Take the Fall (Take the Fall, #1)(56)

I make my way back up the stairs to finish unpacking.

Moving in with Jase wasn’t something I’d planned on, but I knew Rowan and Seth needed privacy, and I had no desire to move someplace my parents would find acceptable.

Walking into my new room, I start to hang up my dresses.

At least here, I don’t have to worry about Mother setting me up with someone. There’s no way Mark Williams will drive to Jase’s house again. Certainly not after that party that went horribly wrong.

Because of me, of course.

No matter what anyone tells me, I know the party ended because Jase and Seth and even Rowan were worried that Giselle—Jase’s on again/off again girlfriend—would try to hurt me.

I love them for protecting me, but I’ve been protected my entire life.

Sometimes I just want to live, to take the consequences of my actions and deal with them.

I glance at the wall that separates my room from Jase’s, then move closer, searching for the hidden latch. I press down and hear a click. The wall swings open like a door and I giggle.

When Rowan and I were little, we discovered this hidden passageway. Apparently, this house was a speakeasy in the 1920s and had hiding places for alcohol.

Stepping through the wall, I pull out my phone and turn on the flashlight app, sweeping it around to check out the place like I’m a detective in a television show.

Dust motes fall from the ceiling in the narrow passageway but other than that, there’s nothing.

Thank God. I have no desire to run into a mouse.

Quickly, I walk to where streams of daylight pour through narrow holes in the wall. Grinning, I take in Jase’s room. The huge bed is made with stark white linens, and the furniture is completely devoid of anything personal. Unlike the last time I saw his room, there’s no stripper named Angel on his bed. Between his thighs…

I flush hot, then cold.

Giving myself an inward shake, I blow out a breath. “This is stupid,” I mutter and make my way back to my bedroom. I give my eyes a moment to adjust from going from nearly pitch-black to full sunlight.

“What in the hell were you doing in there?” Jase roars and I scream.

“What were you doing in my room?” My heart pounds against my chest so hard that I’m surprised it hasn’t burst free.

His full lips thin. “Thought I was being rude by not offering to help you, so I came back.”

My knees get all soft. “Thank you.”

“Were you spying on my room?” he says, walking to the secret door, which is still open.

Turning, I smack the wall, trying to get it to close. “No. Yes. I mean…you weren’t in there!”

He spins me around and pushes me up against the wall as the door shuts beside us. “You like watching, don’t you?”

This close his eyes are impossibly blue. Impossibly wicked. “No.”

His head dips. Slowly. Purposefully. And I welcome his nearness. His lips are dangerously close to mine as he says, “Next time you want to watch, I’ll make it happen. You say the word.”

Pain slashes through my heart, and my chest gets all tight. “I don’t want to watch you with another woman.” I all but wheeze the words. I can’t breathe at all. It feels as though I’m sucking air through a straw that has to go through mud first.

“Are you having a f*cking asthma attack?” he growls and I can barely nod. “Damn it, Piper. Where’s your inhaler? Never mind.”

He practically runs across the room, takes my purse, and dumps the contents out on the bed before rushing back to me. “Here.”

I take my inhaler and practically shove it in my mouth. Tears of frustration hit me as I try to make the canister release the medicine.

“Baby, let me.” Jase brushes my hand away and presses down. I take a deep breath, staring up at him as he pulls my inhaler away. “Hold your breath for ten, kitten.”

The tightness in my chest finally eases and I blow out a breath.

“Better?”

“Yes, thank you.”

He wipes away the tears on my cheeks. “Do you want to do it again? It might help.”

“How do you know so much about inhalers?”

His blue gaze searches my face. “I might have done some research.”

“For what?”

He shrugs. “Just in case you needed help.”

“You did that for me?”

Jase’s face turns hard. “I did that because I don’t need a dead girl in my house. I’ve been accused of enough things in my life. Anyway, now that I see you don’t need my help, I’ll go to work.”

Reeling from his change in attitude, I watch in silence as he walks away. Again.

“And Piper?” He stops at the door and pins me with an icy look.

“What?”

“Stay the hell out of that passageway, or I promise you won’t like the consequences.”