Page 45 of Off Limits

Dex: see you then. have a good rest of your day

Asa: see you, and you too

“Holy shit, are youblushing?”

“What? No!” Whirling around, I shoved my phone into my pocket.

“You are!” Isaac crowed excitedly. “I’ve known you for over three years, and I’veneverseen you blush.”

“I’m not blushing.”

“You might not be, but your face is.” He pointed at my cheek. “Hey, Zander. Have you ever seen Asa blush?”

I shoved his finger away, but there was no anger in the move. He wasn’t wrong. I could feel the heat on my cheeks and neck, and with my pale skin, that meant I was currently sporting my splotchy tomato look.

“Twice.” Zander gathered his long hair into a low ponytail and wrapped a hair tie around the thick strands.

Luka quickly looked away, his cheeks flushing with his own blush.

“When?” Isaac slung his arm over my shoulder and yanked me against his side.

I stumbled at the suddenness of the move but let him tuck me against his bigger body. Isaac was a tactile person by nature, and outside of getting hugs or cuddles from my little siblings, his casual touches were pretty much the only time I got any sort of human contact. Well, there was also the contact I got when I let my stepbrother fuck me on camera for money.

My cheeks flamed hotter. Why did I have to think about the cam show now? I’d spent the past four days purposely keeping that shit locked away in the back of my mind, but Dex’s text had opened the floodgates, and Isaac’s teasing was making it impossible to stem the flow of emotions coursing through me, or the memories flashing in my mind.

It wasn’t Isaac’s, or Dex’s, fault my brain was fixated on the cam show, but the timing sucked, and the last thing I needed was to be distracted while I was at work.

“When he came with us to Ralph’s for the first time,” Zander said, tucking a few locks of hair that had fallen free of his ponytail behind his ears. “We were ordering pitchers for the table, and that bartender, the one who always wears the backward ball cap, asked to see his ID.”

“I remember that.” Isaac gave me a little shake. “You were a week away from turning twenty-one, and he called you on it.”

“He didn’t just call him on it. He made Asa promise to come back on his birthday so he could serve him his first legal drink.” Zander grinned.

“He did?” Isaac shot me a curious look. “You didn’t tell me that.”

“Probably because he turned bright pink and stammered something about not being sure what his plans would be next week,” Zander said.

“When was the second time? Oh wait, was it when we went back on his actual birthday?” Isaac bumped his hip against mine. “I remember you did a birthday shot with him when you and Zander went to get the first round.” He looked at Zander. “Is that why you dragged him up to get the round? So he could get his flirt on with the hot bartender?”

A little smirk lifted the corner of Zander’s lips as he shrugged innocently.

“So did anything happen that I need to know about?” Isaac asked me, his tone telling me he was hoping for a juicy story.

“Nope. We just did the shot together, and he wished me a happy birthday.”

I was pretty sure the bartender, who still worked there, was straight. In all the times we’d gone to Ralph’s when he was on shift, I’d never seen him check out another guy or pay more attention to his male customers than he did to his female ones. He was just a friendly person who treated everyone the same, and his teasing and wanting to do my first legal drink with me had come from a friendly place, not a flirty one.

I’d never admit this to anyone, but the reason I’d gotten so flustered that night wasn’t because I thought he was hitting on me. It was because he was Dex’s carbon copy, right down to his curly hair and signature backward ball cap. They were alsothe same height and had similar body types. Even their features were eerily alike, and other than Dex having hazel eyes and the bartender’s being dark brown, they could be mistaken for brothers.

Seeing Dex’s doppelgänger had thrown me for a loop, and now that I was over it, I liked going to Ralphs’ because he treated us all like regulars, and I got to spend the night checking him out guilt free.

“So why are you blushing now?” Isaac asked, not letting it go.

“No reason,” I said, managing to keep my tone casual.

“If you say so.” Isaac pulled his arm from my shoulders and gave my ass a quick slap. “Get to work, slacker.”

“Aye, aye.” I shot him a little smirk as he laughed, then headed into the shop to finish my shift.

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