He had to hand it to Blake, that girl knew how to have a hell of a good time. She couldn’t drink him under the table, but Jasper was pretty sure if he weren’t a shifter with an unnatural metabolism, she’d come damn close.
“My mate is covered in bruises.”
Jasper wiped the sleep from his eyes, flopping back down onto his mattress as his best friend stepped into his room with a scowl on his face. Jealousy didn’t exist between the three of them, which was why Riley was so okay with Jasper and Blake hanging without him. He didn’t love it when Jasper put his hands on her, but there was no anger behind his growls. What did tend to irritate their sensible Riley was them getting too wasted and causing destruction of some form or another.
“Your mate decided to race me home, she tripped on the neighbor’s sprinkler.” He chuckled. “How in the hell did you land such a crazy chick?” Riley was calm, his personality put everyone around him at ease, like his aura exuded THC. Blake? She was a mini tornado full of energy and blonde curls.
“Opposites attract.” Riley sat on the edge of his bed, tossing him a mini bottle of orange juice. “My mate acts a lot like my best friend.” He narrowed his eyes. “Apparently, I have a type.”
“Well, according to Blake, so do I.” Jasper opened the juice, drained it, and then threw the empty toward the trashcan next to his desk. “She’s a terrible wingman by the way.”
“Blake said, and I quote, ‘Callahan handed Jasper his ass and it was epic.’” Riley got up, pulling the covers off Jasper and rolling his eyes at the sight of his bare dick. Jasper refused to sleep in clothes if he could help it. Riley knew what he was most likely getting an eyeful of the moment he whooshed off those warm blankets. “Get dressed. Come with me to the gym.”
He frowned, both at the thought of going to the gym so early and Blake’s assessment of his interaction with Callahan last night. At least she’d talked to him. That was progress. Sure, she thought he was a fuck-boy dickhead. But she knew who he was. And if Captain Jack Sparrow had taught him anything, that mattered.
Obviously she wasn’t the type of chick he usually spent time with. Attention and flirty winks weren’t going to get him anywhere with the likes of her. That was okay. He’d step up his game. He’d put in the effort. Something about the ramrod straightness of her spine told him she’d be worth the effort. The repressed ones always were. They tended to let go with a nice side of reckless abandon.
“For fuck’s sake, cover your boner and let’s go.” Riley walked back past his open door, knocking on the wall on his way.
Jasper climbed out of bed, grabbing his cell off the floor where he’d tossed it last night. He had her number. He hadn’t wanted to admit that to Blake after she’d already accused him of being a creep. He’d stolen it from her roommate’s bff.
He sighed, slipping on some basketball shorts. Texting her was either going to fix the situation or make her get a restraining order.
J: This is THAT Jasper. I swear I’m not stalking you. I just really need help if I’m going to pass my lit final. I’ve seen your grades. Your a genius. I was going to ask you last night at the bar, but you blew me off.
He shoved his cell into his pocket, pulling on a t-shirt on his way down the hall. He wasn’t sure if she would even text him back. Riley was waiting at the open front door, throwing him his tennis shoes and ushering him toward his truck. “What’s your hurry, bro? I woke up five minutes ago, and I’m hungry as fuck.”
“We’ll eat after, stop bitching.”
Riley climbed behind the wheel, backing out of the driveway as Jasper’s phone vibrated in his pocket.
C: You’re*
Jasper knew that would get her brilliant ass. He knew what he was doing, and he knew she wouldn’t be able to pass up the chance to correct him and make him look like an idiot. Her opinion of him was low. Not that he could really blame her. He chuckled as he replied.
J: Damn. You’re cold. See? I need your help. Pretty please with ice cream on top? One or two sessions to go over the study guide.
“Why are you grinning like that? It’s weird.”
Jasper glanced at Riley before turning back to obsessively watch the three dots appear to show that she was typing again. He hated that he felt a little giddy about it. “I’m trying to get Callahan to agree to tutor me.”
“I thought Blake was tutoring you in that class already?”
“She is.” Jasper met Riley’s eyes. “But you won’t let me fuck Blake again, so I need a different tutor.” Jasper knew the punch was coming, so he braced for it. The bruise it was going to leave on his arm would match the one on the other side from the last time he’d made an inappropriate mate joke.
C: Two sessions, one hour each, at the library.
Hmmm. The library. It was going to be hard to get her to agree to fooling around there, but not impossible. He’d done more with less.
J: One at the library, one at my house? Please. Let me repay you with some DoorDash.
