“You want to play house with me, babe?”
“I wouldn’t say no to it.” She gave me a coy smile, and just like that all thoughts of my dad and Grady and her aunt disappeared.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Mya
The rest of the holidays were uneventful. Asher’s parents ended up being away for almost a week and by the time they got back, which was supposed to be this evening, school was looming.
“I don’t want to go back to reality,” I said to Asher, as we lay curled up on his bed.
I’d spent almost every waking minute at his house; sometimes just the two of us, sometimes with our friends. Aunt Ciara and I were barely talking; her disapproval at how easily I’d given Asher my heart too much for her to accept.
But I was happy.
Asher made me happy.
I knew the road ahead was littered with bumps and obstacles but being with him felt too good to worry.
He peppered my face with big wet kisses. “I don’t think I can let you go.”
“You have to,” I giggled, pressing my hands against his chest, pretending to resist.
Asher rolled us so I was beneath him. Brushing his nose featherlight across my jaw, my cheek, he kissed the corner of my mouth. “I wish they didn’t have to come home and ruin this.”
“No you don’t,” I sighed, looping my arms around his neck. “You love your mom.”
“You’re right, I do. But sometimes, fuck, Mya, sometimes I wish she’d stand up to him. Money isn’t everything. We’d make it work somehow. I hate the idea that she’s beholden to a life of misery with him.”
Brushing the golden strands of hair from his eyes, I gave him a small smile. “He’s her husband and despite all his faults, she loves him. Staying isn’t always the easy way out, Ash.”
I knew that firsthand.
“Yeah, it’s just... the price feels too high, ya know?”
“I know. But she has to follow her heart and make her own mistakes. Otherwise she’ll just end up resenting you.”
I hated that, in their own way, Asher’s parents had both let him down. He deserved so much more. He deserved to have all his dreams come true. But it was my past and his present that had led us here, to this exact moment, and I couldn’t regret or feel sorry for that.
Our experiences shaped us. Molded us into the people we were today. Pain, heartache, happiness, and hope, all contributed to who we became. So while I wished things had been different for both of us, I also knew we were the people we were now because of everything we’d been through.
I buried my face into Asher’s chest, relishing how good it felt to be in his arms.
“I know there are a million reasons why I probably shouldn’t say this,” he whispered into my hair. “But pick Cleveland, Mya. Pick me.”
“Ash...” My hands tightened around him.
“I don’t need an answer yet,” he said. “I just wanted you to know, I don’t care about how long it has or hasn’t been, or what the next five months might bring. I know what I want and I want you, Mya. Always.”
I didn’t answer him.
I couldn’t, the lump in my throat too big.
But if I’d have been brave enough to give him an answer, I was pretty sure it would have been yes.
Monday morning rolled around too quickly. Asher insisted on giving me a ride, pulling the boyfriend card. It was a nice normal couple thing to do. But the second we climbed out of the Jeep, I remembered that nothing about our relationship was normal; at least not in the eyes of most of our classmates.
“Ignore them,” he said, grabbing my hand in a show of a solidarity. Asher pulled it to his mouth and kissed my knuckles. A couple of girls sneered in my direction. I sneered right back.
“Hey, there you are.” Felicity made her way over to us. “I see you have quite the audience.” She glanced over at another huddle of girls who were pretending not to watch us. “You know they’re just jealous that Asher is officially off the market.”
“Maybe I should just pee on him now, get the message across.”
“I’m down for most things,” Asher grinned at me, “but I draw the line at that.”
“Where are the guys?” he asked Flick.
“Jason said something about hitting the gym.”
“He’s taking the exhibition game seriously, huh?”
“I guess.”
“You can go,” I said. “I can walk to class with Felicity.”
His eyes slid to where the girls were still huddled, and still staring.
“Go,” Flick urged him. “We’ve got this.”
“See you at lunch?”
I nodded, leaning in to kiss him. Felicity squealed under her breath, but it barely registered when his lips touched mine.
“Try to ignore them,” he whispered.
“Them who?” I grimaced.
“That’s my girl.”
“Go, before I beg you to stay.”
Asher took off toward the gym, leaving me and Felicity to head into school together. She looped her arm through mine. “You two are so f’in cute, I can barely stand it.”
“They’re still staring, right?” I said through gritted teeth.
She glanced back and let out an irritated sigh. “Yep.”
“Guess I’d better get used to it now the cat’s out of the bag.”
“They’ll get over it. Come lunch there’ll be some new drama or scandal for them to salivate over.”
“I hope you’re right because we’ve only been here ten minutes and I already want to punch something.”
We’d barely made it into the building when a saccharine sweet voice said, “Hey, Mya.”
“Hmm, hey, Kellie, right?” My mean girl radar went on high alert.
“Yeah, we met briefly at the Bennets’ party.”
“Yeah, I remember,” I said, coolly.
“Well, anyway, I just wanted to say hey. We should totally hang out some time. You too, Fee.”
“Felicity,” she corrected. “My name is Felicity.”
“Oh, my bad.” Kellie laughed, the sound like nails grating on a chalkboard. “I just heard Asher call you Fee this one time and figured—”
“It’s a nickname my friends use.”
Ouch, burn. I stifled a snicker.
Kellie’s eyes widened with surprise, but she recovered quickly, pasting on a false smile. “I should go but don’t forget what I said about hanging out.”
“Like that is ever going to happen,” Felicity mumbled under her breath.
When Kellie was gone, I turned to her, my brows pinched. “What the hell was that?”
“I think that was a perfect example of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer.”
“Just what I need,” I groaned, “more enemies.”
“You don’t need to worry about Kellie, she’s no one.”
But even I knew it was always the no ones you had to worry about.
“You’re vibrating.” Asher dropped his gaze to my pocket, but I nudged his face with mine, coaxing him back to me.