Very good.
“The suspense is killing me,” Flick called through the door. “Are you done?”
Taking a deep breath, I toyed with the material in the front, so it hung just right. “Okay,” I stepped back into the bedroom. “What do you think?”
Her eyes went wide and she clapped, letting out a little shriek of approval. “Hell yes. Asher is going to die when he sees you.”
“Well hopefully he won’t die. I kind of like having him around.”
“This trip is going to be the best.” Felicity beamed. “Just promise me you’ll stick up for me if Vaughn makes a play for Jason.”
“I got your back.” I shot her a playful wink. “Is Asher close to his cousins?”
“Not really. I mean, they seemed friendly enough when we went before, but they don’t keep in regular contact or anything. Why do you ask?”
“No reason.” The lie soured on my tongue. But I couldn’t tell her how the little voice in my head was whispering all kinds of things to me.
“They’ll love you, Mya,” she said trying to reassure me. “You have nothing to worry about.”
“Yeah.” I forced a smile, telling myself it didn’t matter what they thought.
Even if I knew, deep down, it did.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Asher
Our trip to New York was finally underway. The smaller Rixon grew in the distance, the more I could breathe. My arm tightened around Mya, and she gazed up at me.
“I can’t wait to see the skyline.” Her smile was easy, her words light, but I felt the lingering tension between us.
I’d been a dick the other day at lunch with my mom. But when she’d brought up college, I had immediately gone to a dark place. I knew Mya thought it had something to do with her applying to Cleveland, but she was so far off the mark. That was the only good thing to come out of that conversation. Cleveland wasn’t Pittsburgh but it was close e-fucking-nough. Two hours was nothing. We could have stopovers, spend the weekends together, see each other every other day if we wanted.
But that was the dream.
The reality was much different.
The reality was that my father wouldn’t want me going off to Pittsburgh still dating Mya. He’d want me single; available to date a long list of suitable girls.
Girls like Kellie Ginly.
Pittsburgh was a long way from Rixon though, long enough that we could keep it a secret from him, if it came down to it. Because I couldn’t lose her.
“Where’d you go?” Mya brushed her nose across my jaw, commanding my attention.
“Just thinking.”
She cupped my face, turning me into her. “No thinking. Not today.” Mya kept her voice low, her words only meant for me. “We’re going to go to New York, to celebrate the new year, and have an amazing time with our friends. The rest can wait, okay?”
Nodding, I pressed my head to Mya’s, letting my lips brush over hers. Her fingers tightened into my hoodie as she leaned closer, letting me deepen the kiss.
This.
This was what I needed.
Her kisses.
Her touch.
Just her.
Someone cleared their throat, Jason I think. But I didn’t care, and I didn’t stop. I kept kissing Mya, letting my tongue glide and tangle with hers. Igniting a firestorm inside me, flames searing me inside out.
I would gladly burn for this girl.
“I hope to fuck they aren’t going to do this for the whole ride.” There was no mistaking it was Jase this time. Mya chuckled against my mouth, the sound wrapping around my heart like a vise.
“We should stop,” she breathed.
“No,” I slid my hand into her hair, anchoring her face to mine, “we should keep going.”
“Ash…”
“Mya...” She didn’t resist when I captured her lips again, kissing her harder. Deeper. Kissing with her with everything I had.
“Babe, if they carry on,” Flick said, “we might have to stop.”
I finally broke the kiss, sliding my eyes up front to where Felicity sat beside Jason in the front of the minivan we’d hired. She leaned closer, whispering something to him. “Fuck,” he muttered, his eyes hard on the road.
“Everything okay up there?”
His eyes met mine in the mirror, and he grumbled, “I don’t know whether to high five you or throw you out of the van.”
“Me? What the hell did I do?” I smothered a grin, settling back against the seat with Mya tucked into my side.
Rixon was miles behind us now. Exactly where I wanted to leave it. Because my girl was right; this was our weekend.
And not a single thing was going to ruin it.
“Holy crap,” Mya gasped as we stepped out of the elevator and into the foyer of the penthouse. It was all glass and chrome and high-end decor. Completely over the top, and probably unworthy of its thousand-dollar-a-night price tag, but Dad’s brother, Uncle Mich, was all too willing to accommodate me and my friends. They were constantly trying to one up each other. Let the kids borrow the penthouse. Let the kids vacation in the Hamptons. Riley and Vaughn worked it to their advantage more than me though. Probably because their father cared even less than mine.
Well, mine cared… just about the wrong things.
“It’s something else, right?” Flick breezed past us as if she owned the place, Jason trailing after her.
“I can’t... wow.” Mya’s eyes were big, awe glittering in her dark irises. “Your uncle owns this?”
“Yeah. My dad uses it for business sometimes.” I moved up behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist. “It’s just an apartment.” My breath brushed the shell of her ear.
“It’s really not. It’s... too much. I knew you were rich, Asher, but this is... wow.”
I chuckled but it came out strained because I knew what she was thinking. “You belong here, with me,” I said.
I didn’t want her to doubt us. Not in Rixon, not here, not anywhere. But I tried to put myself in her shoes, to imagine what it must be like to be the girl plucked out of a bad neighborhood and thrust into my life.
Mya’s hand slid atop of my arms, hugging me back. “How many bedrooms are there?”
“Enough.” My voice was husky as I imagined her laid out before me in nothing but a smile and lust in her eyes. “But if we don’t hurry, Flick and Hailee will claim the best ones.”
She turned in my arms. “They can have them. I’ve got all I need right here.” Mya leaned up, running her tongue along the seam of my mouth. I opened willingly, desperate to taste her again. We’d practically made out the entire journey and it still wasn’t enough.
I still needed more.
“Well, fuck me, it’s true.” My cousin Riley’s voice was like a bucket of cold water. Letting out a heavy sigh, I pressed my head to Mya’s, giving myself a second.
“You must be Mya,” he said, coming closer.
“Hi, it’s nice to meet you.”
“I’m Riley and this moody bitch is my sister, Vaughn.” He flicked his head to the sullen girl standing at his side.