My glare intensifies, not up for his flirty behavior this morning. “I’m not jealous. It’s just good to know what to expect before this girl turns up here. You have no idea the dirty looks I was getting from girls at the club. Girls who were nice to everyone else except me. And if this chick is going to fix me up, I kind of want to be prepared.”
He throws his head back, laughing. “You’re so dramatic. Who was giving you shit? I’ll sort them out.”
I try to shrug it off. “It’s not important now.” Now I can’t go back to the club anyway since I’m dead.
His eyes met mine, a silent connection passing between us that shouldn’t be here. “It’s important to me.”
I shake my head as a loud exhausted sigh escapes me. “Why do you have to be such a manwhore?”
His hand flies to his heart as if I’ve wounded him, and his breath hitches in his throat. “Harsh, princess.”
A smirk tugs at my lips as I meet his gaze, keen to provoke him just a little. “The truth hurts, I guess,” I sass back.
He shakes his head, the corners of his mouth hinting that he’s not really angry with me. “You’re on fire with the insults today. I wasn’t a manwhore. I just hadn’t found the right girl, I guess. Now things are different.” He stares deep into my soul in a way that crushes me. He’s like an adorable puppy, nudging my hand for a scratch or any attention I’m willing to give. I know what he wants—for me to tell him I feel the same. That he is someone to me as well. But I can’t.
“I’m not the right girl, Asher,” I whisper sadly. Maybe in a different time and place, if I weren’t stuck in this situation, things might have been different with us. The chemistry is so intense I think it could have been real, but I’m just not that lucky.
His gorgeous face hardens in a way that surprises me, deep crevasses forming on his forehead. “How do you know?” he growls.
I blink back at him, not sure what to say now that he’s definitely upset. Can’t he see there are so many reasons this won’t work? That this thing between us can never be more than just infatuation. “I’m sleeping with both your brothers, for a start,” I huff out, pointing out the elephant in the room. He has to see this is an impossible situation, doesn’t he?
His hand dusts up my arm, and he tilts his head, his eyes running over my face, his expression unreadable. And for him that’s rare, he’s normally so expressive. “Not something I’m worried about.”
I place a hand on his chest, trying to get some distance between us. We’re too close to be talking about something so serious. But there is no avoiding the topic now that we’re locked up in this place altogether. I can’t run from him or pretend I have make-up and wardrobe to be getting ready for a night at work. His eyes meet mine, almost pleading with me. “I don’t get it, Ash. It should worry you. This whole thing is kind of messed up, isn’t it? The three of you… me… What even is this?”
“Only if you make it that way,” he grumbles back, and I know I’ve hurt him.
My hand slides down to his, and I give it a squeeze. I don’t want to hurt him. He’s so sweet to me, and the truth is, I know how he feels. The attraction between us is insane, I’m sure I want everything he does. I’m just more practical, more realistic about what we’re up against. “I’m sorry, Ash, it’s just I don’t even know who the hell I am right now. I have gone from being trapped in a marriage that was a horror show, to being on the run, and now I’m a dead girl. When I ran it was to find myself, try and make something of my life and hopefully find a little joy. I came to Sloane’s club hoping that could be dancing again,and I loved every second of being up on that stage and playing that part. When you boys presented me with the idea of actually auditioning to that school, it felt as though all my dreams had come true. I want to dance so badly it hurts. I had years of my passion being repressed to please Valentine, and now I’m here with my head all fucked up and being stopped from dancing again.” My head drops, knowing he can’t understand what I’m getting at. How could he. “I can't be making promises to anyone else when I don’t know what my life will look like next week.”
His eyes search mine. “I get it. You don’t owe me anything.”
“Ash, I’m a mess, I don’t know who I am. What does my life even look like now. We hide out here for a bit, but then what? We’ll all need to go back into the real world, and I can’t be Daisy.”
He brushes the back of his hand down the side of my face. “We’ll work out all the details while you recover, and don’t worry about your dancing. I promise I will personally make sure you get that audition next intake and you get all the prep time you need with Paige. You will follow your dreams, princess. I will make sure of it. Might just take a little longer than we planned. All I ask is that while we’re locked up here with not much else to do, you spend some time with me. When we’re together, you make me forget all the other shit.” His eyes light up with that damn cheeky sparkle that gets me every time. “No one else can do that.”
“Is that what you wanted when you found this horror show? To hang out with me?” I motion to myself, trying to lighten the mood. I know I must look ridiculous.
That puts the grin back on his face. “Actually, you distracted me from what I came to see you about. Sloane’s sent a project for us to work on today. If you’re up for it.”
“Sounds like exactly what I need.”
His hands slide under my ass, and he picks me up, carrying me to my room with my legs wrapped around his waist.
“You know I can walk.” I laugh, hugging in closer to him.
“I know.” He places me down on my bed, staring down at me like he wants to devour me. Why do I wish he would.
“You can’t look at me like that, Ash,” I whisper, getting all sorts of ideas that I shouldn’t right now.
“I can’t help it. I’ve never met anyone like you before.”
“That’s because I have a weird haircut, right?” I laugh.
“It’s because you’re fucking gorgeous and cute and funny and so fucking strong you put all three of us to shame.”
Butterflies take flight through my body. “Maybe we should do this work out in the living room, it might be safer.”
“Nowhere’s safe, princess,” he practically growls. He looks like he’s trying to hold himself back from pouncing on me, but I know what he wants.
