Page 28 of Asher

I stare at him, surprised by the immensity of the anger and betrayal clawing at my chest.

“I’m sorry,” he says, looking me straight in the eye. “I haven’t been able to talk to Zac yet, but you know he’ll be sorry too. We never meant for anyone to hear us, and especially not for Garrett to find out. We like him, Asher, you know—”

I hold up a hand to stop him. “Wait. Just… Let me make sure I’ve got all this. You and Zac were belittling Garrett and made a stupid joke about glitter and shit, which guaranteed that Isaac was going to repeat what you saidbecause he’s five, and now Garrett knows about it?”

He takes a breath. “Yes. Though, to be fair, we were belittling you more than Garrett.”

I stand and pace three angry strides away, then spin and come back. “You don’t think wondering why I’m ‘obsessed’ with him isn’t belittling? As though there aren’t a million reasons he’s worth any obsession?”

Micah gets to his feet also. “Asher, we were wrong, and it was stupid. I’ve apologized to Garrett and will again, and I know Zac will too. And yeah, we think Garrett’s a great guy. He’s kind and good with the kids, he handles Grandmother, and he’s already doing good things for our community. But you can’t pretend he’s the love of your life, Ash. We both know he’s not your usual type, not for more than a night, anyway. And we both know that this thing between you isn’t love. You guys didn’t meet, start dating, and fall for each other. What you’ve got is a business agreement, and sure, you might be friends now too, but it’s not outside the realm of reasonable for me and Zac to wonder why you’re suddenly acting like the sun rises in his eyes and sets in his ass.”

I clench my teeth so hard, my jaw hurts. His words batter against my brain, but he’s wrong. My behavior around and toward Garrett is totally reasonable in our situation.

Isn’t it?

Damn him.

“I’m marrying Garrett. He and I are friends, and we sleep together. He’s a good man, kind and funny and sexy. I don’t appreciate you making snide comments about our relationship.” I take a breath and try to let go of my anger. I’m overreacting and I know it, but I hate the idea of Garrett being disrespected. “You and Zac need to apologize to Garrett—profusely—and never, ever again talk about him that way. For your sake, I hope Isaac forgets this quickly and never mentions it to anyone else, because I won’t tolerate Garrett being upset any further.”

He sighs, still a little mad himself, but since Garrett’s been embarrassed at school by this, and those kids might go home and tell their parents all about it, he can’t deny that he did the wrong thing. A hundred years ago, we would have beat each other into unconsciousness, but we’re mature now. “It won’t happen again,” he promises. “But you need to think about why it matters so much.”

As soon as I hear the outer door close, I go to my desk, sweep up my phone, and punch in Garrett’s contact.

“Hey,” he answers. “I talked to my mum, and she’s excited about helping. She had a bit of a gripe about all the requirements I gave her, but I’m pretty sure she’ll come up with the right answer.” He chuckles, and the sound goes a little way to relaxing my tense muscles.

“That’s good,” I reply automatically. “Uh… Micah was just here.”

There’s a sharp little silence. “You sound mad,” he says finally.

“I am. Not with you,” I rush to add, just in case he misunderstands, but he chuckles.

“No, I know that.”

“Aren’t you mad too?” He seems so calm. I expected him to be upset.

“Yes. Explaining to six little kids that I don’t shit glitter wasn’t something I thought I’d have to do today, and the fact I had to do it because Micah and Zac were being bitchy really annoys me. I’m also hurt. I thought your cousins liked me, but…” He trails off and exhales hard.

“They do like you,” I assure him. “And they’re both so sorry. They were picking on me, really, but you ended up as collateral damage.” I can’t believe I’m defending them, but I hate that Garrett is sad about this. “They’re both huge morons.”

He huffs a laugh. “That, I know. It’s fine, Asher. Really. I’m not upset. Well… maybe a little, but I think it’s more ego than anything else. It’s not fun to find out people don’t think you’re worth obsessing over.”

“You are. And it’s not that… they know you are,” I stumble. “They were just surprised because they know how things really are between us and didn’t expect me to be so… obsessed.” Am I obsessed with Garrett?

Yes.

Is that abnormal? We’re getting married. Shouldn’t I have a healthy amount of obsession for him?

“I know,” he assures me. “It’s really fine, Asher. Like I said, mostly ego. Though I wouldn’t be against it if you wanted to frown at them for a while.”

Nearly all my tension dissipates. I’m still mad at my idiot cousins for their lack of respect, but if Garrett’s okay, I’m okay. “Consider it done,” I promise, sinking into my desk chair. “Other than Isaac’s little revelation, how was the session with the kiddies this morning?” He’d been looking forward to it for days.

His laugh flows down the line and warms me, and I glance at the time on my computer screen. Would it really be so bad if I went home early? Sure, I’d need to blow off a meeting later, but I could spend the rest of the afternoon with Garrett.

“You should have seen them when we played tag,” he’s saying. “They kept trying to grab my tail, even though it’s a small, constantly moving target and the rest of me is so big. And then they worked out they could climb on me, and they lost all interest in tag and just wanted to have a nap on my back.”

I snort. “All of them?” I know hellhounds are big, and children are small, but the difference doesn’t add up when there are so many kids in the equation.

“When they realized they wouldn’t all fit, they started trying to push each other off. That’s when I had to shift back. I think it was a productive lesson, though. Sid said they were talking about what they learned when they went back to the classroom.”

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