Page 82 of The Influencer

“Vodka?” I ask the room.

“Sure,” Gage says.

Asher responds with, “I was just leaving.”

I grab his forearm and look at Gage. “Will you give us five minutes, he just broke up with his girlfriend, and I had one more thing I wanted to tell him.”

Gage shrugs. “No problem.” He gestures at the bottle of Ketel One on the counter. “Can I help myself?”

“Of course.” I drop Asher’s arm and gesture to the bedroom hallway. He gives me a suspicious look. “Five minutes,” I tell him.

He reluctantly comes with me. I deliberately lead him to the guest bedroom, across the hall from my own. He doesn’t need to see the way I have my bedroom set up tonight. I don’t think I could take it, personally, though maybe he’s made of stronger stuff.

“You should stay here,” I say, once the door is closed behind us.

He laughs. Loudly. “You’ve gotta be kidding.”

I sweep my arm out to draw his attention to the very chic guest room. It has a view of the courtyard and everything. It’s even got an en suite. “I don’t mean forever. I just mean until you find some place better than your office. And I definitely don’t think you should go back to your apartment anytime soon.”

He ignores all my logical reasons, and the issue of him moving in. “What are you about to do with that guy?”

“We just have a short thing planned. It won’t take more than an hour and a half. Two hours max.”

“What’s a ‘short thing’?”

I glance at my feet. “Sixty-nine,” I say softly.

He scoffs. “You’re dead serious right now.”

“We’ve had it scheduled for like—six weeks or something.”

“And you want me to stay.” He presses his palms toward the floor. “Here.”

I clasp my hands behind my back and generate enough courage to meet his amused gaze. “I felt like there was more to discuss, and I didn’t want to run you out… I mean you just broke up with someone…”

“I’m fine,” he says. “And I can afford a hotel room. Or hit up Sawyer or something.”

“I get that you have options, and this isn’t exactly ideal circumstances at the moment, but I’ll be done before you know it, and then you and I can hang out.”

“Hang out?” he asks, a smirk growing on his sexy mouth.

“That’s why you showed up unannounced, isn’t it?” I ask. “To hang out with me?”

“Uh… yeah.”

I bounce on my heels. “Great, then it’s settled.”

“Hold on a second, sex boy. What the fuck am I supposed to do while you’re doing—your thing?”

“Um…” I look around the room. There’s a flat screen. A shower—he could probably use one of those... “Do you have earbuds?”

“Yeah.”

“On you?” I ask.

He eyes me warily. “Uh-huh.”

“Great! Then I’d suggest maybe fixing a snack, having a shower, watching some TV—with your headphones hooked up… Just a thought.”

---