Page 15 of Forever Yours

I reached for his hand, and he opened his palm for me to grab hold, our fingers threading as tears slid down his cheeks.

“I am so sorry, Ash. If you ever need to talk, I’m here.”

He took a deep, stuttered breath and wiped his wet eyes on the shoulder of his shirt. Shaking off the melancholy, he cracked a timorous grin.

“Look at us being all deep and introspective. And it goes both ways. I know we just met and don’t know each other well—yet—but I hope you know that.”

We let that settle between us as we grabbed our burgers and continued to eat.

“Got a boyfriend?”

I froze. I didn’t mean to, but it was an automatic reaction I couldn’t control.

“His name is Julien.”

“Julien is one of the twins, right?”

Ash had a good memory.

“Yeah. He’s dropping by later. Hope that’s alright.”

“Never have to ask,” was his reply. “Got a picture?”

I just stared at him for a second before I opened the screen on my phone. Other than with Fallon, Jessi, my dad, Liz, Jayson, and the Jamesons, I had never experienced this kind of easy acceptance from anyone.

Pulling up a recent photograph of me and the guys, I handed Ash my phone and pointed out Julien.

“That’s him.”

“Damn, they are identical. The guy at the end must be Ryder?” he asked.

“Yep.”

Ash looked at me, all serious. “Fair warning, I’m going to pester the hell out of you to take me to one of his races.” He started swiping through my photos. “Sorry. I’m a nosy shit.”

Chuckling, I went back to eating my food while he scrolled.

“Holy shit. Who is that, and when can I meet her?”

Thinking he was talking about Jessi, my grin fell when I saw he was looking at a picture of me, Liz, and Julien.

“That’s, uh, Liz. She and Jayson…”

What happened to Liz was not something I was comfortable discussing, especially with someone I just met, no matter how nice he was.

Ash handed my phone back to me. “Say no more. Taken and totally off limits. Got it.” He slid off the bed and strolled over to the minifridge that came with the room. “Stocked up while you were out. We now have not only bottled water but soda as well.”

He held up two different offerings. I pointed to the bottle of water, and he tossed it to me from across the room.

He popped the tab off a can of soda. “How long have you and Julien been dating?”

“Going on a couple of years. And speak of the devil,” I said when someone knocked at the door.

Ash dashed over and opened it before I could get off the bed.

“You’re not Julien,” he greeted in the effulgent, happy-go-lucky way I was quickly coming to associate with him.

“I hope I got the right room. I was looking for Elijah.”

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