“Come on, come in. Tell me everything. Your brothers and Jax are here, too. We’ve just had dinner. Are you hungry? I can make you something.”
I laughed, stepping out of her hold. “I just came to see you. I don’t need you to cook me anything, although I’d kill for a cuppa.”
She moved back, giving me space to step inside. I’d never lived in this house; she bought it after she divorced my dad, but everything about it felt like her... warm, welcoming, safe. I let out a contented sigh as she stared, taking me in. After a moment, she shook her head and wiped the tears from her face.
“It’s good to see you, Jasper.” Her smile was warm, despite how watery her eyes still were. “How long are you back for?”
I pushed my hands into my pockets, feeling as nervous and unsure as when I’d told her I was thinking of accepting the job in Ecuador. “For good.”
She tucked her caramel hair behind her ear, her forehead crinkling. Really?”
“Yeap. I got a new job.”
“Ma, did you want…” My youngest brother, Callam, appeared in the doorway, our eyes locking. “Jesus. Jas?”
“Oh, my god... did you spend the last five years in the gym?” I gasped as I took in my brother, who seemed to have doubled in width since the last time I’d seen him in person. I poked him in the chest when I got closer. He looked down at himself and shrugged before raising his gaze. “You can talk. We’ve all seen how buff you are these days,Aquaman.”
I shook my head, my cheeks heating at the reference. I’d known about the photos hitting the papers and gossip magazines, but then Finn showed me the websites and the fanfiction people were writing—actual stories about me meeting mermaids, getting shipwrecked with hot pirates. It was ridiculous, and I’d told him that. I was just a marine biologist doing my job, but the internet seemed to have other ideas about what,or who,I was doing.
“Shut up,” I replied, making my mum scowl as she looked between us both.
“It’s not even been five minutes and you’re fighting,” she said on a sigh, before winking in my direction and pointing to the newly extended living room. “Look who I found loitering outside,” she yelled as I headed into the room to be met by my other brother, Conner, and Jax.
Swallowing down the pit of dread that suddenly appeared in my chest, I stepped into the room, hugging my family hello, all while hoping I didn’t fall apart and show them just how crappy I felt these days.
FINN
“Good morning, Professor.”
I stepped over the threshold of Professor Fischer’s apartment, trying to ignore that he was topless and tattooed, or that his red flannel pyjama bottoms were slung low on his hips, or that his feet were bare again.
“Are you early or am I late?” he mumbled, looking half asleep still.
“It’s 7.30,” I told him as I handed him his coffee.
“You could just meet me at the office, you know?” He gave me a knowing look before taking a sip of his drink and letting out a long groan that went straight to my cock.
“You have a free morning, so I thought we could deal with...” I waved my hand in front of him. “This.”
He looked down at himself. “This?”
“The Dean said I had to give you a week or two.”
He took another sip of his drink, and I watched his Adam’s apple move slowly, licking my lips in a silent response.
“A week or two for what?”
I placed my bag down on the kitchen counter, peeling my long leather coat off and putting that down next to it, showing off my white and black corset over my white shirt and black trousers that I knew showed off my arse perfectly. “To acclimatise. To settle in.”
“Right... and then what?”
“Then we make you look like the badass businessman you are.”
“As opposed to what?” He sounded hurt.
I turned back to face Jasper as he took a sip of his coffee. “Honestly, you look like the dude fromCastaway.”
He spluttered out the liquid, wiping his mouth and chin with his hand before putting down his drink. “Are you trying to say I look likeTom Hankswhen he’s been shipwrecked on an island for years?”