“You’re barely an adult,” I cut in, biting my lip. My smile is smug but warm.
He smirks. “I sure as hell fucked you like one, didn’t I?”
My jaw drops. No witty retort. Nothing.
Okay, then, Ash.
“As I was saying,” he continues smoothly, “letters matter to me. If it’s okay with you, I’d love that. In the fall, we can decide if we want to see each other again.”
“Fine.” I nod briskly, regaining some composure. “As long as Nicole keeps throwing this gala, I’ll be here. I can’t exactly fly to you during the holidays.”
“Hailey, I live on an island that’s freezing cold almost two hundred days of the year. I get called to rescue people from the Bering Sea at all hours. I wouldlovefor you to stay as far away from it as possible.”
“Freezing. Dangerous. Noted.”
“It’s beautiful, don’t get me wrong, but I associate Kodiak with work, with the relentless waves. I’d like to keep you separate from that. I respect both you and her the same, but her, I fear. You, I crave.”
His words bring shivers down my spine. “Her?”
“The Bering.”
“The sea is a girl? Color me shocked.”
“In Spanish, the word for sea uses a masculine article, el mar, but I’ve always thought about it as a girl. Female rage and all.”
He stands, offering me his hand. I take it, following him toward the ballroom. Conversation: tabled.
“Letters it is, then,” I murmur. “Very vintage of us.”
“Hi, hi, hi!” Livie comes barreling toward us, dragging her husband along. The moment I dreaded. How the hell do I introduce him? Annual hook-up? Lifetime mistake in progress? But I don’t make reckless decisions, right? I live my carefully crafted life always to avoid them. So this? I don’t know what to call it.
“This is my friend,” I say finally, forcing a smile.
“Asher,” he says warmly, extending his hand.
“Livie,” she replies, eyeing him up and down like she’s sizing up a suspect. At barely five feet tall, she looks ridiculous facing off against a giant, and I burst into laughter.
“So who are you, Asher? You look familiar.”
“I’m a friend of Hailey’s.” His tone is confident, and if it wasn’t for Livie knowing my whole damn life, it would’ve been believable.
“Hailey doesn’t have any friends I don’t know.” Exactly my point. I roll my eyes at her.
“Liv!” I hiss, glaring.
“It’s fine,” he chuckles. “We met briefly a couple years ago. I think I was even wearing this same outfit. Guilty.”
That smile of his—equal parts charming and sinful—could melt an iceberg. Maybe that’s why he likes working in frigid waters. Somehow, he can stay warm with his damn charm.
“How briefly?” Livie presses, hands on hips.
“At the shrimp drop. For like a split second.” His jaw clenches as he fights back laughter.
Livie’s eyes widen. She tugs Alex closer. “It’shim! She didn’t make him up!”
“You told your friends about me?” Asher murmurs in my ear.
“Two years ago, when I was convinced you were imaginary, yes.”
