My jaw drops open. Little prick.
Asher hooks a thumb in his sweatpants, tongue darting over his teeth. “Ah, I mean, they don’t seem to mind.”
He crowds into my space. Soap and cologne suffocate me, and seems like a pretty good way to be dead.
I could stop breathing.
“The question is,” he taps his temple, “why do you care so much?” He smirks, swiping the platter from me “Or is it that you'll be too distracted?”
I flip him off.
We settle around the mahogany table as wine flows between us. Jord sprawls in his chair like it's a throne, while Luce perches elegantly beside him, her green eyes dancing with mischief.
Asher sits beside me, his arm brushing mine.
“So you're really hanging around for a year?” Luce swirls her glass, studying Asher over its rim.
“Give or take.” His foot brushes mine under the table and I pause mid-drink. “Parker needs someone to keep an eye on things while he's traveling.”
“And what exactly needs watching?” I arch a brow, taking a deliberate, slow sip of wine.
His gaze follows the movement of my throat. “Just the valuable shit.”
Jord snorts into his glass. “Smooth.”
Asher's hand vanishes under the table, his knuckles scraping my thigh. I freeze, but he’s unaffected, because of course he is. It was an accident.So why the fuck can’t you chill out.
“You know,” Luce leans forward, “Ivy here used to say she wanted to snowboard.”
I glare at her.Traitor.
“Did she now?” Asher's hand brushes my leg again on its way back up. My jaw twitches.Are you really annoyed, though?“Maybe I should give her some private lessons.”
“I'm sure Parker would love that,” I say sweetly. It’s all lies, since Parker wouldn’t give a shit.
“Don’t you worry about Parker,” Asher chuckles, but the weight of his words aren’t lost on any of us.
Jord raises his glass. “To new friendships then.”
Asher’s eyes lock with mine. “To new friendships.”
What is with this man and his need to make everything feel intense?
Luce and Jord exchange loaded glances.
“Ivy loves discovering new territory,” Luce says innocently. “Don't you, honey?”
My foot connects with hers beneath the table, only deepening her smug grin. The conversation drifts, but the current between Asher and me grows stronger. Every glance, every accidental touch, builds something I can't afford to want. Won't allow myself to want.
But when he reaches for the wine and his fingers brush my wrist, a spark ignites something volatile. Something that threatens to rattle the foundations of the walls I’ve built around myself.
Something I would burn for.
I need to remember why I'm here. Who I am.What I have to do.
His knee presses against mine, and I don't move away.
Fuck.
