Chapter 24
Void had left while I was in the photoshoot.
Asher texted to let me know the address of the little house they were renting and that I should come over whenever I could.
That he wanted to see me. That he missed me already.
And that he still needed to give me my present.
I crashed maybe an hour later and didn’t get up until five-thirty in the evening on Sunday. Exhausted and a little hungover.
I figured I could go see him after school on Monday and had quickly gone back to sleep.
Now that school was over the next day, I was excitedly driving to the little house.
I hadn’t bothered to tell Sydney I’d be late coming home from work today.
My mind had been occupied by nothing except Asher and some photo samples Izzy emailed me this morning.
They were the ones she wanted me to choose from for the music poster.
My head was on cloud nine. I rounded a corner and realized the GPS was taking me to a home still in my little town. Closer to my house than the hotel had been. How convenient.
Glancing out the window, I turned my music down a little and looked for the house number. Three black letters nailed to cream stucco beside a cute front porch let me know I’d found it, and I pulled into the small driveway, parking behind the two-car garage and beside a gray Elantra.
Grabbing my purse, I slung the pale blue strap over my shoulder and shut the car door.
My stomach churned not from nerves, but from excitement.
I was genuinely excited to see Asher. Smoothing out some wrinkles in my short-sleeved, floral, pink, school-appropriate sundress, I practically skipped up the steps to the house.
There was a keypad on the front door above the black handle, blending well with the overall modern theme of the house. I pulled up Asher’s text that had the code and typed it in. There was whirring, and the lock disengaged.
Pushing my thumb against the handle, I walked inside.
Directly into the living room. There were shoes tossed to the right and a coat rack already filled with jackets and hoodies.
Gray hardwood was accented with a fancy cream area rug to my left.
A dark gray, leather sectional faced the mounted television against the wall.
Past the room was the kitchen and a hallway that disappeared around a corner to the right.
My eyes locked onto five pairs of eyes staring at me from the living room to my left—three of whom I recognized.
“Hey, Cosi,” Kieron drawled, a grin spreading across his face.
Jaxon waved, his arm slung around a cute, curly-haired blonde girl with a small, heart-shaped face.
Drake nodded and ran a hand up and down the arm of the girl leaning against his chest. She had a nose ring and gauges, much more eccentric-looking than I would ever feel comfortable dressing like. And I was jealous.
Both of the girls were absolutely gorgeous.
Jaxon pointed to his girl. “This is Ava. Ava, that’s Cosette. Asher’s girlfriend.” She smiled brightly and waved.
“And this is Nova,” Drake added. Nova smiled as well, shifting her slightly scary look into something inviting.
“Hi.” I waved and then kicked my heels off.
Asher slid around the corner, shirtless with a grin on his face.
“Kieron, can I talk to you for a minute?” I quickly said, and the grin immediately fell from Asher’s face. His eyes widened, confused and in disbelief.
“M-m-me?” Kieron stood from the couch, shocked.
“Yes. Privately for just a second,” I stated again.
Asher threw his hands in the air, pointing to himself as if to say, “What about me?”
Kieron jumped over the back of the couch, grinning. He faced Asher and lifted both hands, flipping him off. Asher’s mouth fell open, still frozen in place. I shook my head and silently followed Kieron into the office to my right.
Once the door shut behind us, he crossed his arms and lifted a brow. “What’s up?”
“I need your honest opinion on something. BUT,” I emphasized and paused. He tipped his head. “But you have to forget what you saw immediately after we leave this room. Got it?”
“What will I be seeing?” he questioned. I dug through my purse and pulled out my phone. Tightening my fingers around it, I sucked in my bottom lip. Rethinking things.
“I want to make something for Asher, but I need to know if it’s too soon to give him something like this or not. Plus, I want an unbiased opinion on which picture to use,” I hesitantly explained.
“Never too soon. But a picture? Of what?”
“Me.” I narrowed my gaze.
“I have to forget the pictures of you that you’re going to show me. Why?” he asked and then gasped. “Are they spicy photos?” A malicious grin slid across his face, and he wiggled his brows.
“This was a horrible idea. I’ll ask Jaxon or Drake instead,” I muttered and turned around to leave.
“No. No. I’ll forget them and give you my unbiased opinion,” he quickly stated. “Besides, I doubt either of their girlfriends would appreciate you showing them these pictures.”
