Page 47 of The Fate Of Us

“No, he’s great.”If great suddenly means that he whispers words into my ear like a sultry riddler, then yeah, he was great.“But someone showed up today, a new cast member. And I think he’s gonna shake things up a bit.”

Goldie’s gasp rattles through the speaker. “Oh God, is he an asshole?”

I chuckle at the curse word slipping so casually out of my little sister. “No, it’s notthat. I’ve just worked with him before, and I… I think he kinda had a thing for me.”

After a moment or two of silence, she finally asks, “It’s not Jacob, is it?”

I let out a gasp this time, spinning on my heels to face the wall. “Oh my God, no! He’slike my brother. It’s someone I worked with a long time ago, when I was your age.”

Gasping seemed to be her chosen reaction today, another one echoing through thephone, one that had my feet halting like she’d cracked a case she’d been trying to solve for years. “No… it can’t behim.”

“Him?”

The sound of her feet slapping against the tiles of her bedroom let me know she waspacing. “I can’t remember his name, but I remember you and Nate arguing about him. Oh God, what the frick was his name?”

“Goldie, you can say fuck; you just said asshole a minute ago—”

“Stop distracting me and let me think of this guys—Oh wait!”

“What?”

“Is it Asher Hartford? The blonde one with the scary eyes?”

I let out a sigh that only confirmed she was right.

“Oh God, you haven’t seen him in like… forever.”

“I know, I know.” My feet shuffled back towards the window, the sunlight maskingmy face. “But, to be honest, he seems to have grown up a lot. I mean, the last time I saw him was when he was seventeen, so I’d hope that’s the case. He’s sweet, in a way, and kind of charming, but not in a cocky way.”

“Oh, so you’re screwed, then?”

I blinked. “How am I screwed?”

I could feel her eye roll through the phone. “I was ten, Addy, not blind. Sure, you andNate called him names, but I saw the way you looked at him when he dropped you guys off.”

She took a breath. “There’s a fine line between love and hate, Addy, and I’m notsaying you loved Asher, but you’ve got to admit you had a little thing for him, too.”

She was right; the line between love and hate was scarily thin. I’ve learned that betterthan anyone over the past few weeks. But annoyingly, she was also right about Asher; even I fell victim to his god-like stance and weirdly powerful gaze. I was only a girl.

“Right, fine. I had, like, a minuscule crush on him. But not… now.” I stumbled on mywords, recalling how utterly helpless I felt existing under Asher’s stare this morning.

“Liar.” she giggled.

“I’m not!”

“Are.”

“Am not.”

“ARE!”

“Marigold Moore I swear to God—”

“Addy, it’s okay to like him! When was the last time you had a boyfriend, or went outwith someone? How can a woman of your social status not have men throwing themselves at you? Pleading to go on a date with you?”

I paused for a moment, my eyes blurring against the skyline in front of me, my mindflicking through a mental calendar, and almost fainting when I couldn’t pinpoint a single date I’d been on in… years.

Years?I hadn’t been on a date inyears?

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