“Listen, forget it.” I went to snatch it back, but Mya closed her fingers around it.
“Asher, it’s perfect. It’s just… well, I feel bad now. I didn’t get you anything.”
Slipping my arms around her, I pulled her closer. “You gave me everything tonight.” I pecked the end of her nose. “Can I do the honors?” My eyes dropped to the bracelet and she nodded.
It fit her wrist to perfection. I held her hand, smoothing my thumb over the curve of her hand. “You know what this means, right?”
“That I owe you a present?”
“No.” I smiled. “It means you’re wearing my number, which means you’re mine now.”
“I guess I’d better not lose it then.” Mya brushed my jaw before kissing me softly. I wanted to deepen it, to push my tongue into her mouth and explore every deep dark place inside her.
I wanted to stay here forever.
Because once we walked out of here, our perfect bubble would burst and reality would come crashing down around us.
Chapter Nineteen
Mya
“I knew it.” Flick screeched down the line. “So how was it? I want details, all the glorious details. Was he hung? I always imagined he was—”
I cleared my throat. “Are you done discussing the size of my…” I hesitated.
“I think the word you’re looking for is boyfriend.” She smothered a laugh.
“My boyfriend… wow, that’s going to take some getting used to.”
“Yeah, yeah, but back to the size of his—”
“Felicity!”
“What?” I could imagine her pouting. “It’s girl talk. I tell you all about Jason’s skills in the bedroom.”
“I never ask though. You just dump that shit on me without warning.”
She chuckled at that. “It’s not like I can tell Hailee. She freaks out because he’s family. Anyway, I don’t want to talk about Jason right now. I want to talk about you and Asher. Was it magical? Did he make you see stars?”
“Who are you right now?” My face scrunched up.
“A girl in need of details, that’s who. I still can’t believe you did it in their old boathouse.”
“It’s not like we had options. Besides, there was something thrilling about it.” Knowing we could get caught at any moment.
“And he gave you a gift. So romantic.” She sighed dreamily and I knew I’d lost her to wedding bells and white dresses.
“Earth to Felicity, it’s still early days.” My eyes dropped to the bracelet wrapped around my wrist. “He still has to tell his parents and I still need to tell my aunt.”
“You really think she’ll be upset?”
“Upset, no. Disappointed, hell yes. She’s warned me off white boys several times since I got here.”
“But Asher isn’t just any white boy, he’s...”
“Different,” I said quietly, feeling my heart clench.
“Have you broken the news about our trip to New York yet?” she asked, and I pressed my lips together, the silence deafening. “Mya, you have to tell her. We leave in two days.”
“I know, I’m working up to it.” Aunt Ciara and I were in a good place. We’d enjoyed Christmas Day together and I’d even gone to church with her and her friends. I didn’t want to rock the boat, not when things were so good; but Felicity was right, I had to tell her.
About New York...
About Asher.
“Just do it. Quick and to the point, like ripping off a Band-Aid.”
“Easy for you to say,” I grumbled.
“You think it was easy announcing to my dad that I was dating Jason Ford? Hell no. But we have to make our own decisions, Mya. Even if they turn out to be mistakes.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” My stomach twisted.
“I don’t mean I think Asher is a mistake. If anything, I think you’re finally thinking straight. I meant your aunt has to let you make your own way.”
“I hope you’re right.” Because I could only imagine how much grief she was going to give me when I broke the news to her.
“Anyway, did you still want to come over later? The guys are having guys night at Bell’s so I thought me, you, and Hailee could have girls night at my house.”
“Will you stop asking about the size of my boyfriend’s dick?”
We both exploded with laughter. It felt good, easing the heavy weight that had settled on my chest as we talked about my aunt.
“Just give me a ballpark figure and we can move on.”
“I’m hanging up now.”
“Nine inches,” she snorted down the line. “It’s got to be at least nine—”
“Goodbye, Felicity.”
“Nine-and-a-half?”
Her voice faded away as I hung up, still chuckling at her outburst. Pre-Jason, Felicity had been sexually repressed. Or at least, that’s the impression I’d gotten. But now she was all too willing to share. Still, I loved her in a way I hadn’t anticipated. She would never replace my childhood friends from Fallowfield Heights, but Felicity had done a pretty good job at filling the hole left when I moved to Rixon.
Against all my better judgment, and my misguided expectations, I was making a life for myself here. I had friends, real tell-it-as-it-is friends. I was making good progress in my classes. And I had Asher.
The boyfriend I never knew I wanted.
I was falling hard and fast for him. It wasn’t supposed to happen. I wasn’t supposed to let it happen, but I was tired of fighting my feelings. Of always being the tough girl.
I was tired of letting other people dictate my life.
So what if me and Asher came from different sides of the tracks? Attraction didn’t discriminate based on color or background or life experience. It wasn’t black or white but various shades of gray; prisms of color. My world had been dark when I’d moved to Rixon; dreary and desolate. All the pain and anger I felt bleeding into a black stain on my soul. But Asher, my girlfriends, even some of my teachers at school, were splashes of vibrancy, refusing to let me live in the shadows.
And if I admitted it to myself, I kind of liked living in the light again.
“Mya, it’s so lovely to see you again. Come in.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Bennet.”
“Julia, please call me Julia. Asher,” she called out over her shoulder, “your friend is here.”
Asher rushed into the kitchen, sliding to stop in front of me. “Girlfriend, Mom.” He grinned at me. “Mya is my girlfriend.”
The word did all kinds of things to my stomach.
Closing the distance between us, he kissed me softly, not caring his mom was right there, pretending not to watch. I let out a contented sigh and gazed up at him. “Hi.”
“Hi,” Asher replied. “I’m glad you came.”
I’d almost told him no when he had invited me over but before I could make my excuses, Asher had dropped it out that his father was on a last-minute business trip. He said his mom was excited to meet me again, in less chaotic circumstances, and I didn’t have the heart to trample over his enthusiasm.