“We got an apartment right after college and then recently bought this duplex.We have shared interests, so it just made sense that we live together,” Asher answered, and I felt the urge to kick him because I knewexactlywhat kind ofinterestshe was hinting at.
While he lectured me about her being vulnerable, he wasn’t pulling out any stops in controlling himself around her.This might be harder than I thought.
“What kind of shared interests?”She took another bite, this time bigger, as if her appetite had finally made an appearance.I smiled, pleased to see her relax even more.Thankfully, it wasn’t like she didn’t know us—even if our interactions had been quick and not super intimate.But the fact that she had spent small amounts of time with us before now and had trusted us to help her move some of their stuff in early on was a good starting point.
“Women,” Asher replied, his dimpled smile spreading across his face as she choked on the bite she was chewing.
She quickly lifted her napkin and covered her mouth as she coughed before taking a drink of water.
“Women?As in, you both date a lot of them?”she questioned.
“Sometimes,” Asher admitted with a shrug.
I glared at him from across the table as he arched an eyebrow at me, taunting me to call him out on it.
“We don’t date a lot of women,” I corrected, taking a large bite so my mouth was too full to answer any other questions.
She looked between us but didn’t press the subject as silence fell over us as we continued eating.
“Well, I promise not to be in your hair too long.I’ll start looking for a job and a new place to stay tomorrow.Thank you for letting me stay here in the meantime.I appreciate your generosity.”
I nodded, not bothering to correct her that she would be staying here as long as she needed.As far as I was concerned, there was no end date.While her boyfriend might have been a self-centered asshole, I wasn’t.Allowing someone to struggle as they tried to get back on their feet wasn’t something I was willing to do.
Asher turned the conversation to focus on her, and I was thankful that I wasn’t going to have to kick his ass after lunch.Violet talked about how long she’d been with Jared and how she’d given up a career she loved to move to Beaumont Creek to be with him.
“I thought that we were in love, and I don’t know,” she said with a sigh as she stared at the bottle of water in front of her.“I guess I just thought that someday we would get married and have a family.I didn’t expect to move all the way to New Jersey just to turn around and find myself single and homeless on the same day.”
“It’s not your fault,” Asher assured her, reaching his hand across the table to gently squeeze hers.
I looked at her face to gauge her reaction and felt a flutter in my stomach when she smiled at him instead of pulling away.While I knew that we both agreednotto make any moves on her, it was nice to see that she was receptive to his touch—just in case.
“I don’t know.Maybe it is.I’ve always been the good girl who does what people expect of her.I answer the calls about my extended car warranty, even though I don’t have a car.”She laughed and shook her head.“I always go out of my way to make sure everyone around me is happy to the point that I can’t remember the last time I worried about whetherIwas happy.I’ve been so caught up in being what others want me to be that I worry I don’t even know who I am anymore.Jared basically decided this life for us, and I just stupidly went along and didn’t bother to ask any questions.He convinced me to close my bank account because I wouldn’t need it anymore with him taking care of me.I should have known better, and maybe I would have, had I been focused on myself instead of worrying about what he wanted.”
“Well, I give you credit for answering those extended warranty calls,” Asher said with a flirty smile as he shifted the conversation to a lighter topic.“You can’t get me to answer my phone half the time, even if I know the person who is calling.”
“He’s not lying,” I said, smirking at him, knowing he was the worst with calling anyone back, his mother included.
“Hey, I’m a busy man with shit to do.I don’t have time to sit around and bullshit on the phone for hours.”
“I would hardly call itbullshitwhen it’s yourmomcalling.”I arched an eyebrow and looked at him as I took a drink of water.
“It is when she’s just calling to try to set me up.Like I said, I don’t have time for that shit.”
“And see, I would be the person who answers those calls and then let my mom make me feel guilty about not dating someone,” Violet said as she scrunched her face.
“Does your mom do that to you, too?”Asher asked.
“My mom died when I was thirteen.My dad raised me, but I haven’t talked to him in a few months.”Her voice was quiet and full of sadness.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I said, fighting the urge to reach over and hold the hand Asher wasn’t holding.I couldn’t imagine how that would go over with her sitting there, having two guys holding her hands.Maybe someday if things between the three of us changed and she knew what it was Asher and I liked to do with women, but not right now.I didn’t want to scare her off in the first hour she’d been with us.
“Thank you.My dad did his best to raise me as a single father, but when I moved to Beaumont Creek with Jared, he wasn’t happy.”
“Did he not like him?”Asher questioned.
“No, it wasn’t that.I don’t think he ever took the time to get to know him, especially since we hadn’t been dating that long.My dad was more upset that I was leaving because I wouldn’t be there to work and pay for the bills so he could gamble away the rest of what was left from my mother’s life insurance policy.”
“How long were you and Jared together before you decided to move out here with him?”I asked, keeping the edge out of my voice so it didn’t come across as judgmental.
