Page 26 of Asher

“Fuck.”

My eyes almost popped out of my head. “You can’t say that.”

She sat her pink crayon back in the box and huffed. “I didn’t. You did.”

“Semantics.”

Her head tilted to the side, long brown curls framing her face. “What’s that mean?”

“It means you still said it. We don’t say bad words.”

“But I didn’t say the bad word. You did.”

I rubbed my forehead. There was no winning. A knock sounded and Nix jumped to her feet, booking it to the door.

“Stop,” I said just as she slid into it.

“But I wanna answer it,” she whined, pouting and crossing her arms.

I put my hands on my hips. “What’s the rule?”

“Don’t answer the door without an adult.” I didn’t miss the mocking tone but ignored it.

“Right.”

“But you were on the couch,” she huffed.

“Doesn’t matter. I wasn’t right here.” I ruffled her hair. Phoenix swatted at me, and I lifted her up, placing her on my hip. “You know, pretty soon, I’m not going to be able to lift you anymore.”

After pulling the door open, Mason, Cam, and Grayson barged their way into my house. “Hey, Nix.” Mason held his fist out for her to bump.

“What are you fuckers doing here?” I asked, shutting the door behind them.

“Grumpy?” Cam popped a brow.

Nix snickered. “You have no idea.” Her eyes widened as I playfully glared at her.

“I’m not grumpy.”

“No, but you smell pretty bad,” Cam said, curling his nose in disgust.

I rolled my eyes, placing Nix back on her feet. “Shut up.”

“Seriously, dude. When was the last time you showered? Or cleaned?” Mason questioned as he picked up a sock with two fingers like it was hazardous material.

“For your information, I showered yesterday. As for the cleaning?” I shrugged on shoulder. “You try to clean when you have a sick kid. It’s fucking impossible.”

“I haven’t been sick since Wednesday.” Nix pointed out helpfully.

I snatched the sock from Mason’s hold. “I’ve been busy.”

“Busy throwing yourself a pity party,” Grayson mumbled from his seat on the couch, feet propped up on my coffee table.

I shot him a look. Gray might not be my best friend, but he was a good guy. At least he seemed to be. Just because I didn’t like how close he was to Hales didn’t mean I had to hate the guy. “What are you guys doing here?” I asked again.

Mason gave me a look. “Seriously? It’s Saturday night.”

“And your point.”

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