Asher goes back to being tense, but I try to help soothe him with a hand on his thigh.
“Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Colver,” Grayson greets easily, but I sense the small shake in his voice.
My dad grabs his shoulder, shaking him gently. “We’ve known you since before you were born, no Mr. and Mrs. bullshit from you.”
“Dad.” I give him a look that I hope he sees astake it easy.
“Asher, we didn’t expect to see you here.” My mom smiles, and Asher tenses even more under my hand.
“I didn’t expect to be here either,” he grunts.
“I didn’t realize you and Rae were such good…friends?” my mom goads.
“Mom.” I give her the same look I just gave my dad.
“Please tell me they serve good food at these things,” Grayson pulls the attention to himself, and my shoulders drop in relief, looking at him with a smile. He may not fully realize how much he just helped, but he did.
Asher may not admit it, but I can see the way he relaxes as well. They may act like they don’t get along, but maybe there’s a small chance they could be friends. And even though I’m the common ground between them, it could be enough. At least I hope so.
CHAPTER 43
Asher
The suit feels too tight, this room is too hot. I feel like all the eyes in here are on me, wondering who I am, why I’m here. But Rae’s hand on my leg keeps me grounded. I was expecting a full-on interrogation from Rae’s parents as soon as they approached. Even though they’ve always seemed like nice people, I anticipated them to accuse me of being wrong for their daughter. To try and convince me to leave her alone, let her live her life with Grayson.
He stepped in and offered a distraction. I won’t thank him, but maybe he’s not so bad.
The rest of the time we’re here I try to stay focused on when this will be over. It isn’t until I hear Rae’s name when she’s announced as a nominee that I pay attention. She’s buzzing with nervous energy as the anticipation builds before the announcers say who won.
“And the winner is…”
The room is quiet, everyone waiting as they open the envelope, smiling then announcing into the microphone. “Rae Sparks.”
I look over at my girl, her jaw dropped, and I want to pull her in and kiss the shit out of her, but I can’t. Not here.
She stands up, walking to the stage. I watch her shift from the woman I see when she’s home, nervous and second guessing of herself, to the woman that gets on stage. Confident and who knows how amazing she is.
“Thank you so much. I don’t even know what all to say. Thank you to my parents who are here with me tonight and who you may or may not be familiar with.” The room chuckles because of course everyone knows who her parents are. “Thank you to my entire family for being there for me and supporting me through everything. Thank you to Noah Fuller for embracing my new sound which we’re excited to share with everyone.” This time the room fills with chatter, and I don’t know if she was supposed to share that, but then time freezes when she says, “Thank you, Grayson and Asher, for showing me that I’m capable of more than I even knew.”
I can feel her parent’s eyes on me. I can feel the questions swirling around the room, but her speech is ending, and all I want is to take her out of here and have her alone. Just her, Grayson, and me.
She ends her speech, music plays. She didn’t outright admit she’s with both of us, but I know what she said. Her parents seem to as well because they still haven’t looked away.
Rae joins us again with a beaming smile. Her eyes find mine. “Don’t be mad.”
“Why would I be mad?” I question because I’m not. The only thing I’m feeling right now is concern for what people are going to say about her. The last time there were articles about her she had an identity crisis about who she is. This could end up being worse.
But her smile doesn’t even falter and she seems oddly…calm.
“Great speech, Sunshine,” Grayson compliments, pulling her into him and kissing the side of her forehead easily. I wish it was that easy for me to do that in a place like this.
“Thanks,” she beams at him, and then to her parents who are still staring.
“You don’t have to explain anything to us,” her mom starts, smiling at her, then Grayson and finally me. “As long as you’re happy.”
I can’t help but look at her dad, who seems significantly more tense than his wife. I lean over to Spencer. “He’s not going to kill me, is he?”
She laughs. “Not likely.”
