Page 67 of Obsession on Repeat
Her eyes lit with amusement, and maybe a touch of somethingmore. "Old habits."
"I’m sure." I gave her a thin smile.
Asher stepped closer to me, his hand gently brushing the small of my back. "Elle was just leaving."
Her gaze flicked between us, her expression unreadable before slipping back into something more composed. "Actually, I was telling Ash how happy I am for you both."
The way she shortened his name made me grind my teeth. I tilted my head. "You always congratulate people by touching their arm for twenty minutes?"
Her smile twitched, faltered slightly before she forced it back into place.
"Touché." Elle turned to Asher. She kissed his cheek and walked off with the kind of sway you only learn from breaking hearts.
I didn’t say anything until we were out of sight, tucked in the far corner of backstage, behind crates and curtain lines. The second I knew we were alone, I spun to face him. "Who is she?"
"She’s an actress."
I snorted. "Of course she is. Who exactly was she to you?"
"We filmed a movie together once, and we dated for a while."
"How long is a while?"
He sighed, but he humored me by remaining there, answering my questions without avoidance. "About five years. We broke up right around the time Euphoriaopened. Her career started to take off, and we wanted different things."
I wanted to continue questioning him, but I was burning deep down with a feeling I suddenly couldn’t rationalize, something I hadn’t felt in a long time about another person. "She touched you like she had some kind of a claim to you."
"She doesn’t."
"I know that." I stepped closer to him, all the way into his space. "But watching her pretend that you were still hers? That lit something in me I didn’t realize I could feel."
He stared down at me, not moving.
"I’m not jealous because I think you want her. I’m jealous because I know she wants you, and I’m not in the mood to play polite when someone makes it that obvious."
His hand came up, fingertips brushing my waist. "You think I didn’t notice?"
"I realized watching you with her tonight that I’m territorial."
His mouth parted slightly. "Yeah?"
I stepped closer, almost flush against him now. "Yeah, so the next time someone starts circling, you need to tell them."
"Tell them what?"
"That you’re taken," I said, dragging my nails lightly along the hem of his shirt. "And if that’s too subtle, maybe mention I bite."
He laughed, low and rough, and kissed me hard. His hands gripped my waist, firm and unforgiving, and I gasped as he spun me, pressing me up against the wall behind the crates.
"You don’t get to say things like that," he growled against my mouth, lips brushing mine with maddening control.
"Like what?" I whispered, pulling at the hem of his shirt, fingers sliding beneath to trace along the warm skin of his back.
"That you bite," he muttered, voice tight, body tighter. "That I’m taken. You don’t get to say that and then behave as though we’re not going to do something about it."
"Oh, we’re doing something."
Asher lifted me in one swift movement, my legs wrapping around his waist without a thought. His mouth crashed to mine, and this time it wasn’t careful or measured. It was devouring. His hands slid under my thighs, and I gasped into the kiss as his hips ground into mine through the thin fabric between us. The friction hit just right, and I moaned before I could stop myself.
