Page 22 of Asher

She winked at me, “So, are you planning on getting a New Year kiss from anyone?”

I gasped, “Mama? Really?”

She chuckled, “I kissed your father. That was how I knew he was the one.”

I thought about what she said for a few minutes.

And when I looked in the mirror at her, I could tell that she knew something.

She was my mama, after all.

And she proved that when she said, “I know, Mija. I know. But Stella loves you. She will forgive you. I think the greatest harm anyone can do to themselves is to deny what the heart wants. No one wants to be miserable.”

“There’s a big age difference,” I said.

She shrugged, “The heart wants what it wants. As long as God is pleased with you, then the opinions of others don’t matter.”

Her words stayed with me while I got ready.

But they almost left my head when I walked down the steps and saw that my dad’s friend, Marco, was seated on the couch, and they were watching a game.

I wasn’t sure what it was about him, but he gave me the major creeps.

Perhaps it was the predatory way his eyes moved up and down my body.

The predatory look in that he wouldn’t mind taking what wasn’t offered to him freely.

Thankfully, my mama caught my eye and gestured for me to go ahead and leave.

Her words stayed with me until I climbed in my car, a little Honda Civic that was my eighteenth birthday present from my parents.

The moment I pulled into the club’s parking lot, I drove around groups of bikes until I pulled my car in beside Stella’s.

I thought it was awesome when Asher showed me that I had a designated parking spot.

Speaking of Asher.

My fingers trailed over the little pendant that was attached to a white gold chain around my neck.

He had gifted me the necklace on my birthday.

And that little pendant... well, if you didn’t know what it was, then you wouldn’t know what it was.

It was in the shape of fireworks.

Something I didn’t know the meaning behind.

And neither did Stella.

Asher wouldn’t tell me about the meaning behind it, no matter how many times I had begged to be told.

I sighed then and climbed out of my car, only to feel guilty as all got out when I caught sight of Stella, who was smiling at me while walking over to me.

I forced a smile, and when she tilted her head, I knew she saw it.

Dang it.

Just as she opened her mouth to say something, Gabby came over and smiled, “Thank goodness. We need help in the kitchen.”

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