Page 36 of Siren's Game

"Why?" I tilt my head, cursing myself when I see her whole body tense up. "Sorry, if you don't want to tell me, that's fine."

"No, no, it's okay. You just caught me a bit off guard." She twirls the straw of her drink between her fingers. "I didn’t think it would be one of the first topics to come up in this little charade.” She gulps. “They didn't approve of my career choice and made that very clear. In fact, their disapproval was the only thing they could talk about whenever we met, so I cut them off a few years back."

Oh. My stomach drops. What a way to kill the conversation. Well done, Asher.

"That must suck for them now that you're basically on top of the world." I try to save it, but she only gives me a tight smile that doesn’t look real at all.

"They don't care," Kayla says, accepting the menu to choose her ramen. "Millie and I were already selling out stadiums by the point everything escalated. They didn't give a damn how successful I was, they wanted me to do something they deemed proper." She lowers the menu and lifts one of her hands to air quote as she speaks that last word. "Like a lawyer, or dentist, or accountant. I think they'd rather I marry some rich guy and become a stay-at-home wife than be a pop star." She shrugs, meanwhile, my heart starts hurting for her.

It's obvious that she's not happy about this conversation and her situation. Her shoulders have grown tenser, and she’s pulled them up to her ears since she started talking about her parents, and her chestnut eyes dart around uneasily as her fingers play with the pearls of her bracelet.

"It's alright, though," she says and shakes her head subtly, blinking like she just woke up from a bad daydream. "I've made my peace with it. I’ve decided that in the end, it's their loss. Not mine."

"Damn right, it is," I assure her quickly and nod to emphasize my point. God, I couldn't imagine cutting Mom and Dad off. Every day I’m thankful that they were quite the opposite.

“How about your parents? You seem to have a good relationship with them, were they supportive?”

“We don’t have to talk about it, if you don’t want to,” I assure her, but she shakes her head.

“It’s alright, Asher. I’ve had enough time to get over it.” She waves me off and I lean back in my seat. “I won’t cry myself to sleep because we’re talking about your parents. Meeting them is another topic.”

“Alright.” I nod and take a moment to think. “When I first mentioned that I wanted to get into acting, they were a bit apprehensive. All the theatre kids in my school were girls and they were worried I’d get bullied for joining them.”

“Well, were you?” she asks amusedly and raises her eyebrow at me.

“Of course not. And when half a year later I still begged them to let me act, they actually threw their all into it and supported me the best they could have.” I take another sip of my drink and watch her eyes follow the glass. Suddenly, I’m acutely aware that she’s staring at my lips as I continue talking, almost making me stumble over my words.

“My mom drove me to acting lessons and auditions, and my dad took the time to teach me all the behind-the-scenes stuff going on and warn me of what's to come if I were to enter the industry. And thank God for both. Mom always told me how bad I was at lying, and let me tell you, she showed me a video from when I was like six, and she’s right. I sucked so bad,” I tell her and both of us burst into a chuckle.

“Is that video still somewhere? I’ll have to get you to let me watch it.”

“Nope, I destroyed it,” I say way too quickly, and she grins widely, smelling my lie.

“Anyway, so I definitely needed the acting lessons, and I also needed the reality check from my dad. Of course, I was arrogant enough to think that I was the only talented person to walk this earth, but his talk prepared me for the months and even years it took to finally score a proper role that was not ensemble or an ad. Ultimately, I would have given up countless times if it weren’t for the two of them and their support.”

“That’s so nice,” Kayla says wistfully, her eyes glassy as they’re fixated on my lips, but I can see that she’s not actuallylookingat them at all. She’s somewhere else, entirely lost in her thoughts. Maybe she’s thinking about her family.

I let my eyes wander as well. What a journey it was to where all of us are today. Mom with her dream flower shop and my dad able to reduce his hours to not work himself into an early, stress-filled grave. The way it turned out is a win-win situation all around.

I can't imagine being where I am today without them and the fact that Kayla did it all on her own? Without her parents cheering on the side-lines? Unimaginable.

The waiter suddenly appears at our table and takes our food orders before Kayla speaks up again.

"Let's change topics," she diverts, and I let her all too easily. "What do we think about the actual couple in this friend group?"

"Oh, Luca is head over heels, absolutely no need to worry about him," I assure her quickly, making her smile.

I really like her real smile. Not the forced one she tends to contort her face into when she’s with me. Her real smile makes her eyes crinkle and light up and the cutest dimple appear on her cheek.

She takes another sip of her long drink, and I can already see her cheeks heating up with the alcohol. How cute.

Wait, what? Hold on a second, Asher. Cute?

"Millie is definitely crushing too. She’s all giggly and blushes whenever we talk about Luca." Kayla nods and takes another sip. For some reason I can't take my eyes off her lips and the way they close around her straw, the way her cheeks hollow as she sucks the liquid into it. "I don’t think love at first sight is a thing, but now I’m half convinced that those two just might have opened myself up to the possibility."

"Those two are certainly . . . something." I take another sip of my lemonade as well. The cold liquid running down my throat is only a temporary distraction from the woman opposite me though. She's leaning her chin into the heel of her hands as she props her elbows on the table, eyeing me curiously. "Luca is kind of exhausting when he's freshly in love."

"And when he's not so freshly in love?" she asks and lifts her eyebrow, her eyes suddenly hardening. "It's not always going to be all rainbows and sunshine."

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