“So what, you’re bi?”
“Are we really having this discussion, Dad? If you have to know, gender has nothing to do with my attraction for them.”
Dad has only ever loved my mother, but he never questioned my sexuality. I got really lucky in the parent department with him because he looks so unbothered and so unphased by this revelation. Is there some confusion there? Sure, but I know he’s not judging me.
“What about them? How do they feel?”
“My sister’s been gone for Creed since she first laid eyes on him. Pretty sure she was the embodiment of the phrase ‘starry-eyed’.This guy could do no wrong in her eyes.” Asher hooks a thumb at me and I laugh it off, but on the inside I’m fucking reeling. I didn’t pay any attention to her crush when she wasa kid, but hearing Asher speak so cooly about how Collins felt about me has me feeling some type of way.
“And what about this other guy? Riley, is his name?” Dad asks.
Deep brown eyes and curly, auburn hair take form in my mind’s eye and a sad, small smile tugs at my lips. “Riley was still figuring things out for himself before everything went to shit, and I’m going to let him keep exploring himself for however long he needs. I know he’s just as in love with Collins as I am, but I won’t deny that things also shifted between us recently, too. I’ll never push him for more if it’s not what he wants. Doesn’t make him any lessmine,though. He’s familiar with my affections, and I will continue to love and care for him however he will allow me to.
“I love them both in equal but separate ways. I can tell that they love each other just as much as I hope they love me back. That is, if they can ever forgive me for this shit.”
He’s silent for a moment, letting all of that soak in. He looks like he wants to ask questions, but Asher is actually the one to speak up.
“I didn’t get it at first, either. But you honestly can’t put a label on this thing that they have going on. They justare,” he says, using my words that I’d told him weeks ago. I could kiss Asher right now if it wouldn’t be so fucking weird to lay one on my girl’s brother. “Polyamorous is probably the best way to describe them, though it’s a little different from that, from what I can tell. They all love each other equally, but differently. My sister is happy with them, and I trust them to guard her heart and protect her, and that’s all that matters.”
My heart squeezes in my chest when I look at my best friend. “How can you say that? Ididn’tprotect her. I failed her. Now she’s fucking gone. That psychopath has her again, and it’s entirely my fault.”
“It’s not, Creed. Youdidprotect her. I protected her. Though, if anyone is truly to blame, it’s me. Somehow, one man was able to kill a dozen of my men and break into Collins’ bus without tripping any alarms, and they were long gone before I was ever even notified.” Asher rakes a hand through his hair, the anguish evident on his face.
Dad opens his mouth to say something—probably to tell us to cut the shit and stop playing the blame game—when Asher’s phone starts ringing.
He flips it over in his lap, and I see the name flashing on the screen.
Callan.
Asher cuts me a look before he stands and walks into another room to answer.
Callan McTavish is a scary motherfucker and the head of the NorCal Scottish Mafia. He’s been leading the search to find Collins and Riley. He’s also the one who concocted the perfect story that bought us an excuse from having to perform the last two concerts. A major media announcement by Ayla was published the night of the concert when Riley and Collins were taken.
Speculation had circled around Tony’s sudden disappearance. Nobody really knew Steve, but our label started questioning where they were and why Tony had been replaced so suddenly with Blair.
So we’d announced that Tony had a breach of contract when he was arrested for sexual assault. It’s not entirely a lie, since he’s currently being held prisoner for sexually assaulting Collins and recording it before trying to use it to blackmail her with. It’s just not a prison where he’s being kept, and he’s certainly not getting a cot and three warm meals a day. But the public ate the story up, especially since we reiterated how “heartbroken” we are to learn this and that we do not condone his actions.
However, it’s the story of Steve dying from heart disease that had me nearly rolling on the ground with laughter, and I probably would have if my life wasn’t in shambles right now.Thatis how we’ve been pardoned from the last two concerts and possibly for the rest of the tour we were supposed to complete forAs We Stand.Jake, their lead singer, got the bare minimum of details when I called to explain the actual situation to him, but he was still understanding of the whole ordeal.
So, as far as anyone knows, we’re all in mourning.
It’s bullshit. I can feel myself winding up, fury trying to take hold of my sanity again as I think about each and every motherfucker who ever hurt Collins and Riley. I will make every single one of them suffer for their sins. From Guy to Riley’s fucking cunt of a mother if she ever dares to show her face around me again.
Asher comes barreling down the hall and starts looking around frantically. Instantly on high alert, following closely on his heels, my dad is right behind me, appearing equally concerned. “What’s wrong?” I ask right as he snags my shirt from the floor and honest-to-god starts dressing me. “Dude, what the fuck?” I swat at him, batting his hands away to shove my arms through the shirt myself.
“Asher!” I snap, but he’s not listening. He just grabs my wrist, drags me out of the room, and sweeps the hallway once before heading toward the elevator.
“What’s going on?” My dad asks when he steps in behind us. Asher swipes a card through a reader and presses the penthouse button.
Still, my best friend remains silent, but I can feel every intense emotion rolling off of him in waves. The thing is, I have no goddamned clue if what he’s feeling is good or bad. Something’s going on, and I’m about to flip the fuck out if he doesn’t start talking.
When the elevator dings and the moment the doors start to open, I’m being shoved forward, my bare feet slapping harshly against the cold marble flooring. Spinning to face him, I’m about ready to shake the shit out of him until he gives me answers. “Asher, what the fuck is go?—”
“We found them.”
Chapter 6
Asher
