That’s a no-brainer. “Yes and yes. My lips are sealed.”
“I’ll have it to you by tomorrow.”
“I’ll keepsupersilent if you don’t give me a bunch of archived bullshit again,” I try with a saccharine smile.
Oliver rolls his eyes. Looks at the ceiling, and shakes his head. “Fine.”
I leave before he can change his mind, heading to sim control. I expect to be the first one there, but for once, Asher has me beat.
He stands in front of several lit-up wall monitors, squinting at the numbers and stats flashing across the screen. He’s wearing black jeans, a black shirt, and a sinfully sleek leather jacket that stretches across his broad shoulders. My bottom lip finds its way between my teeth as I take him in silently, failing to keep my cheeks from scorching at the memory of last night.
The things he did to me in a random pizzeria bathroom… I went home and got myself off two more times just at the memory. I was an inch away from forgetting how embarrassed I am over the sad state of my apartment and dragging him inside before he left.
“You gonna stare all day, or should we get to work?” he slowly turns around. His expression is unusually pensive, and a flash of fear courses through me. Is he having regrets or second-thoughts about yesterday? Could it have been a one-off thing?
Has yet another person in my life decided I’m not quite up to their standards?
“If you keep looking at me like that, I’m going to stop trying to be so discreet and do something that draws attention.” His tone is edged with warning, but it makes me nearly sag with relief.
“Sorry,” I say, my tone a bit shrill. I clear my throat. “Uh… right. Work.” I set my laptop bag down at my usual workstation.What did I have us scheduled to do today?
“Distracted?” Asher sounds amused. He takes a few leisurely, unhurried steps forward, until he’s standing right behind me, watching while I get set up. Goosebumps rise on my arms and legs. Deargod, he’s potent. It was much easier to ignore when most of our interactions started and ended with insults, but there aren’t any of those today.
“What?Me?” A shrill giggle. “No. I’m… no. Definitely not.” When was the last time I got so tongue-tied? “Um… we leave for the next race in a few days, so we should probably… you know…”
“Focus?” Asher supplies.
“Yes.” I swallow around the thick knot of desire lodged in my throat. “Focus.”
“That might be a problem, sweetheart, since you’re just about all I can focus on.” He twirls a lock of my hairaround his finger and tugs on it playfully. Tension winds me tight as images of him fisting my hair and urging me to watch us in the mirror last night resurface.
“You didn’t text me,” he says softly, his tone vaguely admonishing.
I frown. “Was I supposed to?” We already planned to run simulations today.
“Yes. No—fuck.”He lets out an exasperated sigh. “Just… text me. So I know you think about me as often as I think about you.” He steps back, and the loss of his heat is instant and devastating. “Give me whatever setup you think is best. We’ll talk more later.”
He slips into the sim suite, leaving me breathless, frazzled, and with a damp spot between my legs.
Hunter calls me when I’m dropping by the cafeteria to pick up a cup of coffee around lunch. I’ve been dodging his texts since he got me to agree to go to Reynard’s engagement party, but I know it’s rarely a good idea to avoid a call from him.
I navigate to a round table in the back corner of the cafeteria, far out of anyone’s earshot, and pick up. “What do you want?” I won’t ignore his call, but I won’t be nice to him, either.
“It’s Mom.” His tone is sharp enough to cut, but I detect the faintest bit of strain beneath it. That’s as muchsentimentality as my brother will ever show, and it means there’s serious trouble.
“What is it?” I ask, trying to keep the hysterical note from my tone. “What happened? Is she home? What—”
“She’s fine now, but she had another fall. Her caretaker took her to the ER.” I hear Hunter swallow. “She broke her tailbone. The doctor’s recommending we move her to a full-time care facility that’s better equipped for—”
“I’ll be there in a few hours.” It’s a five-hour flight back home, so if I’m able to find a plane ticket on such short notice, I should make it by nightfall.
“No,” Hunter says. “Don’t. I just told you: she’s fine. There is nothing to be achieved with you joining us.”
“She’s my mother!” I hiss, righteous indignation lighting a fire under me. “I shouldbe therefor her—”
“You were there for her all the time until you went to college. Now, I’m close to home. I’ve got her. Seeing her will probably only make you upset, and it’ll confuse her. There’s nothing to be gained from your presence here except mutual turmoil.”
I sink farther into the chair. Hearing that my presence around my mother would only confuse her…god,that kills me.
