Page 162 of Sincerely, Butterfly

Lola blinks at me, her brows furrowed. “Jasper?”

“Do as I say, Nola. Now.”

Turning around, I stomp over to where I threw my helmet down. Picking it up, I put it back on my head and head over to her.

She’s buttoning up her shorts, glaring at me like she wants to bite my head off.

I ignore her and climb on my bike. “Get on,” I tell her before starting it up.

She doesn’t, just stands there and stares at me.

“Get on or I’ll fucking leave you here,” I shout over the sound of the bike.

What does this girl do? She fucking turns around and starts walking down the street.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” I snarl. Leaving the bike idling, I get off and storm after her.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

“Walking home!” she hollers over her shoulder at me.

“No, you’re not!”

“Yes, I am.”

“Get on the bike, Nola.”

“No!”

“Get on the fucking bike!” I roar.

“Fuck you!” She spins around with wild eyes. She shoves her hand into her purse and pulls out the damn kitchen knife. “Leave me alone, or I’ll chop that fucking thing off.” She points to my dick.

She’s crazy. She’s downright fucking crazy.

“I don’t know what's gotten into you, but it needs to stop.” I ignore the knife and close the space between us.

“I’ll do it!”

“Sure, you will,” I mutter.

“Hey!” she shouts as I bend down and throw her over my shoulder. “Put me down.”

My hand comes down hard on her ass, making her gasp. “That’s enough out of you,” I bark back.

She’s quiet as I head back to my bike. Instead of putting her on her feet—I’m not dumb enough to give her the chance to run again—I put her directly on the seat. Then I throw my leg over and take the bike off the kickstand. “Hold on,” I tell her, giving her only a second before revving the engine and taking off down the street.

Nola’s grip on me is tight the whole way home.

My mind is reeling, feeling like this was some kind of fever dream.

I’ve seen some changes with my own eyes, but this? What happened tonight was too much.

It can’t happen again.

We need to distance ourselves from her again. We have someone watching over her, she doesn’t need us being so close.

Our place has always been in the shadows when it comes to her, and that’s where we should have stayed.