Before I can finish, his hand is at my throat, lifting me up to my tippy-toes. I cry out, holding his wrist as everyone screams around us, trying to stop him. His face comes close to mine, and I swear I see the devil in his soul. His grip on me is tight, blocking my airway, and I slam my fist into his wrist, trying to get him to let go of me. His eyes burn into mine, unflinching, as he yells, “You put your hands on me again, I will kill—”
His words don’t make it out of his mouth before his head is whipped to the side by a really big fist. His hold on me is gone, and I stumble back into Angie’s arms. I’m disoriented, but when I see him, I can’t breathe.
Asher.
Chapter Fifteen
Asher
When Ally leaves, I don’t answer Wes’s question about us. There is no point; she made it very clear we are nothing. Multiple times. I’m unsure why that bothers me, but it does. Makes no sense, yet here I am in my feelings as I scroll through Facebook. I don’t even understand these emotions. They’ve come out of left field. Our game night stops once Ally is gone, and soon after, Shelli and Aiden show Boon and Posey the rest of the place. I guess neither Wes nor I care because we stay where we are, on our phones. I text Tony to let him know I will be heading in to get the jumbotron cleaned and to change the bulbs that finally came in. I feel kind of rude not talking to Wes, he’s obviously important to my brother, so I clear my throat as I set down my phone. Really, I’m just trying to distract myself from thinking of Ally.
I hate that she’s going out with Taco. I really don’t know why she is. They haven’t been talking much, and he’s still a douchenozzle. I also hate that I can’t get the memory of her thighs out of my mind. It’s as if the image is seared into my brain. I guess I could have worse things seared in there, but it makes no sense. I’ve seen her in her Spanx, jumping and being a badass volleyball star, but it was her regular-length shorts that had me drooling.
What. In. The. Ever. Loving. Fuck.
“So, Wes, are you the Wes that my sister thinks is hot?”
His brow perks as he looks up at me. He is totally someone Stella would go after. Simply because he plays hockey. I feel like that’s her only condition. I really don’t get it since we grew up without our dad for months when we were younger—why she would want to be involved with that? But she has only dated hockey players. Love them, craves them. She’s weird.
“Stella thinks I’m hot?”
“If you’re the Wes she talks about, then, yes, I assume so.”
“Man, she’s so fucking hot.” That bothers me a bit. Funny, I usually don’t care. I mean, Stella is beautiful and so is Emery, but in all reality, no bad dude would survive with either of them. No guy has ever spoken about my sisters. Wes nods, this shit-eating grin on his face, but then it vanishes. “Aiden told me to stay clear.”
“Eh, I’m not surprised. But I know Stella. She’ll do what she wants.”
He strokes his jaw as he sets down his phone. “I’m not a relationship kind of person, so I wouldn’t be good for her.”
I shrug. “Ah, okay.”
“Is that Ally girl really dating a dude name Taco?”
I roll my eyes. “Yeah, apparently.”
“So, she’s one of those serious relationship types? No hookups?”
I blink. “I don’t know. It changes. Right now, he’s a hookup but almost a potential relationship.” Why does it make me gag saying that? Wes nods, and I ask, “Why do you ask?”
“She’s hot. Thought I would see if she was interested.”
Why am I squinting and wishing this guy to the place where Shelli’s Wedding Book from Hell belongs? “But you just said you don’t want a relationship.”
“I don’t. It’s not my thing,” he says with a grin, and I try to ignore the need to tell him to stay the fuck away from Ally. Maybe I can scare him?
“A lot of dudes say that, and the right girl comes along—and bam!”
“Bam?”
“Bang? Boom? I mean, it’s your choice on the sound it makes when your jaw hits the ground and you’ve been smacked by the love stick.”
He blinks. “You know, Aiden said you were a dorky dude.”
Yup, I’m not a fan of this guy. “Well, this was fun,” I say dryly just as Aiden comes back in the room. I check my phone. “Dude, you ready?”
“Yeah, let me tell Shelli.”
“I didn’t mean to offend you,” Wes tries, and I grin at him.
“No worries, but stay away from my sister.” His eyes widen. I don’t know why it bothers me that he called me dorky. Everyone does. But this dude, he doesn’t even know me. “And Ally.”
“I thought you two weren’t together,” he protests, holding his palms up at me.
I tower over him as I grab my phone. “Doesn’t matter. Stay away, or we’ll have words.”
Did I just threaten a dude for Stella and Ally? What the hell is wrong with me?
He smirks. “We’ll have words?”
Before I can tell him I’ll kick his pretty-boy face in, Aiden comes back into the room. “Ready?”
I give Wes one last look. “Yeah, let’s go.”
Wes laughs. “Dude, your brother threatened me!”
Aiden looks over his shoulder and laughs. “Probably deserved it.”
He did, but as we head out, Aiden asks, “What did he do?”
“He doesn’t want a relationship, but he wants to sleep with Stella and Ally.”
“At the same time?”
I whip my head to him in horror. “Ah, no!”
He grins at me. “Oh well, I bet you didn’t get mad until he said something about Ally.”
I don’t answer that; I just pull out my car keys and then pat my other pocket to make sure the gym key is in there. It’s not. Shit. “Where did I put that key to the gym?” I look through the car, in my cupholder, and it’s not here. “Shit.”
“Did you leave it at your condo?”
Then it hits me. I gave it to Ally to hold for me. “Fuck no, Ally has it. Get in. We gotta catch her before she goes to the movies with NachoFuck.”
Aiden snorts. “NachoFuck. It’s like Not Your Fuck.”
I give him a dry look. “And people call me a dork.”
He grins as he pulls up the navigation. “You’ll need to go through the neighborhoods. There is a wreck on the interstate.”
“Ooh, hopefully that delayed her.”
As I ride, I chew the inside of my cheek. Something is stirring inside me, and I need to get it out. I don’t do well with dwelling. “I can talk to you about anything, right?”
I feel his gaze on my face. “Yes. It’s the truth—this car makes you look like a douche. You should have gotten a truck.”
For fuck’s sake. “Aiden,” I warn, and he laughs.
“Yeah, of course. What’s up?”
I bite my lip, pulling in a breath through my nose. “I’ve always found Ally to be gorgeous.”
“She is.”
“And I’ve always had a little bit of a crush on her.”