Page 72 of Bleeding Hearts

As much as part of me wanted to stay in bed with Asher all day, I was in Portland for a good opportunity that I wasn’t going to waste.

I spent all day Saturday in different lectures and classes and learned more in that single day than I felt like I have in years of cooking.

I met a few other aspiring chefs around my age and ended up spending the day of classes with them. It was nice to talk to people that were interested in the same thing as me.

I talk to Lo, Gabby, and Theo about my cooking, sure, but it’s different when talking to someone who has the same passion for it as you.

It’s like how the three of them feel about working in the emergency room, about being doctors. They get to share all the ups and downs of their passion together. So, to have people who understand my passion the way I do, it was fun for the day.

The last class finished around seven and Asher was waiting for me right outside the ballroom door. It was pretty much a race to the hotel room after that, where we ordered room service again and spent the night fucking on every available surface.

Sunday pretty much followed the same schedule, except instead of going straight to the hotel room, Asher insisted on taking me out for dinner. Our first official date, he called it. It was the first time I’ve ever seen him genuinely nervous. It was fucking adorable.

I’ll also be making fun of him for it for the foreseeable future.

He drove me to a small Italian restaurant about twenty minutes away from the hotel. It was a casual, mom-and-pop kind of restaurant.

Asher had said it was one of his favorite places as a kid, which became evident when the owner, who happened to be behind the counter, came running out to greet him as soon as we walked in.

I could tell the place was special to him, and to know that he wanted to share that with me made me fall for him a little more. The entire night was perfect.

We ate amazing food while Aldo, the owner, told me countless stories about Asher as a child that I’ll be sure to use against him one day, and it was by far the best date I’ve ever been on.

Then we went back to the hotel, and I spent the night showing him exactly how much the whole thing meant to me.

And now we’re here, on a Monday morning, half-asleep, wrapped up in each other, and I can’t bring myself to let him go. Even though I really have to fucking pee.

The convention is over, and we’re supposed to be heading home this morning, but that’s still to be determined.

You see, after our date last night, it seems Aldo let Asher’s parents know that he saw him, ergo, that he was in town. So Asher had over five missed calls from his mom before we even got back to the hotel.

He didn’t call her back but rather texted her that he would call her this morning. She texted back that he better get his butt over to their dinner party, which happened to have been moved to tonight instead of over the weekend because of a scheduling conflict.

Asher hasn’t answered her yet, and we haven’t talked about it, but personally, I wouldn’t be against it.

From what Asher’s told me about his parents, the two of them are both a piece of work, but they’re also good people, unlike my father. And knowing that we’re here, and I have the opportunity to meet them, well, I’d like to. That’s never something I’d push Asher into though. It has to be his decision.

“Good morning,” Asher mumbles into my hair, his voice raspy from sleep.

“Good morning.” I smile up at him and sit up slightly, reaching to grab my phone from the nightstand. I check the time, seeing it’s already ten o’clock which means we’re supposed to check out and be out of the room in an hour. “I don’t want to leave this hotel room,” I whine, lying back down on top of him.

“Me either, baby.” He squeezes me into him, placing a quick kiss on my forehead. “I’d be perfectly content staying right here forever.”

“Me too.” I sigh. “We should probably talk about what happens when we get back. We’re going to have to tell everyone we’re together.”

“Well, to be fair, I don’t think they’ll be all that surprised.” He laughs.

“That’s true, I guess. They’ve all been convinced we’ve been fucking for months anyway. Except Kaden. I think he probably puts us out of his mind altogether,” I say. “We should just meet everyone in one place at the same time and rip the Band-Aid off. I think that’s our best option.”

“Sounds good to me. I don’t care how we tell people. As long as I get to tell the world that you’re mine, I’ll be happy,” he says, and my heart melts a little.

Jake never cared about showing me off or even acknowledging my existence half the time. Any time we went out with his friends, I’d always have to introduce myself, and then he’d pretty much leave me to fend for myself.

It feels good to have someone excited about the idea of showing me off.

“Kade will probably still try to murder me no matter where, when, or how we tell him, though,” he adds.

“My brother literally married my best friend. He can’t say shit.” I roll my eyes. “But don’t worry, I’ll protect you.” I place a quick kiss on his cheek before standing from the bed and walking to the window to open the curtains.

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