As if he’d known I was in need and proving he should remain my best friend, William found me.
“For fuck’s sake, why did you stay so long?” He glanced around my shoulder as if the women were hot on my heels, brandishing marriage contracts. “I didn’t even dare go in that section for fear I’d be sucked in.”
His own mother had been among the small group, and he would’ve been roped and captured. I couldn’t even tease him about it, having only now taken a full, free breath of air.
“For that very reason.”
William snickered. “Signed the prenup yet?”
“No.” I pulled my shoulders back and exhaled, blowing out my cheeks. “She’ll see me wed to this one, though. It should be no different than any other time before. However, Mother …”
My words fell away as that so-called free air choked me. Across the main room, farther than my liking, Asher smiled at an insanely handsome man by his side. Asher’s hand rested on his forearm as they both engaged in whatever was said, but it was enough. Enough familiarity, enough intimacy, and ugly, poisonous jealousy clouded my vision.
The thin guy in a well-fitting suit stood taller than Asher. His dark brown waves hung like a secret over his eyes, sharp features, and gorgeous smile.
Who. The. Fuck?
After our run-in last weekend, my brain had had a one-track mind: Asher. All things Asher. Yet here he stood, clearly spreading his charms with others. Charms I wanted to squander. Charms I wanted to claim as my own.
Completely unreasonable, sure. I had no claim on Asher. I had no claim to even claim him. I wasn’t out, and Asher wasn’t mine, as sad as that thought was. But did I want him to be? After twenty years of being in the closet, would I risk it all for him? I barely knew him, but what I did know was shattering.
Like a tornado, Asher had swooped in, leveled my world, yet he hadn’t moved on. After last weekend, after pushing my limits, he kept me in the eye of his storm. All around me was danger. The unknown, my parents, marriage prospects, reputation, and my inheritance, yet he’d held me safe inside.
Exactly.
Safe.
Our encounter had that one quality I’d never had with any of the women I was set up with. Clear. Defining. There was no way I could go through with a marriage, even for convenience, because I’d never be safe with them.
But now that space, that eye he’d built for me, wavered. Who the fuck was this man taking Asher from me?
“That’s, hmm, Asher, wasn’t it? Where is the little Tasmanian Devil?” William asked, and then he walked off.
Right toward Asher.
William would be winning the best wingman in existence award. Even when he wasn’t aware. Now I had all the reasons in the world to get answers—and cockblock, if needed.
“Hello,” Asher said with a wide grin as we reached him and hisfriend. The man turned, and Jesus, up close, he was even more astonishing.
“Tate, this is William and Luke.” Asher nodded at us, then waved toward Tate. “Tate and I went to high school together.”
I tipped my chin in greeting and tried not to seethe. “Small world.”
“What brings you here tonight?” William asked, then bumped Asher with his elbow. “If you plan on causing a scene, give me a heads-up.”
Tate cocked his head, disturbing his perfect face with a questioning brow raise. Ugh. “You? Cause a scene?”
“Uh, heh.” Asher rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah. Remember, with Percy and the man who bumped into him?”
Tate chuckled. No, not chuckled—his shoulders shook slightly, and the room became brighter. Seriously, who the fuck?
“Right,” Tate said.
Asher lifted a hand toward me but aborted it halfway. “That man was his daddy.”
Tate snapped his dark green eyes to me. “Oh. Luke, you said.” It wasn’t a question, but I nodded anyway. Tate dropped his gaze and assessed the shit out of me on the trip back to mine. His eyes widened a fraction, and his mouth quirked to one side.
“No scenes tonight, hopefully,” Asher said, then glanced around. “I’m here with my cousin, wherever she’s gotten off to, and Tate’s here with his boyfriend.”
