Page 166 of The Influencer

“No, you will absolutely not do that.”

“Well, at least let me text him. Invite him to the party?—”

“We’re not coming to the party, Adam. I’m going back to his place, fix what you and I fucking broke, and enjoy the time I have left with him. That’s what’s up.”

“Asher…” Adam pulls away from me. “Not to play the groomzilla card, but this is my bachelor party, and you’re my best man. You have to come.”

“Nope. I love you. I’m happy for you, but Gideon and the guys have got this. Thank you for last night, fuck you for today, and maybe we can all have dinner in the next week so you can apologize to my boyfriend for what you did, but right now, I’m going home.”

“But dad’s gonna be there.”

“FaceTime me later, then. I’ll pick up if I’m not busy.”

“This sucks,” Adam says, his temper flaring as he stands and tugs at his pants. “It’s one goddamn night.”

“Well, it’s an important one for me, too, but I don’t expect you to understand that, although I hope you try.” I get up and grab my bag. When I turn to leave, I spot Sawyer in the doorway.

“Let him go, Adam. I would have done the same thing for you,” he says.

Adam glances at his fiancé, and they share a long look. “You did a hell of a lot more than skip a party for me,” Adam says.

“I skipped plenty of parties for you, too.” Sawyer smiles. To me he says, “My yacht’s nicer than Gideon’s. Maybe, before the wedding, the four of us can take it out for dinner one night.”

Adam’s eyes turn into literal hearts. “Can we do that?” he asks me.

“I’ll let you know.” I’m not making any promises to anyone except Jade for the next two weeks at least, and the sooner I get started on those, the better.

47

jade

The door opening scares the shit out of me. I’m so distraught, I let out a scream, but it gets stuck in my throat.

“It’s me,” Asher calls from the hallway.

I leap off the couch, peel the patches off my face, and run a hand through my hair. Fuck, I wasn’t expecting him at all. Not tonight anyway. I mean, I knew he’d come back, but he’s supposed to be the best man at a bachelor party on a yacht right now, not coming down my hallway.

“Oh, hey,” he says, dropping his bag when he sees me standing at attention in my sweats and a tank top. And socks, because my feet were cold, and I was miserable.

“Did you, um… decide to get ready here instead?” I ask.

“I’m not going. Adam is—he’s sorry. He misunderstood some shit last night and got overprotective—wrong place wrong time again. And I’m sorry, too.”

Asher looks—just—he looks fucking beautiful. All six-feet-five inches of him in pajama clothes and a messy bun and tired eyes and a coffee stain on his shirt. He’s so perfect.

“But you um… he’s your brother. You have to go. I totally understand.”

“Yeah, I know you do. But that’s why I came back here.”

“Why?” I ask, my voice way too high and shaky all at once.

Asher closes the distance between us, and I worry I might smell as bad as I look, but I did shower earlier, so hopefully I don’t. He doesn’t seem to notice or care about the state I’m in, though, because he takes my face in his hands, tilts it up to look into my eyes and says, “I missed you. And I have something I need to say.”

Fuck, I’m trying so hard not to cry, but I’m really relieved he’s here. I’m already welling up again.

“I absolutely am in love with you. No fucking question. That’s the first thing. I’ll give you a minute.”

I gasp. It was meant to be a run-of-the-mill inhalation, but gasping occurred. “I love you, too,” I whisper.

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