C: No.
J: Look. You think I’m an asshole, and maybe I deserve that. But I’m not all bad. I live with Blake and my best friend. They’ll be there, and I’m sure Blake would love to do an extra study session before the final, she’s in our class too.
Jasper knew Blake would be pissed he was using her to lure Callahan to the house, but desperate times called for desperate measures. He’d buy Blake a present. Maybe a bottle of tequila? Or a butt plug. Once you had two shifters double team you, normal sex had to be boring AF.
C: Fine. One session at the library, one at your house WITH Blake there the whole time. You buy dinner, and you bring me coffee to the library sesh.
“Got her, bro.” Jasper did a little happy dance in his seat.
J: Deal.
Riley sighed, shaking his head slowly as he pulled into the gym parking lot. “I’m torn between high-fiving you or telling you that your antics are reprehensible.”
Jasper shrugged, opening his door and hopping out. “Well, we both know Blake will high-five me, so if it’ll make you feel better, you can lecture me while we warm up on the treadmill.” Pointedly, he put in his ear pods, letting his best friend know his talking would fall on deaf ears. “While you’re in lecture mode, how would you feel about me buying your mate a butt plug as an ask-for-forgiveness-not-permission gift?”
This time bracing for the punch didn’t help. Riley drew down the back of his hand and hit Jasper in the balls.
Hard.
Chapter Three
Jasper
Jasper was at the library for the first time all semester. He wasn’t a dumbass and he was passing most of his classes with a B-ish. However, English was never his strong suit. He actually needed tutoring, but Blake had gotten his average up from a D to a C, and he was more than okay with a passing grade.
What he wasn’t okay with was not attempting to get with Callahan. He knew he sounded gross, like a fuck-boy of epic proportions. This was how he looked at it though: his sexcapades had a deadline. One day, he’d meet his girl and they’d settle down and then he’d fuck only her for the rest of time. He was like a dying man at a buffet. He had to sample it all before he could only eat steak for the rest of his life. Shifters weren’t like humans. He’d never cheat on his mate, he’d never want anyone else, sexually or otherwise. So, while he could, he was going to live it the fuck up.
Enter classy, repressed little Callahan.
“You’re early.” She came in, all business, set down a laptop, a tablet, and two spiral notebooks. “I was sure you would get lost trying to find the library.”
Jasper smiled, not at all put off by her bristling attitude. “Blake drew me a map.” He scooted her coffee cup closer to her, wanting her to see he hadn’t forgotten. She hadn’t told him what kind, so he’d gone with a latte as a safe bet.
“Blake. That was the blonde you were with at the bar?”
Jasper bit his lips together to keep his growing grin in check. Callahan had noticed he was out with another girl even when she was handing him his ass and attempting to appear unaffected? Noted.
“Blake is my best friend’s girlfriend.” He cleared his throat and pulled out his notes, the ones he’d copied from said blonde.
“Why isn’t she tutoring you then?” Callahan lined up three sharpened pencils in a neat row, then tucked her legs underneath her. She was so tiny she could easily sit in a comfy ball on the narrow library chair. His eyes moved down her body, wanting nothing more than to pluck her from her position and have her sit somewhere else.
His face.
Jasper cleared that lovely mental image from his mind, focusing on simply getting Callahan to like him. They could work on him eating her like dessert later. “She was, but now she’s cramming for some chemistry test that has her all worried.” That wasn’t a total lie. Blake was studying around the clock for her chem final. It was her self-proclaimed hardest class. If he’d asked her for help though, she would’ve made time for him.
“I assume you have your study guide filled out already?” By the tone of her question, she presumed he’d shown up without the study guide complete, and she’d walk. Good thing he’d copied that off Blake too.
“Yep.” He opened the Word file on his laptop, a fully complete and correct study guide. “I have this pretty much memorized. But the syllabus said we’ll need to do a mini essay on one of the poems we went over. Poetry isn’t my jam.” Also not a lie. At all. He hated poetry, and he really needed some help there.
See? He wasn’t a complete douche.
He was simply an opportunist.
Callahan pushed a tablet to him. “The poems we went over this semester are saved here, we can pick one and dissect it. We shouldn’t pick the same one though, because our points would be too similar.”
“Okay, great, thank you. I really appreciate your help.” He sent her his most genuine smile. He did appreciate her help, but he also appreciated that she smelled like caramel apples, and her white t-shirt let him get a peek at her cleavage.
