Page 24 of Exactly What I Needed
We rounded a corner, and my friends disappeared from view. The moment that we were out of sight, Asher pulled his arm from my grip, slammed a hand around my wrist, and it was his turn to drag me forward.
Kicking open a bedroom door, he tossed me inside and shut it behind us.
“What the hell, Asher?” I whipped around, glaring at him. He stalked directly toward me.
“I should be asking you the same damn thing! You realize that if Sydney wasn’t drunk, how suspicious it would look with you dragging me out of the room like we know each other?” He pulled his face tight, and I rolled my eyes.
“She is drunk. And so black-out drunk, I will end up pulling over at least twice on the drive home so she can barf out the side. In the morning, she will wake up and not remember a thing,” I hissed in reply, and he shook his head. “Trust me, I’ve picked her up from enough parties to know how it’ll go. With Katie and Tera too.”
He glared at me but remained silent.
“Which brings me to my initial point. You can’t come.”
“What? Why not? Sydney invited us.”
“Like I said, she won’t remember asking you guys in the morning, so you can’t have your manager call her. You can’t come.”
“I’ll pretend like we only met at the concert and this party. Our little secret will remain a secret.”
“I don’t care about that right now.” I clenched my fists and turned away from him, facing the lacy bedspread. Large windows rose on either side, framed in intricate curtains of expensive colors.
“I don’t get it. Aren’t you asking me to not come because Sydney will be there? She’s your best friend that you keep rejecting me for, isn’t she?” he asked. I closed my eyes.
“Yes, she is, but that’s…” I took a deep breath in. That wasn’t my more pressing concern. It was the fact that Danny was going to be there with my parents. But how do I explain that to someone who doesn’t know a thing about me? Who really doesn’t care about who I am as a person.
“It’s your birthday. I’m coming,” he demanded.
I opened my eyes and slowly turned around. I blinked, a little shocked. Asher shoved his hands into his pockets, tipping his head and raising his brows. “Unless you can give me one actual reason why I shouldn’t come, I’m coming. We’re coming. And we will perform, and I’ll make this ex of yours pissed that he even thought about showing up to your birthday.”
“He’s the reason, Asher. Please,” I begged, and his brows twitched.
“Is he going to hurt you?”
“What? No.”
“Are you still into him?”
“Absolutely not. That has nothing to do with it.” I shook my head, annoyed, and walked around him, facing the ornate wooden dresser. I stared at myself in the mirror, which had flowers carved into its frame.
He had no idea how ruined my parents could end up if I pissed Danny off, even Sydney didn’t. I’d only agreed to let her do this because I thought it wouldn’t escalate to something like this. He may not have ever raised a hand to me, but he wasn’t above manipulation. Obviously. That was apparent to everyone except my parents, who continually fell for his good-guy act. What’s worse, if I made my parents mad at me, that would give more ammo to Danny. It would fuel his fire and give him another shell to shoot at me in an effort to get me back.
“Then why would you have an issue with me coming to piss him off?”
I whipped around and glared at him. “Because he’s not the only one you’d be pissing off! My parents can’t stand change or losing control or metal music or things like tattoos or just anything like that!”
His brows pinched together as he walked my way. “But you have one?”
I jammed a finger into his chest. “Which they do not know about, and you better not say a thing to them.”
A mischievous glint sparkled in his eyes. “So, I get to come? Perfect.”
“Excuse me? That’s not what I said!”
His hands suddenly wrapped around my waist, and he hoisted me up, plopping me down on the dresser.
“What are you doing? Don’t change the subject,” I gasped, trying to shove him out from between my legs. But his fingers slowly brushed beneath my sweatshirt, running across my skin before he slipped them into the waistband of my cloth shorts.
A grin lifted across his lips, and he tugged them down my legs. “I’m hungry and haven’t eaten in a while.” He ripped them out from under my butt and dropped them to the ground.
