“Dude,” I interjected. “You’re not actually considering this?” Seeing Mya kiss Felicity would be as hot as fuck, but no way did I want to kiss my best friend—a guy—for it.
No way.
“I’m game, if you are.”
It felt like we were spectators to some private challenge between Jase and Felicity. Challenge glittered in their eyes, the air thick with tension.
“You’ll really make it worth our while?”
She nodded and I tried to catch Mya’s attention, but she was too busy watching Jason and Felicity.
“Fine. Ash, man, get over here.”
“I’m not kissing you, Jase. No fucking way.”
“Don’t be such a pussy. I’ve seen your dick more times than I can count. What’s a little kiss between friends?”
“You’ve lost your goddamn mind,” I ground out as Jason stood up, coming around the couch toward me. “Keep your drunk ass away from me.”
“You know he’ll win,” Cam said. “Might as well get it over with.”
“Thanks for the help, man. Big fucking thanks.” I jabbed a finger at Jase, warning him to stay back, but the huge drunken idiot launched on top of me, pinning me to the couch.
Laughter exploded all around us as I tried to wrestle him off, but the motherfucker was just too strong. He caged my body, using one of his hands to grip my face. “Just one little kiss, pucker up.”
“Jason, get the hell—” His mouth pressed down on mine, hard and wet and as weird. as. fuck. I went still, clamping my lips together to avoid an accidental slip of the tongue. Shoving with all my might, I slammed my body forward, sending Jase falling back onto his ass.
“Don’t ever do that again.” I smeared his kiss off my lips with the back of my hand. He clambered to his feet, a shit-eating smirk plastered over his face.
“Aww, don’t be so sensitive. You’ve got pretty nice lips… for a guy.”
Cam snorted beside me and I levelled him with a look that said, ‘you’re next’.
“That was… wow, I did not expect that to happen.” Flick looked a little flushed. Her eyes dancing with a mix of surprise and curiosity. “Okay, I guess it’s our turn. Mya…”
“Felicity.” She smirked at her friend, gently cupping her face. The two of them inched closer, and I found myself sitting straighter again. They were almost nose to nose, lips to lips, when they both turned their head at the last second and grinned. “Gotcha.”
“I can’t believe you actually thought we’d do it,” Felicity added around a smug grin.
“You tricked us?” Jase growled.
“And you fell for it hook, line, and sinker. Want your balls back now?”
“You’re in so much trouble, babe.” He advanced toward her, but she edged backward.
“It was a joke, Jase. Don’t be so—”
“You’d better run.”
“Oh shit.” Flick spun on her heel and took off out of the door, laughter drifting back to us as Jason took off after her.
“I guess we won’t see them again tonight,” Mya said, her eyes sliding to mine. “Am I in trouble too?”
Heat trickled down my spine. “Do you want to be in trouble?”
She came over and climbed on my lap, tucking her body tight to mine. “Would you be disappointed if I said I want to hang out with Cam and Hailee and just enjoy being a normal couple?”
“Actually,” I pecked the end of her nose. “That sounds pretty damn perfect to me.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Mya
“Mya, I’m home,” my aunt’s voice rang out, startling me.
I let out a heavy sigh. This was one conversation I knew I couldn’t escape. What was it that Felicity had said ‘rip it off like a Band-Aid’? Only I was pretty sure this Band-Aid was going to leave a deeper cut.
I found Aunt Ciara in the kitchen, unpacking a small bag of groceries. “A little help.” Her eyes widened with meaning, and I chuckled, setting to work alongside her.
After a couple of silent minutes, she huffed out, “For the love of Jesus, Mya, spit it out.”
“How do you do that?” I asked.
“You think I don’t see the way you’re holding it all in?” Her brow rose.
“Felicity and Hailee invited me to New York with them for New Year’s.”
“New York, huh? Sounds fancy. Fancy and expensive. You know we don’t got spare money lying around for—”
“Actually, it’s all taken care of.”
She stopped what she was doing, fixing her suspicious gaze on me. “Let me guess, those Raider boys are picking up the tab.”
“Asher’s family has a penthouse we can stay in. It won’t cost a penny. I’ll just need some gas money and an outfit, but Felicity has already said I can borrow something.”
“Asher’s family,” she repeated, her tight expression telling me everything I needed to know.
“It’s not a big deal, Auntie,” I said, grabbing the last of the groceries and putting them away.
“The fact you’re saying it’s not a big deal, tells me it is a big deal. I thought you were going to be cautious where the Bennet boy was concerned?”
“Asher, his name is Asher, Aunt C. Besides, would it really hurt for you to be happy for me. I have friends, Auntie, good friends. And Asher is, well, he’s a good person.”
He was good and kind and he liked me.
He didn’t see Mya, the girl from the hood; he saw Mya, the girl who had left her home, her life, for something better.
“And what do his parents think about you heading off to New York with their son for New Year?”
“I... I don’t know.” The truth teetered on the tip on my tongue. “But Asher doesn’t care what they think. He’s serious about this thing between us. I am too.”
“Mya, Mya, Mya,” she made a drawn-out groaning sound, “I thought you were more sensible than this.”
“We care about each other,” I said, my voice cracked with frustration. “Isn’t that enough?”
“For now, maybe. But what about after graduation? What then? You’ll go off to different schools and he’ll what, wait for you?” she asked incredulously. “I’ve heard rumors about that family, about his father’s connections. You think he’s going to sit by and watch as his only son dates you?” Her tone was almost scathing, as if I was the villain here. Not Mr. Bennet and his bigoted ideals.
The need to defend Asher, to defend our fledgling relationship burned inside me. “Asher is—”
“Going to break your heart. I’m sorry, Mya, I know you don’t want to hear it but he’s going to go off to college; meet some rich, white girl his parents approve of; and leave you high and dry.”
“You’re wrong.” Anger slithered through me, making my body tremble and tears sting my eyes. “I know you only want to protect me, Auntie. But I know Asher and you’re wrong about him.”
Maybe this thing between us was doomed to fail. Maybe it was destined to be nothing more than a short whirlwind of stolen kisses and secret touches. But in my heart of hearts, I knew Asher would never purposefully hurt me. He didn’t have it in him.