Page 60 of Descent

“Of course,” I vow, never meaning anything more.

“All of you?” she questions Asher, before looking to Liam and Vincent.

They both have their heads turned enough to look at us, all three of them nodding in unison.

“Well, what can I say to that, I guess?” she shrugs helplessly.

“Maybe an ‘I’m sorry’ to Skyla when she wakes up?” Asher offers like an ass.

Stephanie scoffs but surprisingly smirks.

“She definitely wasn’t exaggerating about you being an asshole.”

“No, she definitely wasn’t,” Asher agrees, before taking a big bite of his chicken.

I shake my head at him, and Stephanie actually chuckles before we go back to eating in silence.

When Skyla woke up, Stephanie practically tackled her, hugging her tight and apologizing profusely. They spoke for a while on the couch, a conversation we all pretended not to listen to, though we were all most definitely eavesdropping.

Skyla asked Stephanie about her mom again, about what she was going on about, but unfortunately, she clammed up yet again. She said she would tell her anything she wanted to know,except that. I can tell by the look in Asher’s eyes, he’s already thinking about what kind of resources he can utilize to look into this. I know because I’m doing the same.

I already texted Wesley and gave him some very rough information to go off. At first, he questioned me, but as soon as I clarified it was for Skyla, he was more than willing. My oldest friend has it bad for her. Though I’m fairly certain she feels something for him, I can’t quite tell if it’s on the same level as what she feels for us. I teased her about it yesterday, but there are worse men out there, by a long shot. He’s one of the best men I know, and between my brother, this stalker, andthem, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to have extra eyes on Skyla.

“How long are you staying for?” Skyla asks her.

Stephanie grimaces. “Don’t hate me. I leave tomorrow.”

Skyla frowns. “Really? I thought when you’d come to visit, you’d stay a while.”

A sad smile touches her mouth as Stephanie pulls her in for another hug.

“I know, I’m sorry. I just can’t handle being…here. It’s already messing with me,” she says as she shakes her head.

“Take me with you?” Skyla teases sadly.

“You know you’d be in my luggage if I thought we could get away with it. I love you so much, you know that, right?”

“Of course I do.”

“Good, I reminded your boyfriends of that, and I think they understand if any of them hurt you, they’ll have me to deal with.”

All eyes come to Asher, and he looks at everyone before throwing his hands in the air.

“Why the fuck is everyone looking at me?”

Skyla and Stephanie laugh as Vincent answers.

“Well, you do have a nasty track record.”

“Fuck you. At least mine isn’t littered with dead bodies,” Asher snarks back.

“All you’re doing is reminding yourself that I’m extremely skilled in making underserving people disappear.”

“Are they always like this?” Stephanie whispers to Skyla.

She nods. “Always.”

Chapter Twenty Five

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