Chapter Fifteen

It stings when Jasper rejects my attempt to give him comfort, but I shouldn"t be surprised. He"s never been the type of man - even when we dated previously - to allow someone to see him suffering. A ring on my finger and a change of my last name obviously won"t change that. Instead of standing there, looking like a fool, I slowly walk up to the bar where Alexis is pouring drinks tonight. Nolan and Barrett are sitting next to each other, but there"s enough room for me to squeeze in between them.

"Whatcha drinking tonight?" Alexis asks as she gets a look at me. "Something harder than wine?"

"Jack and Coke," I answer without hesitation.

"Girl, who hurt you?"

Nolan snorts from where he sits beside me. "More than likely Jasper, if I had to guess."

I hate that he"s correct, he always is. I hitch my thumb toward him. "This one"s never wrong."

She gives me an understanding smile. "This one"s on the house," she says as she slides it across the top of the bar to me.

"Thanks." I give her a small smile of my own.

Barrett knocks his shoulder against mine. "Don"t let the grump ruin your fun. Knock back that drink and come out onto the dance floor with me."

Dancing is Barrett"s favorite thing, and he"s really fucking good at it. Normally I would tell him I don"t want to dance with him, because I know it"ll make Jasper jealous. I take a huge gulp out of the drink and slam it down. "You know what? Let"s go."

He gives me a bright smile. "With pleasure, let"s give Jasper something to look at and talk about."

Normally I wouldn"t be this petty, but I"m just annoyed enough to do it tonight. "C"mon, Barrett. Show me what you can do."

As soon as we get to the dance floor, one of the songs that everyone knows a line dance to starts playing. Barrett, Nolan, and I laugh as we start shaking our asses and stomping our feet to the beat. The three of us are bumping into each other, not minding our own personal space. This is the most fun I"ve had in a while, and when I bend down during one of breakdown parts of the song, I catch Jasper"s eye. He"s pissed. It"s there in the darkness of his gaze, but I refuse to back down, refuse to stop having fun because he might be having a reaction to it.

Barrett grabs my hand and spins me around, before he switches me over to Nolan. I hold my hand out to him, slightly worried about what this will start with Jasper, but in the end deciding it"s all about having a good time tonight. I"m sick of dulling myself to match Jasper"s energy. Right now, I"m going to shake my ass and let my husband know exactly what he"s missing.

Nolan grabs hold of my hand, and puts his free arm around my waist, holding me close as he moves me around the dance floor. The music comes to an end. I clap along with him because it"s the appropriate thing to do, and right before I go to put my arms right back around him to start dancing again, there"s a heavy hand on my shoulder.

Nolan has a shit-eating grin across his face. "What made you finally decide to get up?" he questions, eyebrows raised.

"Don"t like seeing other men with their arms around my wife."

It"s Jasper. I knew by the smell that is one hundred percent his. I find myself sniffing of his shampoo and body wash every time I take a shower. It"s bordering on obsessive, but I keep telling myself it"s okay since he"s my husband. I don"t know how true that really is, but it"s what I"m going with.

We"re staring at one another, neither one of us making a move. I think we"re both assuming what"s going to start playing is going to be a fast song, because that"s what they"ve mostly been playing tonight, but how wrong we are. My eyes close when I hear the beginnings of the song we listened to constantly in college.

His rough hand takes mine, more gentle than I"m used to with him. The opening notes of "Fall Into Me" by Brantley Gilbert begins to play. "I haven"t heard this song since the night before we broke up," he whispers.

"Me, neither. I purposely took it off every playlist I had. Seems fitting it should be the one we"re dancing to now that we"re newly married." I try to make light of it, but every time I heard that song after we split, it fucking broke my heart.

He slides his arm around my waist, pulling me close. Reluctantly my arms circle his neck, trying to keep enough space between us so that we aren"t touching. That doesn"t work though; he doesn"t allow it. Instead, he locks that arm and makes sure our bodies are against each other as we start swaying back and forth to the music. Neither of us say anything, and maybe that hurts more than it should. I want him to admit he was jealous, admit that he has feelings for me, even though that"s the epitome of weakness for him. "Couldn"t stand to see us all out here having a good time, huh?"

Eyes, the color of a whiskey-soaked wood barrel, clash with mine. But instead of the anger and annoyance I typically see there, there"s a resignation. "Couldn"t stand knowing someone besides me had their hands on you."

I swallow hard, ready to give him a taste of the woman I can be once I have a drink in me. The one who can be flirty, and not think too much about how I normally get embarrassed. "Oh, yeah? What are you going to do about it?"

"What I should"ve done before. It"s not going to change anything between us, Daisy Mae. I can"t let it." He lifts his hand up from my waist, tangling it in my hair.

My eyes float between his and his mouth, wondering if he still tastes the same. I lean in closer, our lips almost meeting. "But can you resist it?" I tangle my fingers in his t-shirt.

The music in the background takes me back to another place and time. When we"d spend afternoons in his dorm room, locked in the bedroom, not doing anything but making plans about what our future was going to be. He"d warned me not to get too caught up in it, but I know he"d gotten caught up, too. We"d been honest with another, at least I thought we had.

"I don"t think I can resist tasting those lips again. I"ve tried."

"I"ve tried, too," I admit. But I"ve thought about it more than I should. Wondered if there was still the slight taste of mint from his toothpaste.

"So we"re gonna give in together, right?" He licks his lips, as if he"s warming his mouth up for what"s about to happen.

"Yeah, if that"s what you need in order to sleep at night. We can pretend like you aren"t the one driving this boat."

Jasper drops his head low. "Pretty sure you"re right here with me, Daisy Mae. Unless you turn your head at the last minute, you"re about to know what my lips on yours is all about. Ya know, in case you forgot."

I didn"t forget, am never going to forget, but he doesn"t need to know that. He doesn"t need any more encouragement when it comes to me, and my inability to forget what we had before. My eyes go down to his lips, wanting nothing more than to taste them again. I want this threat more than anything.

I open my mouth to say something smart to him, but he swoops in and takes my lips with his.

The kiss is intense from the beginning, out of control, and utter chaos as the taste of his earlier beer explodes onto my tongue.

It"s like coming home, after a long trip away, being back in his arms. Gone is the low-level of anxiety I"ve had around him from wondering when and how this moment would come. Now that it"s here, it"s everything I hoped it would be and way more.

His strong arms go around my waist, pressing me to him, before one releases and travels up my back to dig his fingers deep into my hair, holding it still so he can take what he wants from my mouth. Tilting to the side, I follow his lead, hooking my fingers into the belt loops of his jeans. It helps to keep me steady, because the way he"s taking my breath away causes me to sway.

He tightens his grip, before pulling away. "You okay?"

I close my eyes, inhaling deeply, trying to slow the thudding of my heart inside my chest. "I"m good."

"I"m not." He blows out a deep breath. "That just turned my life upside down."

I smirk, ready to give him a little bit of the sassiness he has to remember from me. "Good. You"re caught up with me now."