Page 123 of The Influencer

Though I know it’s not what he meant, I drop his hand and take a small step back to give him some breathing room. “I’m not trying to handle anything. I’m trying to be with you. It’s not that deep, and I’m not upset.”

He grimaces and dips his head again to hide his expression from me.

Fuck. “I meant you don’t need to freak out—not that your feelings aren’t important. Or deep. I’m not trying to min?—”

“Please shut up, Asher.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll tell you what I need to hear right now, and you tell me the truth. No matter what. I can handle it. Understood?”

“Yeah.”

Jade meets my eyes. “I want you to tell me you’re not going anywhere.”

I relax immediately. That one’s a no-brainer, and my response comes out with full sincerity. “I’m not going anywhere.”

He nods once as he stares up at me, his eyes red-rimmed and watery. “Okay, then, I’ll come back to bed.”

At first, we lie on opposite sides of the king mattress while he goes through the motions of finding something to watch that I doubt he’ll be paying any attention to. Then, once he settles on The Real Housewives of New York, he picks up his phone and focuses on the smaller screen.

I ignore the screaming women on the television and watch him, making it obvious with my body fully facing him and my cheek propped on my hand. He’s shirtless and gorgeous as ever, but his expression is beyond dark and serious, nothing on either screen appearing to dispel the dark cloud hovering above him.

“Okay,” I finally say, frustrated. “It’s not gonna be like this.”

“How’s it going to be then?” he mumbles without looking up from his phone.

I make a big move, onto his side of the bed. I put my chin on his shoulder and my hand on his abs. He’s scrolling through comments on his OF page and doesn’t bother trying to hide the fact.

“What video are they talking about?”

“The one of me and Gage.”

“Can I see it?” I ask.

His thumb freezes on the screen, and he turns to me abruptly, his chin crashing into my forehead before he pulls his head back. “What?”

“I mean I can always pay and watch it myself…”

“Why would you want to see that—you know what? Don’t answer that. No. Do it on your own time.”

I run my hand up his sculpted torso, brushing my fingertips over his nipple. “Just want to see what all the fuss is about,” I tell him, trying like hell to lighten the mood. I’ve never been much of a flirt, so I feel awkward as hell, but at least he’s not sneering at me.

It’s not that I’m unaffected by this new revelation of his, but I also want my slutty boy back.

Jade slaps his phone face down at his side. “Just to be clear, you want to see the video that’s causing everyone to beg me to make another video with me fucking him?”

Why that gets me hard, I have no idea, but I don’t want to think about it. It’s really best to leave all my personal hang-ups about my own kinks at the door when I’m with Jade. “You fucking him?” I ask. “Do you do that?”

“I’ve done everything,” he says in that same flat tone I’m growing to hate with a passion.

“So, you’re vers?” I ask.

He snorts.

I get that I’m a newbie here, but it annoys me to be reminded. It’s like that day he told me in no uncertain terms that I didn’t belong in the gay club.

“Yes, Asher, I’m vers,” he says, dripping condescension.

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