CHAPTER ELEVEN #2
“There are Starbursts by the register,” Cameron whispered. “If she gets cranky, just give her one of those.”
“I heard that!” Maddie called to his retreating back. With a dramatic huff, she turned to Asher, popping one hip out to the side and folding her arms over her breasts. “So, you’re the boyfriend. ”
“Yeah, that’s me.” He’d never been called anyone’s boyfriend before, but it felt kind of nice. “You’re the…?”
“Manger, friend, shoulder to cry on.” Uncrossing her arms, she waved a hand around dismissively. “What do you do?”
“I’m a writer.”
“Anything I might have heard of?”
God, he hated when people asked that question. How the hell was he supposed to know what they read? Worse, there was only two ways to answer—arrogant or insecure—and it all depended on inflection.
“The Marshall Kane series.” He decided to go with arrogant.
“You’re Asher Dare,” she blurted, maybe in case he hadn’t known that.
“That’s what they tell me.”
“Big fan, but that last book was a total mess. Evil twin? Really? What the hell were you thinking?”
Technically, it had been multiple sets of twins, and the guy being evil had nothing to do with him being a twin. He’d been a central character throughout the book, not hastily thrown in at the eleventh hour like she was suggesting.
Everyone’s a critic.
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Instead of waiting around for more suggestions on how to improve his craft, he decided to change the subject. “Do you think Cameron is making any progress?”
“I don’t—”
“Go away, you fucking jackass!” a female voice screamed from the back of the store. The bathroom door did nothing to muffle the sound.
Maddie shrugged. “I guess that’s your answer.”
“What the hell happened anyway?”
Wandering over to the register, Maddie plucked a pink Starburst from a glass bowl and unwrapped it with a sigh. “She left here around eleven to have lunch with Aiden. She came back twenty minutes later, locked herself in the bathroom. That’s all I know.”
He watched her toss the candy into her mouth with a frown. “Who’s Aiden?”
“Boyfriend.”
“Huh. Breakup?”
Maddie shrugged. “That was my guess, but I didn’t really get the chance to ask before she started screaming. I love her, but the chick is mental.”
Pot, meet kettle .
“Maybe I should go see if I can help.” At the very least, he could go grab lunch for everyone, because it didn’t look like they’d be leaving any time soon.
She jerked a thumb over her shoulder, then reached for another piece of candy. “Your funeral, writer boy.” Sauntering over to him, she reached up and patted his shoulder. “Go get ’em, tiger.”
Following the sound of Cameron’s voice to the back of the store, he found the man in question sitting on what he could only describe as a pirate chest, complete with skulls and rusted chains.
He had his back against the wall, chin tilted up, eyes closed, and he talked in an even cadence normally reserved for small children and frightened animals.
“Nat, I can’t help you from out here. Either come out or let me in, but this is getting us nowhere.”
“Go away,” his sister moaned from the other side of the door, but her tone had lost all its previous fire. “Just leave me alone.”
“You know I’m not going to do that. We’ll probably starve to death. Cats will come and eat our bodies.”
Clearing his throat so as not to startle Cameron, Asher crouched down in front of him and placed a hand on his knee. “Hey, how’s it going?”
Cameron looked tired already, but he laid a hand over Asher’s and squeezed. “Not great. I appreciate you being here, but you really don’t have to stick around for this.”
“Actually,” he mumbled, glancing at the doorway, then back to Cameron, “do you mind if I give it a shot?”
Cameron’s eyes widened a fraction, but he inched over on the pirate chest to make room for him. “Go for it.”
“Her name is Natalie, right? ”
“Yep.”
Turning so that he faced the end of the chest, Asher propped his elbows on his knees and bent so that his head was right next to the doorknob. “Hey, Natalie, we haven’t had a chance to meet yet, but my name is Asher.”
“I know who you are.”
The words dripped with venom, but she didn’t scare him. An angry woman, he could handle. Whatever the fuck was going on with Vampire Barbie—no thank you.
“Is that any way to talk to your brother’s boyfriend? We might be related one day.” Cameron started choking behind him, but Asher ignored him. “Open the door, Nat. I know you’re just dying to judge me.”
She didn’t open the door, but when she spoke, she didn’t sound quite so hostile. “If you hurt him, I’ll kick your ass.”
Because she knew how it felt. Because someone had hurt her.
“Do you want me to kick Aiden’s ass? Well, not me personally. I’m delicate, but I know people.”
“I hate him!”
“I know, cupcake. I hate him, too. Open the door so we can hate him together.”
“Do you really know people?”
Asher laughed. No, he didn’t know any boyfriend-ass-kickers for hire, but that wasn’t what she needed to hear. “ Honey, my people know people, and if all else fails, we can always feed him to my dog.”
“You don’t have a dog,” Cameron interjected.
Reaching over his opposite shoulder, he palmed Cameron’s face to shut him up. “Come on, Nat. If you don’t open the door, I’m going to have to break it down. I’ll probably hurt myself, then I won’t be able to finish my book. Your poor brother will never know what happens past chapter five.”
Cameron jerked back. “Natalie June Stone, open this fucking door!”
A muffled, feminine giggle proceeded the click of the lock, and the door creaked open. “Don’t worry, Cam. I’d never do that to you.” Natalie swiped her fingers under her eyes, but only succeeded in further smearing her mascara. “Hi, Asher. It’s nice to finally meet you.”
“The pleasure is all mine.” Following his instincts, he stood and pulled her into his arms. “I’m sorry you’re having a shitty day.”
Her arms came around him, holding him tightly, and she sighed as she rested her head against his chest. “This helps.”
“Hey,” Cameron protested. “I see how it is. Forget all about your loyal, amazing brother the minute some famous pretty boy shows up. ”
Asher winked when Natalie looked up at him with a sheepish grin. “You heard that, right? He thinks I’m pretty.”
Natalie giggled again, and Cameron huffed as he wrapped his arms around his sister, sandwiching her between them.
“It’s going to be okay,” he whispered against her temple. “I love you, Nat.”
“Love you, too, jackass.”
Asher expected to feel like an intruder, but with brother and sister clinging to him, holding him within their circle of love, he knew without question he was right where he belonged.