Page 36 of Third Time Lucky

My God, I bet he’s firm inallthe right places.

Snap out of it, Lucy. You’ve had enough of leering eyes on you like you’re a piece of meat tonight. No way are you imagining Asher that way; he’s your friend.

‘I’m an open book,’ he says with a warm smile. ‘Ask me anything.’

‘Is getting laid your people’s only objective?’

He lets out a chuckle. ‘Jumping right into the fire. OK, well, for some guys, yeah, they’re only looking to get laid. Others? Not so much.’

‘How can I tell the difference?’

He side-eyes me. ‘I’d bet money the second you saw Aaron and me in Vegas; you knew who the fuckboy was.’

‘Well, yeah,’ I say. ‘But I’ve known you before, so I assumed you were the good guy.’

‘I’m still a guy – I just don’t consistently have X-rated scenes playing through my mind like I suspect Aaron does,’ he replies.

‘I apparently knew a guy a like that once,’ I tease. ‘Almost married him…’

He half smiles, but part of it’s sad. ‘My advice, watch out for the narcissistic or overly flirtatious.’

I bite my lips together, focusing on the celery not the words that now remind me of Brandon. He was both of those things.

‘Tanner spent thirty minutes admiring my chest – then randomly let me know his apartment was just around the corner.’

One of Asher’s eyebrows arches sharply upward with amusement mingled with disbelief. ‘Eye contact with your nipples is always a red flag. Unless that’s the game you’re playing.’

‘What’s a red flag?’ I ask. ‘And I’m going to need you to explain it to me like I’m five, because I’ve failed this class before.’ A laugh escapes me despite myself because it’s better to joke about it than get frustrated over it all again.

Brandon flashes through my memory – a painful reminder wrapped up perfectly with a bright red bow that I never saw until Vegas.

‘I think I’m color blind in the flag department…’ I say with a shrug.

‘I’m sure you’re not, Brandon was just a douche.’

I nod slowly, absorbing his words. ‘I’m not disagreeing, I just don’t understand how I didn’t know.’

‘He was a great liar.’

I nod. ‘And if it wasn’t for you, he’d have gotten away with it and I’d be none the wiser.’

‘Nah,’ he says gently. ‘You’re a smart woman; you’d have figured it out.’

His words seep into me like gentle rain on parched soil. I meet his warm, understanding eyes – the same ones that seemed so apologetic in the past – and feel a comforting wave settle over me. He’s still a good guy, as I thought.

‘Doing what you did couldn’t have been easy. So, in case I haven’t said it yet, thank you. You saved me from a lifetime of deceit. And probably a handful of STDs.’

He grimaces, shaking his head. ‘I’d say the pleasure was mine but repeatedly giving you bad news isn’t my favorite part of life.’

‘It makes you a saint, though.’

‘Nah,’ he says. ‘I’m definitely no saint. Remember the issues you mentioned the other night?’

I nod.

‘I’ve got ’em too. And they’ve taught me all kinds of shit I never wanted to know.’

‘Really?’

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