Page 45 of The Influencer

“Oh, thank you.”

“There she is. Hey, Liv,” Asher calls out as we approach the petite, busty, dark-haired beauty with large brown doe eyes which she uses to assess him and then me sharply. I feel her examination like the ick I feel whenever I happen to walk into a church.

Judgy, judgy.

“Olivia, this is one of Gideon’s dancers, Jade. Jade, this is my girlfriend, Olivia.”

I reach out my hand to shake, which she twitches her mouth at before taking politely, although her handshake is a bit dead fish.

“How do you two know each other?” she asks Asher pointedly.

I open my mouth to answer, but Asher beats me to it. “I pierced his nose.”

“Ooohh.”

I swear, the relief on that woman’s face. God forbid Asher and I were actually friends.

She gets all cutesy after that. So, you’re a dancer, huh? Any moves you could teach me?

I get nauseated when she circles her arms around one of Asher’s and asks me if I have anyone special in my life.

I tilt my neck just so. “No, I’m not really big on commitments.”

Asher coughs like he’s choked on his water, and I know he saw it—the mark he left on me. My job here is done, and I politely excuse myself to go and annoy Jax.

13

asher

Olivia and I watch Jade beat his hasty retreat. “You have interesting friends,” she says, her tone leading.

“We’re not friends.” His jeans are so ridiculous. What was he thinking with those? I mean—his ass looks great in them, but his ass is unstoppable, so it would look great in a muumuu, but acid wash?

Then again, what do I know about fashion?

“I’m just saying you seemed friendly.”

“When do I not seem friendly?” I ask.

She gives me a dismissive shrug and scans the other partygoers while she sips her glass of Chardonnay. I catch Adam looking at me from the back porch, and he shakes his head slowly. He’s holding hands with Sawyer, and they’re in a conversation with his former teammates Vince, Race, and their other partner—a former porn star named Elio Basso.

The first time I’d met the three of them had been at a dinner party Sawyer threw just before the Flames’ opening day. The throuple’s relationship fascinated me from the get-go. I’d never even heard of such a thing, and just the visuals—they’re all fit, good-looking men—were enough to keep my thoughts occupied for a few days after the party. And then I’d think, wouldn’t it be great if Olivia were into that kind of thing? She’d get to keep me around, and I’d get to have what I need, too, but even I realized how fucking selfish that sounded. That kind of thinking is what got the Mormons into trouble in the first place.

Regardless, tonight, my primary overriding emotion is envy. I envy my brother and Sawyer. Jax and Gideon. The happy throuple. While no one’s relationship is perfect, it’s clear the love and commitment are all there in spades with them. And I envy the friendship the group of them together have built over the last year or so, their fabulous gay vacations, and their inside jokes.

Adam’s invited me on a few trips, but there’s no way Olivia would go for it, so I never say yes. I’ve removed myself from his life as much as he’s abandoned me to mine. I know all this, that we both share the blame for our loss of closeness, but why do I feel like the only one suffering?

“How long do we need to stay?” Olivia asks, sounding overly bored.

“Did you have someplace better to be?”

“I mean, I could be watching reality TV. It’d be more fun than this.”

Leave it to Olivia to be bored at an international superstar’s party.

“You’re so shy at these things, Asher.”

I clench my jaw. “Go talk to people then. Don’t let me hold you back.”

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