“I’m doing The Bee Keeper’s Daughter, so how about Sonnet 129 by Shakespeare?” She propped up her tablet, lightly tapping the screen until the poem was in front of them. “This one is shorter, and it seems right up your alley.”
“Cool.” His eyes narrowed as he re-read one of the poems they’d gone over at the beginning of the semester. He’d done terrible on that test. That was where his D average came from. “But why is this one up my alley?” He refrained from telling her he wanted to be up her alley—he doubted she would’ve valued the joke.
“Really? Did you read the poem?”
He could feel her gaze cut to his, but he was still trying to get through old William’s confusing-as-fuck way of writing. He sighed, coming to the last line: To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell. “Yes, I read the poem more times than I care to admit. Doesn’t mean I understood it. I already told you, poetry is hard for me.” He let humility leak into his tone. None of it was for show, and his honesty seemed to soften her a bit.
Her shoulders dropped slightly from their seemingly permanent place by her ears. “I’m sorry. I’m being rude. Poetry is hard for a lot of people.” She took a deep breath, almost as if she were fortifying herself with patience. “This sonnet is about lust, which tracks because all the poems our professor picked this semester dealt with sex in one way or another.”
His eyes went wide. “Huh. You’d think I would’ve done better on material all about sex and lust.” That showed how little the fancy and veiled words registered in his brain. Now he was glad he’d asked for Callahan’s help, for real this time.
She licked her lips, pointing back to the screen and choosing not to comment on his self-deprecation. “This one in particular discussed lust in three parts. Lust before it’s acted on, the act itself, and then the remnants left after two people come together.” He wanted them to come together. He barely contained his snort of laughter. These hilarious gems he was keeping to himself were killing him. “When you write your essay, I’d do three or four sentences on each section.”
He leaned closer, his face next to hers as she used a stylist to draw lines throughout the sonnet, showing him which parts belonged together. “Lust as an idea, as the buildup, right?” He pointed to the first few lines: The expense of spirit in a waste of shame is lust in action. He was speaking softly, not out of respect for the other people studying, but to see if he could get goose bumps to break out on Callahan’s arms. “If you ask me, lust is never a waste.”
Her breath hitched, slightly. If he wasn’t paying such rapt attention, he’d have missed it. “Wait ’til the end of your essay to state any personal opinions. Our professor will want to know you fully grasp the meaning of the poem first.”
He nodded and continued: Had, having, and in quest to have, extreme; a bliss in proof…” He took her hand in his, using her stylist to underline that line. “Bliss in proof. Sex. Fulfilling the lust.”
Her audible swallow made his dick twitch in his joggers. He bit his lips together to keep from smiling. This little tutoring session was going better than he could’ve ever expected. If he’d have known they’d be seated close, dissecting an old-school porn poem, he’d have begged her to help him weeks ago.
“Yes.” She cleared her throat, sitting back, making him miss her scent and her warmth. “And then it’s over and he describes it as a woe, a dream, a hell.” He chuckled, rubbing his thumb along his lower lip, intentionally drawing her attention to his mouth. Her beautiful evergreen eyes narrowed slightly. “Shakespeare says lust is mad, in any form. Before, during, and after. That’s what the poem speaks to, and that’s what the body of your essay needs to do.”
“Lust is madness, there’s no denying that.” He was whispering, his gaze holding hers. “But I’d happily go crazy before ever giving it up.” Ah, there were those gorgeous goose bumps he’d been working for. He reached a finger out, trailing it lightly down her arm.
She jerked away from his attention, quickly closing out the tablet and gathering her stuff against her chest. “Like I said, if you have a differing opinion, you can add it in the end.”
“You leaving? Our hour isn’t up.” He leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms, marveling at the blush creeping across Callahan’s cheeks.
“Write a rough draft of your essay, I’ll go over it the next time we meet and let you know if you need to do anything differently for the final.” She refused to look at him, choosing to focus on packing up, pushing her chair neatly back under the table. “I’ll text you when I’m free again. Thanks for the coffee.” She turned on her heel, hurrying out of the library like someone was chasing her.
He couldn’t contain his smile.
Chapter Four
Jasper
A whole day passed before Callahan texted him to say she could meet him the next night. He had itched to reach out first, to make her speak to him. Instead, he’d let Riley drag him to the gym twice as a distraction. He knew he was closer to having her, to tasting that sweet apple scent. He’d affected her at the library, and she’d run because he’d turned her on.
