Page 46 of Asher

Me –Keep the change, Chloe.

Chloe –Asher, that’s not right. I really don’t mind.

Me –Chloe, I know you're independent. Admire it. But. Keep. The. Fucking. Cash.

Chloe –Okay. Fine. Thank you. There was a new pair of shorts that caught my eye.

Me –Bring me the change.

That was when I heard her tinkling laughter, and when I looked up, it was to see her pocketing her phone as she carried a dish outside.

The party went off without a hitch.

Beer. Whiskey. Moonshine. You name it, we had it. It flowed into everyone’s cups.

The food was fucking perfect.

And I may or may not have eaten a little bit of the food.

Only to leave plenty of fucking room for the food that Chloe made.

And that was why I was sitting here, beside Stella, watching as Chloe gathered her trash and stood, then walked over to the trash can.

It hadn’t gone unnoticed that she barely talked to Stella or me the entire time we ate.

And it also hadn’t gone unnoticed that the smiles she was usually so frequent to give were hard to pull out.

Once Chloe was far enough away, I looked at Stella, “Chloe, alright?”

She nodded, “Yeah, why?”

“Don’t know. Something ain't right.” I said as I watched Chloe move around the courtyard, moving the empty dishes and making room for more.

Stella looked away from me, then at Chloe, and said, “She said she had a good day at work, so I don’t know. But she has seemed kind of off. I’ll go talk to her.”

I shook my head, “Nah. I got it. You need to finish those videos on that technique you’ve been trying to nail.”

She grinned, “Are you going to let me practice on the boys?”

I stood up and looked down at her, “You want to be visiting me through a plate glass window while I wear nothing but orange because one of them accidentally touched you?”

She giggled, then shook her head, “Nope.”

I tapped her nose, “Didn’t fucking think so.”

Being the kind of man I was... I didn’t delay in walking over to where Chloe was moving the dishes around to make room for more.

Because even though everyone had finished eating, give it half an hour and the food would be attacked once again.

The moment I reached her, my hand snaked out and curled around her bicep.

Electric shocks went up my arm.

Her head whipped around, and for a moment, her gaze softened... then... in the blink of an eye, it was gone, and her expression became guarded.

What the fuck?

That caused me to lift my brow and ask, “Chloe, everything okay?”

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