“Lukas, can I talk to you outside?” Asher didn’t wait for an answer and shot out of the room like his ass was on fire. A weird look of determination had settled on his face, and I knew in my bones that nothing good was about to happen.
Lukas followed Ash out of the room, and I sat down next to Blue.
“Well, this went sideways really fucking fast,” I said to him. Blue gave me a sad kind of smile. “I hope he’s okay and that it’s just nerves, but I don’t think it’s that easy.”
“Unfortunately, I think you’re right.”
“I hope whatever’s going on, that if he still wants to film, that he’ll decide to film with us.”
“Us?” Blue arched an eyebrow at me. He had eyes the color of the Mediterranean, crisp and blue, sharp. There wasn’t much of anything that got by Blue.
“I have to admit that I’ve been dying to work with you again.”
“It has been a long time.”
Before Blue and I could get any further in our conversation, a dejected-looking Lukas entered the room.
“Uh-oh.”
“He, uh… Ash left.” Lukas dropped down onto the ottoman like he’d been deflated.
“Can you two check on him? He’s had a bit of a rough moment, and I think he could use a friend.”
Blue was on his feet in a second. “I’ll catch him.”
With Blue looking after Ash, I turned my attention to Lukas. “He finally made his move, didn’t he?”
“What do you mean, finally?” Lukas’s cluelessness was astonishing.
“He’s worshipped you for years, Lukas.”
He let out a sigh that came from the depths of his soul, his very exhausted, exasperated soul. “I know, but I didn’t want to know, you know? I thought if I ignored it, if I made it clear that it wasn’t going to happen, that he’d forget about it.”
“You’re a good guy, Lukas. Delusional, but good.” I clapped Lukas on the back. “Blue and I will look out for him. Don’t worry.”
“Text me an update, okay?”
“Will do. In the meantime, Blue was right. We need copies of that footage.” I winked at Lukas, then slipped out of the room and went in search of Ash and Blue.
TWO
BLUE
Wereit not for Lara coming in clutch, Asher would’ve made it out of the house. But she stopped him in front of the back door, her big furry body blocking the way.
“I swear she’s more couch potato than she is dog,” I said, sliding up next to Asher. Reaching past him, I ran my fingers through Lara’s fur. “Are you okay?”
Asher sniffled. “Yeah. Great.”
“Sorry, it was a dumb question.” I winced and tried again. “For what it’s worth, I really hope you don’t change your mind about the scene. I really liked kissing you.” I loved kissing, and cuddling, and sex, and being close to people. What I didn’t like was the way I fell so easily for people I got physically close too. It was like there was part of my brain that was mis-wired into thinking that prolonged physical and sexual contact meant I was falling in love with them. I’d had my heart broken more times than I cared to admit, but I wanted to confess them all to Asher so he’d believe that I knew how he felt.
Asher turned toward me, his brow wrinkled, a mask of pain and disbelief on his face. “You did?”
“Of course I did.” I stepped a little closer. “You’re a great kisser, Ash. You’re sweet, and hot, and I really want to film with you.”
“You do?”
God, this kid was going to be the death of me. He was all bruised heart and hopelessness, but that only made me want him more.
