Re: Jasper & Jules (& Gavin)
Grabbing Jules hadn’t quite been a conscious decision, and both of them telling him to stop made Jasper angrier, but he did it anyway, releasing his girlfriend’s arm and giving her room to stand up. He shot a glare right back at his dad. He definitely wasn’t going to sit down, this needed to be a private conversation somewhere else. And the hypocrisy of his father telling him not to put hands on a woman? It made Jasper want to rage at him too. But he was trying not to make a scene, that was the whole point. “Mind your own goddamn business,” he snapped at Gavin, though he kept his own voice low. Jasper’s heated blue eyes ticked to Jules again. “Come on.” As soon as she was on her feet, he turned on his heel to walk out of the big room, toward one of the interior hallways.
Shit. The only other time she had seen Jasper this mad at her had been the day he all but threw her out of his house. The memory made her stomach churn but she didn’t think he was being affected by the same thing now. He was just mad. Had he found out about Ethan? If he had, how? And when? He’d been fine before she’d left his side to chat with his dad. Jules exhaled and offered a faint smile at Gavin. He didn’t really deserve to be snapped at like that and Jules felt weirdly guilty about it. “It’ll be okay,” she murmured before following Jasper out into the hallway. She could still hear the music inside the reception hall but there was no one else around that could see or overhear them. That was probably good for whatever was coming. “What’s wrong?” There was concern in her voice because she was determined not to jump to conclusions and immediately throw up her defenses. She wished her pretty dress had pockets so she could shove her clammy hands into them.
Nobody had talked to Gavin like that since Joseph died and it made him see red for a second. Old and uncomfortably familiar rage washed over him, making his muscles tense up, ready to do damage. He wasn't sure what made it pass; if he had more control now or if it was Jules's soft voice that cut through it, either way he managed not to lash out and make things worse. He was responsible today, making sure nobody ruined this perfect wedding - including him. He glared after them anyway and ended up standing up, strolling half way after them just in case things escalated and he needed to step in. Close enough to hear a commotion, far enough to give them some privacy.
Jasper didn’t give his father’s temper a second thought as they walked away from him. At the moment it felt weird that Gavin and Jules were close -- had he known anything about what Jasper now knew? Did he know if Jules had slept with anyone else while Jasper had been locked in hell? Would he even tell Jasper if he did? He currently felt like throwing punches, and if those had to be thrown at Gavin, so be it. Jasper’s current focus was Jules though, and he turned to face her as she asked him what was wrong, his jaw tight. “Clint Nolan,” he said, the words clipped and tight. Jasper stared hard at Jules’s expression to gauge her reaction, half expecting her to start denying and trying to play it off like nothing happened, and he was ready to be even more pissed if she did. Maybe it wasn’t fair not to give her the benefit of the doubt -- Elodie could still be lying, after all, or Clint could’ve lied to her -- but his gut said it was true, and when he got angry he listened to his gut.