I took a deep breath. “True, and you better,” I said through gritted teeth and then opened up my email. “So, the idea is to make a poster for him, but like not the usual kind of poster…”
“You’re going to make him a slutty music poster?” he nearly yelled in excitement, and I slapped a hand over his mouth.
“Shhh. Asher might hear you, but yes. That’s essentially the idea.”
He silently fist-pumped in the air. “Okay, show me the choices.”
I didn’t let him look at them long enough to linger but showed him all the ones she’d sent with me either with the microphone or the guitar.
“Go to that first one again,” he said once I finished scrolling through them. I flipped back, and he tipped his head back and forth. “I think I like that one the best.”
“That’s what I was leaning toward, too.” I stared at the picture. It was my favorite, but something just wasn’t sitting right. And I think Kieron sensed it too.
“If that’s your favorite, then use that one,” he said, quietly.
“There is one more…” I hesitantly exited this roll of photos and went to the one single picture that I hadn’t had Izzy take to use for the poster, but I was absolutely, undeniably in love with.
“What is it?” he asked, and I clicked on the picture. Me leaning back against the piano. An instrument that wasn’t really involved in Asher’s genre of music the way it was mine.
Kieron’s eyes widened, and his mouth fell open. “You have to use that one.” He swallowed stiffly.
I clicked out of the photo. “But it’s a piano. He plays a little bit—”
“So? Something about that photo just feels different. More like you. You could put just you and the piano against a black background and have your name with his beneath it. Below that, the date you two met and the time or something. Like a poster announcing the concert. Man, I would marry a girl if she did something like that for me,” he muttered, and I shook my head.
“Slow down there, Kieron.” I began typing an email in response to Izzy, telling her my choice. “But that is a very good idea. I really like that.” Except I wouldn’t use his name and mine. I would have it say “Cosette ‘Princess’ Duvaldi”.
Yes, Duvaldi. Because he knew, and this was for him.
There was a small part of me that also knew it wasn’t just for him. It was just as much for me. It was for both of us.
“I get to see the finished product since I helped with this part, right?” Kieron asked after I finished sending the email and put my phone back in my purse.
“That will be up to Asher.” I turned the handle, opening the door.
Asher was standing directly in front of it, his arms crossed, with a scowl plastered on his face.
“I’ve been waiting all fucking day for you to get here, and you talk to him first?” Asher growled, pointing at Kieron.
Kieron grinned and slipped by me, heading back to the couch.
“It was for you, okay?” I patted his chest and stepped to the side. Sliding past him, I hung my purse on the coat rack and turned around to run smack into Asher. Again.
“Not even a hello?” He pouted, glaring at me. I giggled and tipped forward, quickly pecking his lips.
“Hello,” I whispered, and a smile twitched at the edges of his mouth.
“That’s only a little better.” He threw his hands around my waist, pulling me toward him. I grinned and wrapped my arms around his torso.
“I have an idea,” I quietly said.
He lifted a single brow, curiously. “What’s that?”
“A game to play, later.”
“What game?”
“It’s called Shark Attack.” I bit my bottom lip, lightly.
He furrowed his brows, confused. “I’ve never heard of that. What is it?”
“You eat, and I scream.”
His mouth dropped open, not a sound escaping his lips, and hunger filled his gaze. Absolute, undeniable desire, which wasn’t just apparent on his face but between his legs. He pressed himself tighter against my body, and I giggled, amused by his growing arousal.
“Yeah, I’m not waiting until later for that,” he finally said and dropped his arms from around my waist. Stepping away from me, he grabbed my wrist and turned around, marching past the couch.
“Where are you two going?” Kieron shouted. “We need to keep rehearsing. Plus, the new song?”
But Asher didn’t stop as we rounded the corner.
“Asher!!” Kieron shouted again, along with Jaxon and Drake.
This time, my boyfriend paused. A sly grin crossed his face. “Take a break. I want to try this new game Cosette just told me about.”
The protests that came were completely ignored as Asher tugged me forward and tossed me into a bedroom. The door shut behind him, and I squeaked as he picked me up, throwing me onto the bed.
“They’re going to hear us,” I gasped.
“No, not us. But they are going to hear you scream my name,” he growled, crawling between my legs.
“Asher!” I protested, trying to squeeze him out.
“This is your game, Princess. Your fault.” He shoved against my knees harder, and I sighed, knowing there was no getting out of this. Besides, I really didn’t want to get out of this. And his lips connected with the inside of my thigh, slowly trailing higher and higher.