Page 29 of The Last Time

“What’s up with you two? I haven’t been around long, but enough to tell there’s some animosity there.”

She lets out a huff. “You could say that again. Josh is just a man whore. He has yet to grow up. It’s annoying.”

I look at her with curiosity. I don’t know why him being a man whore would get her so worked up—unless there was something there between the two of them. “Has anything ever happened between you two?” I ask.

“Nothing of importance,” she says vaguely, waving her hand.

Hmm. Interesting. She clearly has feelings for him, and she didn’t say that nothing happened between them. But I can tell she is not going to admit it right now, so I let it go.

More importantly, there’s a chance Asher might be there tonight. I’m not sure if I’m excited or not. If it weren’t for that damn squirrel this afternoon, I think he may have kissed me.

I shouldn’t want it to happen, but dammit, I do. The way he was able to make my body feel on fire from just his eyes on me was something I’d never experienced.

I can’t even imagine what it would be like to have his mouth and hands on me.

Just the thought of it makes my body come to life.

Okay, that does it…I’m going for sexy tonight. I’m not even going to pretend it has nothing to do with Asher. It has everything to do with him.

I reach into my bag and pull out my white, shimmery crop top, pairing it with some jean shorts, and then I slip on black heels.

“Damn, girl. You look hot,” Layla says as she gets off the bed. “You looking to get some ass tonight?”

I giggle. “Just want to feel good tonight. It’s my first night on the town since I’ve been back.”

“Well, mission accomplished. You look smokin’.” She starts to look through her closet as I pull out some gold jewelry to go with my outfit.

“What are you going to wear?” I ask.

“Well. I think you set the tone for the night. I guess I’m going sexy.”

She pulls out a nearly backless red top to go with a pair of sexy black shorts.

“Nice,” I tell her as she steps into her shorts. “You look sexy as hell.”

“Girl. It doesn’t feel like a decade has passed since we’ve hung out. I feel seventeen again, and we’re about to try and sneak into some bar together.”

I laugh. “I know. Only this time, we won’t be taking shots and puking all night.”

“Speak for yourself,” she says with a wink.

Oh, geez. Tonight may get crazy.

When we are done, we hop in the car that we scheduled to pick us up at eight. I start to wonder if Asher really might be there tonight. Then I think about the fact that he’s a single dad and just spent the day with me.

There’s no way he’s gonna be there. I hate how disappointed I feel. This is a man who is struggling to raise his daughter, still dealing with the loss of his wife, and I’m not even staying here for good. He should not be occupying so much of my brain space.

It only takes fifteen minutes to get to the bar. We step out just when Avery is walking in.

“Oh my gosh!” she says enthusiastically as she walks up to me. “I can’t believe you’re back!”

I run into her arms. “It’s so nice to see you again,” I tell her as we squeeze each other.

“Tonight is gonna be so much fun. The three of us together again,” Avery says. “Come on, let’s go in.”

I look around at the place and it’s really cute. There is an outside patio that wraps around the entire building with string lights above.

I follow Avery through the building, past the main bar, and back outside, where she finds a section of outdoor furniture that is set in a circle.

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