Page 5 of Stuffed

The memory fades as I stare out my office window, the Chicago skyline a stark contrast to those high school parkinglot days. Ten years, and she still has the same effect on me. Still makes me want things I have no business wanting—things I don’t deserve. Not after a decade of carelessly breaking hearts that were just casualties of my own internal war.

The door opens behind me. "You're brooding again."

"I don't brood." I don't turn around. Asher knows me too well—he'll see right through my bullshit and right now, I’m really not in the mood.

"Right." He drops into one of my leather chairs. "Just like you weren't just thinking about Tessa Marlow."

Now I do turn, fixing him with a glare. "Don't start."

"Come on, Zane. I saw the way you looked at her tonight. The same way you've always looked at her."

"I don't look at her any way." I loosen my already loose tie, needing more air. "She's an annoyance and now a complication that you invited into my life."

"She's more than that and you know it." He leans forward, suddenly serious. "You've wanted her since high school."

"I didn’t want her in hi—” I start to protest but he rolls his eyes.

“Here we go.”

“Fine, but still—ancient history."

"Is it?" He raises an eyebrow. "Because the tension between you two out there…” He shakes his head as he lets out a whistle. “Could sense it from across the room.”

I pour us each a scotch, buying time. "What do you want, Ash?"

He accepts the glass, but his expression stays serious. "I want my brother to be happy for once in his fucking life. To stop punishing himself for things that happened a decade ago."

"I'm fine."

"You're alone." He takes a sip. "And don't give me that bullshit about preferring it that way. We both know that's not true."

I sink into my chair, suddenly exhausted. "What about you and her friend?” I give him a knowing look. “Ivy Calloway.”

His face softens at her name, and I know I've successfully diverted his attention. "That obvious, huh?"

"Only to someone who knows you." I study him over my glass. “You’re clearly still obsessed."

"Yeah." He runs a hand through his hair—a nervous tell we both inherited from our father. "There's just something about her, you know? She's brilliant and driven, but there's this softness too. This way she has of making everyone around her feel… seen."

"Sounds like true love.” My sarcastic tone is obvious, my distrust of her not so much.

"Maybe." He grins. "I'm helping with their bakery; did you know that? The business plan is solid. They've really thought it through."

I think of Tessa's fierce defense of their venture earlier. "Yeah, I got that impression. Although…" I take a sip of my drink. “It would have been nice if you clued me in that you made the decision. I hadn’t yet looked at the plans.”

"You should see Ivy when she talks about it. Her whole face lights up." He shakes his head, like he just said some superhuman thing. "I've never met anyone like her."

"Just be careful," I warn. "Mixing business and pleasure?—"

"Is exactly what you should be doing with Tessa."

I set my glass down harder than necessary. "We're not talking about me."

"Aren't we?" He leans back, studying me. "You pushed her away back then because she was too young. What's your excuse now?"

"She deserves better than me." The words slip out before I can stop them.

"That's not your decision to make." He stands, draining his glass. "She's not that teenage girl anymore, Zane. And you're not the same angry kid you were back then."

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