Page 94 of Buckle Up, Buttercup

Jasper stands there, a cautious look on his face. “Can I cut in, Hadrian? I’d like to talk to my sister.”

I freeze, but Hadrian takes my hand and lifts it to his mouth, kissing the back of it tenderly as he glances back at me. “Are you alright with that, mate?”

I guess we’re not holding back. “Yes,” I say confidently, looking from him to my brother.

Hadrian takes my hand and offers it to Jasper, who takes it in his and tugs me gently to him.

“I’ll be at the Bodice,” Hadrian says to me. “If you need anything.”

Jasper watches him go, frowning at Hadrian’s huge retreating back.

I hold my tongue, I’m sure it won’t help to say he shouldn’t scowl at his best friend. Not for loving me.

He turns to me with a sorrowful look, sucking at his teeth as he starts guiding me in a slow circle to the music beat. I’m silent, looking away when he doesn’t immediately speak. Hadrian’s off to one side, standing in front of the Bodice, who waggles her sign at me.

“I’m sorry, Bloob,” Jasper says. “I was a fucking asshole when I found out about you and Hay. I guess I had a weird mixture of protectiveness over you and jealousy over him. He’s always been my best friend, and sometimes I felt like you were stealing him.” He rolls his eyes. “What a dumb thing to feel for a grown-ass man. But the stress of the test just made all that feel so much worse to me.”

Green eyes focus on me, his brows forming a concerned vee. “Those are stupid excuses, little sis, but it’s what was happening in my brain.”

“I don’t want to come between your friendship,” I admit. “He and I were fated from the beginning, and nothing will change that. I love him with my whole heart, and I’ve been hiding it for a long time. But I can also believe that you and he are fated friends, Jazzy.”

He stares at me in silence for another minute, then smiles. “I want you to be happy, Bluebell, and I shouldn’t have put all that Tucker Greens shit on you. I was freaking out, but it’s not an excuse. Hadrian was right to call me out on it, and I’m just sorry I’ve been bugging you about it for literal years. I’m so sorry.”

I wrap my arms around his neck and smile. “Part of this is on me too, Jasper. I never let go; I just wasn’t willing to. But I should have trusted the Jays to manage your own business.”

“We need to learn for sure,” he says with a quick huff, “but Jace is probably the best one to start with until Jack and I can get our shit together. I mean, Jace has already said he’s taking over all the bookkeeping and appointment stuff. We had a big family conversation about it this morning.”

“Without me?” I stare at him in shock.

“You’re not part of the business, Bluebell,” he says softly. “And I don’t mean we don’t want you to be. I just mean that we run it, and so we need to run it. I’d love for you to walk us through how you handle it all, sometime when it fits into your schedule.”

“Okay.” I fall silent as I think about how grateful I am that he’s coming around.

“Mostly I’m really sorry,” he says again. “Can you forgive me?”

I grin up at him. “I’ll think about it and let you know.”

He laughs, but it’s half-hearted as he spins me in a circle in time with the music.

“I suppose I deserve that. I’ll apologize to Hadrian too, of course. But I wanted to talk to you first. Family above everything, right? Isn’t that the Tucker family motto?”

“We don’t have a motto,” I say with a laugh. “But that’s a good one as long as you consider Hadrian an honorary Tucker.”

He snorts. “Yeah, in like, not the way I initially imagined it. I’m still going to have to make the mental switch from actual brother to brother-in-law. That’s rough.”

“And yet I believe in you,” I say as he spins me again. “Also, I’m sorry about your test. I feel like we screwed that up for you, but we didn’t want to not support you, either.”

He pulls me close, guiding me along with a slightly faster song. “That test was my responsibility, Bloob. I wasn’t ready, and I didn’t pass. That’s really all there is to it. A good green witch has to be able to do all those things under much harder conditions than I faced. It’s okay, I’ll try again. Maybe not next year, but eventually.”

I can’t think of anything to say to that, but I pat his muscular shoulder just as Petra zooms over with a gargoyle child in tow. They flap in the air to our left as she pokes Jasper with her tail spade.

“Jasper, I’m so glad you came around. This is Iggy; he’s in town for a couple of days with his dad, who’s the sheriff’s nephew! How cool is that? It’s such a small world even though it isn’t really!”

Jasper laughs and grabs her tail, twirling her in the air. The young male gargoyle flaps along, letting out a cheerful whoop. Hadrian appears to my right, sliding a hand up between my shoulder blades.

Jasper stops playing with the kids and flashes Hadrian an unsteady smile. “Man, I’m so s⁠—”

Hadrian yanks Jasper to his chest, clapping him on the back. “You’ll always be my best friend,” my mate says. “Nothing’s changing that, not even when we disagree.”