"You're overreacting."
The quiet bustle of the bar was low around them. It was close to 1am now, but the 24 hour bar was lively with patrons and guests of the hotel.
They would check out tomorrow morning, but since their stay was complimentary, courtesy of the gala, they figured taking advantage of its amenities wouldn't hurt.
Lucas sat across from his younger brother, eyes tired from the previous night. It had been a mere twenty minutes after he received Jasper's text that they met at the bar of their hotel.
Lucas' mind kept flashing back to Bria, and the state he left them in. Guilt was an obvious emotion, and he knew Jasper could sense something was up.
Lucas hated that his younger brother was so good at reading people. You'd think that someone so emotionally detached would hate the prospect of uncovering people's emotions, but Jasper wasn't. The 24-year old tried reading his older brother the second Lucas sat down, but failed.
He figured it had something to do with his emotional attachment issues, which Jasper couldn't care less about, so he left it. For now.
"Of course you're siding with her," the younger brother scoffed. "I don't even know why I thought you'd be able to convince her."
"I think she wants to keep you safe."
"No, she wants to control me." Jasper deduced. The alcohol in his system was helping calm his temper a bit, but it would take a lot more than a couple of shots of Brandy for him to be relaxed.
Lucas sighed, rubbing his fingers on his temples. The fact that he could be having sex right now, and not be in a fight with Bria, made the idea of this conversation way less appealing.
"Jasper keeps you at his beck and call."
The older brother briefly remembers Bria's words from earlier. She was right, he knew that much. But Jasper had a shitty year prior, and Lucas regretted not being there for him when he needed it.
He vowed to change that, even if it meant staying up until 2 in the morning to listen to his younger brother rant.
"Okay, so she wants to control you," Lucas agreed. "We both know it's better than what you'd be doing if you weren't going with her."
Jasper clenched his jaw slowly, frigid at the mention of it. He absolutely hated admitting when Lucas was right, but this may very well be one of those times.
Jasper wasn't able to reply before he felt a hand graze his shoulder. A pair of lips whispered close to his ear before he had time to react.
"You know I would have ordered drinks to the room, if it meant you would've stayed in bed."
Jasper shuddered, instantly recognizing the voice. Seconds later, Blaise appeared from the left of him and sat down in between the two.
It earned a raised eyebrow and questioning glance from Lucas, and even though he didn't hear what Blaise said, he picked up on the suggestive touch.
"I'm Blaise," he smiled boyishly at Lucas and Jasper grimaced. He hated the idea of Blaise knowing anyone from his family, but the opportunity already presented itself.
"Lucas." He said, glancing toward Jasper in a what the fuck way, which Jasper blatantly ignored.
"We studied at Columbia together." Jasper said plainly, not wanting to give away anything else about the nature of their relationship.
There's no way that's all they did. Lucas thought to himself.
He knew his brother would never publicly date anyone, so the fact that Jasper was even allowing this interaction to take place was surprising.
Lucas' scrutiny rarely affected Jasper's choice in men. If anything that fueled it. The younger brother hardly cared about what Lucas thought, or any of his family members for that matter, but nonetheless Lucas' protective streak for his family prevailed.
"Based on the resemblance, I'm assuming you're brothers?"
Jasper glanced at Blaise like being compared to Lucas was the most offensive thing in the world. Lucas rolled his eyes at his brother and answered for him.
"Yeah, although sometimes I feel we're not related at all."
"This is not happening," Jasper groaned referring to Blaise and Lucas interacting. This was the least likely thing he expected to happen tonight. "I need a drink."
Jasper grabbed his empty glass and stalked over to the open bar, leaving the two to chat amongst themselves. He didn't care what the hell they talked about, he just couldn't be there.
At the bar, a few people lingered. Jasper found himself sitting down, signaling the bartender politely.
He may quite literally hate everyone, but being rude to service workers was one of his biggest pet peeves. It's a line he wouldn't cross even on his worst day.
