"It landed on you Blake." Harlow interrupts and moves from the floor to open the closet door and usher us in. "C'mon, fast games a good game."
Blake smirks at me as he makes to get up.
It's only seven minutes. It's only seven minutes.It's only seven minutes.
I stand.
Before I can react, Asher stands and steps forward. The movement is so sudden, so unexpected, that I freeze. He strides over, his jaw tight, and without a word, he picks up the bottle and stands, turning toward the closet that the game is apparently centred around.
I blink, confused. "Asher-"
"I'll take her."
I'll take her? My shoulders tense, my stomach rioting with a sick feeling.
He doesn't say anything else. He just grabs my hand and pulls me up, leading me toward the closet. I don't protest. I don't think Icanprotest. The room seems to have gone quiet around us, but I'm too focused on Asher's grip, on the way his hand is wrapped around mine, firm and unyielding.
And those words.I'll take her. Like he was doing everyone a favour by taking one for the team.God.
When the door closes behind us, the world outside the small, dark space disappears. It's just me and Asher, the air thick with something I can't name.
I stare up at him; my back pressed against the wall. His chest is rising and falling with deep, controlled breaths, but there's something raw in his eyes, something I haven't seen before. "What are you doing?" I whisper, my voice barely audible. "You don't have to-"
"I'm not letting you practice with some random guy," he says, his voice tight, almost strained. "I'd rather take the fallout than watch you with him."
Something inside me flinches at that. Take the fallout –what does that even mean?
I shake my head, thrown off by the subject.
"But-"
"You were right" he interrupts, stepping closer, his body so close to mine I can feel the heat radiating off him. His hand comes up to cup my cheek, his thumb brushing against my skin. "You do need to practice; reading can only do so much. You need more."
I can't move. I can't breathe. My heart is racing, my pulse pounding in my ears. "What's that?" I manage to ask, though my voice is shaking.
"How it feels."
His words hang in the air, heavy and dangerous. He's so close now, his forehead resting against mine, and I can feel the warmth of his breath against my lips.
"You don't need some random guy to teach you that," he murmurs, his thumb tracing the line of my jaw. "I'll show you."
I should be shocked. I should push him away; tell him this is a bad idea. But I don't. I don't know why I don't. I should. I really, really should-
"Asher..." I whisper, and my head is shaking, his fingers falling from my jaw.
He steps back in the small space, but I stop him, my hand falling to rest on his wrist.
He stops, his eyes flicking between mine curiously. "Tell me what you want?"
My mind goes back to what he'd said, how he said he'd teach me and -
I cut the thought off, willing my mind not to go there but my eyes move anyway, settling on Asher's lips.
They quirk to the side. "Ivy?"
I shiver races down my spine at the way he says my name, the way his lips form the word.
"What do you want to know, how to kiss, how to blow-"
