Would never be mine.
Dammit, no matter how many times I said it, thought it, it didn’t stop me from steamrolling right over it and giving in to the dream.
Asher snorted and grinned in a cute, lopsided way. “Everyone knows everyone here, but yeah. I’ve known Cal a long time. Surprisingly, he’s not my cousin.”
Right, I wasn’t touching that, but … “Tell me about him.” Why I was asking him, trusting him to not make more of this than I would offer, was beyond me. Asher had an easygoing way about him in spite of the dark clothes and eyeliner he wore. Maybe that was it. Asher wasn’t what you’d think at first glance. I liked that. Reminded me of me.
“What do you wanna know?” he asked, and I glared. Eventually, he sighed, muttered something to himself that sounded like “Gotta hold their fucking hands, I guess,” then louder said, “He moved here from Florida when we were kids. His daddy’s a surgeon. He’s got a little sister.” This was shit I knew, except the Florida part. “Rumor has it his parents got divorced last year. You wouldn’t hear that from him or Cara, though.”
“How do you know, then? Who’s talking?” I’d kick their ass.
“My momma.” Okay, I wouldn’t kick her ass. “She’s friends with Sara—that’s Cal’s momma—and Sara complains a lot, loudly.”
“What do you mean?”
Asher adjusted in his seat to face me a little more and lowered his voice. “She’s that prom queen, entitled kind of woman. She got everything given to her but thinks she’s a victim. Momma didn’t tell me, but I overheard them talking about Sara cheating on Cal’s daddy, but she complains and blames him for all of it.”
I glanced at Cal, hating that for him. “That sucks.”
“Yeah. Cal’s a nice guy too, which makes me wonder how he ended up with Sasha.”
The bitch. “What about her?”
“Preacher’s daughter. Cute like a Chucky Doll.”
“She’s mean to him?”
Asher shrugged. “Unconfirmed. She’s a sly fox, but I’d swear sometimes it’s more than words she bites him with.”
That went along with what I thought I saw at the beach party. I’d been too far to hear or see clearly but could’ve sworn he’d flinched in a bad way when she reached for his arm. Now I was even more curious about what happened between them leaving and her coming back alone and pissed.
“He doesn’t deserve the shit he puts up with.”
I smirked. “That supposed to warn me off? Stop me from getting on his ass.”
“Heh.” Asher smiled wider and glanced across the room at Cal, who sat in the front row, then back to me. “Is that where you wanna be? On his ass?”
“You’re one brave little shit.” I wouldn’t admit to what I thought about doing with Cal’s ass. It’d always served me better to leave goading like that alone.
“Nah.” Asher straightened in his chair and checked on Mr. Matthews, who was still distracted with the slideshow he wasreadying to present to the class. “I’m the oldest out of my siblings, and sometimes I feel older than my parents. I’ve watched them fight themselves over what they wanna be doin’ versus what they have to be doin’. I know keeping the peace and bitin’ one’s tongue. I also know a lot about lashing out for all the wrong reasons.”
“Well, I guess you know everything, then.” That might’ve been experiences with his family but was aimed at me and this entire year. The pranks, the fighting, the posturing … I didn’t pretend to misunderstand.
“Nah, not everythin’.”
I gasped. “What? You don’t know something?”
“Don’t happen often, so enjoy.”
“Well, lay it on me. What is it you don’t know?”
“Glad you asked.”
I rolled my eyes, then my hand to get him talking.
“I dunno what sparked this war zone between you and Cal, but I got a good idea. I also don’t know how much longer he’s gonna keep pretending with Sasha, but I got a good idea about that too.”
At the mention of a possible breakup, I straightened in my chair and leaned closer. “What else?”