As the bartender arrived and filled his glass with more Brandy, Jasper felt his stomach hum. He realized he hadn't eaten since the gala.
After his mom quite literally summoned him, he'd made his way back to his room and had been with Blaise up until now.
Sooner or later Jasper would get tired of him and they wouldn't talk, or fuck, until they randomly crossed paths like last night.
He took a peak at the menu on the side of the bar, studying its contents. Mostly bar food and some cocktails. Everything was overpriced but he knew that was standard for these types of places.
Eventually, he decided on the fries, and chips and hummus. As he was about to flag the bartender down to put in his order, a low, but soft voice stopped him from doing so.
"It's rude to stare, you know," The stranger spoke.
Up until how, Jasper hardly noticed the other man sitting a couple of seats away from him at the bar. He was close to Jasper's age, but he must've been slightly taller from the way his legs curved behind the seat.
Jasper noticed his honey brown eyes first, then the way his dark locks were tousled on top of his head. His eyes fell down to his light pink lips, and strong jaw.
On any other day, Jasper would've thought the stranger was attractive, but he'd already exposed his ego, and Jasper had dealt with enough hubris from one man today.
"Not that I need to explain myself to you, but I was looking at the menu," Jasper scoffed. "You're not my type anyway."
The stranger smiled softly, teasingly, before taking a sip of his drink slowly. Lie.
"Hmm, based on your date, I'd say otherwise."
Jasper's eyes immediately shot toward Blaise and Lucas who were conversing quietly. He saw Lucas laugh and grimaced. There was no way Blaise of all people was impressing his brother.
"You're stalking me now?"
"Not stalking. I'm just observant."
Jasper's jaw hardened as he studied the stranger quickly. The blond had a hard time figuring him out. He could tell from his relaxed clothing that he most likely only came down from his room, as did Jasper. His muscles were subtle, but Jasper could tell he worked out. A personal trainer, maybe?
"That supposed to make a difference to me?"
"Maybe not," the stranger shrugged and shot a questioning look at the blond. His eyes. "But you don't strike me as the kind of person who cares."
Jasper played his words over in his head, studying them. The stranger was right, why was he entertaining this in the first place?
He should be focused on getting Blaise away from his brother and back upstairs where they could fool around for a couple more hours before check out. Instead, he was engaging in meaningless conversation with a stranger, who although insanely attractive, meant nothing to him.
Jasper deduced that his hunger or tiredness was the only reason he was still here. He focused his attention back on the bartender, who he'd meant to flag down minutes ago.
After putting in his order, the blond found himself focused back on the stranger whose eyes were wandering aimlessly, before finding Jasper's again.
"You're right," Jasper sipped his drink and toyed with the skinny straw provided by the bar. "I don't care."
"What if someone could get you to care?" The stranger spoke again, eyes falling to the blonds. "Would you let them?"
Jasper faltered, confused. "What?"
He smirked and began toying with the rim of his cup. Jasper found himself becoming exceptionally annoyed with the brown-eyed stranger. Who was he anyway?
"I think," he paused his tracing of the rim. "I could get you to care."
Jasper's fingers found the edge of the bar, "You don't know me. You don't know anything about me."
The stranger smirked again, "I know that this act you put on is a facade. Pretending not to care about anyone or anything must be pretty exhausting, no?"
Words rang through Jasper's head, and he felt his pulse quickening.
"Fuck you."
At that, the stranger stood up, still with an amused look on his face that only made Jasper angrier. He found this funny?
"I expected as much," was all he said before leaving a bill under his glass for the bartender.
Jasper's hands tightened around his own cup, his mood slowly flaring at the audacity of the stranger. He never let anyone he didn't know get him this riled up. Why was he any different?
"You might wanna eat that." He spoke after a few moments of Jasper's silence. He signaled down to the food that must've arrived a few seconds ago. The blond didn't even notice as he was putting all of his energy into not losing his cool in a room full of hungry eyes.
"Wouldn't want it to get cold."
~
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