Page 13 of Wish You Were Mine

“Do you think there’s anything I can do to help them?” I asked, glancing over at the table. “They’re all miserable.”

6

ASHER

I placed the tray of beers on the center of the table and grabbed the darkest one for myself. The others each reached for theirs and we all drank. Some days just called for fucking beer.

“What was up with Summer?” Darcy asked as he licked his lips and hummed in appreciation.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “She wanted to make sure I knew how shit I looked.”

Although I didn’t really think she’d meant to say it. She’d looked horrified when she’d realized what had come out of her mouth. But it was a nice shitty cherry on top of my shitty day.

Yeah, she was definitely over her crush on me.

Across the table, Liam winced. “Sorry, man.”

“Not your fault.” No. It was mine for hurting her all those years ago, so now her default was to spout snark like a prickly little hedgehog, as if she needed to defend herself against me when, in reality, the opposite was true. Our situation had somehow reversed itself.

“It looked like more than that,” Darcy said. “You were talking for a while.”

I grunted. I didn’t care to repeat our entire conversation for his entertainment. Especially not when it felt oddly private.

Liam shook his head. “I don’t know what it is with her. She never used to be so hard on you.”

No, because she’d been infatuated with me. But it was best not to say that to my closest friend. She was his baby sister, after all.

I did sometimes wonder if I’d done her a disservice to dismiss her feelings back then as a teenage crush. The fact she kept me at a distance year after year spoke of a deeper wound.Or perhaps I only wanted to believe that because it might mean there was a chance she still cared for me.

Not that I could ever do anything about it. Days like today only emphasized how quickly things could change. Even if Summer still wanted me and her family were willing to overlook the fact I wasn’t good enough for her, my job was dangerous. It could all too easily be me bleeding out on the ground one day, leaving my partner to cry alone.

I wouldn’t do that to her.

“I heard she’s been dating again,” Darcy said, looking livelier than he had all evening. “Do you know if it’s true?”

“She’s been on a couple of dates,” Liam confirmed.

I fought the urge to cringe even thinking of that excruciating evening when we’d ended up beside each other, both on dates. How unlikely was that? But it was just my luck.

“Do you think she’d give me a chance?” Darcy asked.

Zane stopped drawing in the condensation on the side of his glass and looked at him. “Are you interested in her?”

Darcy rolled his eyes. “Who wouldn’t be? She’s gorgeous, smart, and she owns half a freaking business. She’s a total boss babe.” He glanced at Liam. “No disrespect intended.”

Liam grimaced. “Not words I ever thought I’d hear you say about my sister.”

He shrugged. “What? She is. So, do you think she’d go for me?”

“Keep me out of this.” Liam crossed his arms. “If you want to date her, then ask her out, but I don’t want to hear any of the drama if it goes wrong.”

“Got you.” Darcy straightened. “Should I do it now?”

“Go,” Zane urged. “You’ve got this.”

I could already see the hearts in Zane’s eyes. God, he was such a hopeless romantic.

But Darcy hesitated. “What’s her type, Liam?”

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