Chapter Twenty-Six
Asher
“Have you ever thought about having a poly relationship?”
The question comes out of nowhere, and I’m jerked from my current thoughts as Max kicks into the guard and knocks me off balance.
I shake my head to frown at Max dubiously.
“Got a problem with it?” He takes a guess and begins to shut down his emotions as he pauses for me to get back in place.
“No,” I answer honestly and resume my stance, “My sister has a poly relationship. If it was a problem, it would have made it awkward when she asked me to be a witness for the vows.”
“The tattoo sister?” He grins, shoulders loosening again. The guy is too touchy to start asking questions he might not like the answers to.
“No, the legal secretary sister.”
“How many sisters do you have again?”
“Four. I’m the youngest,” I goad him and shake the guard for him to get back to work.
“So, you’ve already seen war.”
I can’t help the laugh that comes out.
He starts his reps again and comes back to his point. “Have you?”
“No.” I haven’t met one person that I would have any kind of relationship with, much less two or three.
“Afraid a guy might try for you?” His eyes narrow as he waits for my response.
“No.”
“Are you bi?”
I step back and lower the guard. “I don’t think my sexual orientation is any of your business. Are we working or gossiping again?”
“Gossiping,” he assures me without hesitation. “I’m just saying you should think about it. You don’t even have to be intimate with anyone. You could be an emotional buffer.”
I grab my water bottle, draining it as he speaks.
“It would be perfect,” his eyes glaze over as he contemplates his fictitious scenario. “When Trev is a complete asshole, and I get too pushy and demanding, you could be Tera”s emotional support.”
“Trapped as a marriage counselor in your imaginary relationship without having the benefits of an actual relationship,” I point out the flaw in his thinking. “You’re so thoughtful.”
“You could always leave once things were patched up,” he throws in and focuses on my deadpan face.
“If I had to do all that work and was actually invested in it, why would I leave? What about the two other people in this scenario? They should have a say.” Why am I continuing this?
“We’d have to work on them,” he grumbles and sits in one of the chairs with a disgruntled look.
“We would, huh?” I smirk at his assumptions that I’m all in.
His irritation is plain, “Yeah we. I need help, man, and I don’t think I can do it alone.”
I frown at his sincere frustration. “What’s going on now?”
I sit next to him, knowing that the rest of this session is a wash at this point.
“I tried to do the just texting thing and avoided meeting up with her. Now the guy I suspect is her brand-new boyfriend, and her old best friend have taken her phone, and I can’t even do that anymore.”
This story just gets weirder and weirder.
“She has a boyfriend? One that moved back with her?”
“No, the guy that picked her up and brought her home. He’s one of Andi’s guys. They live together now.”
“That doesn’t mean anything.”
“Sure it doesn’t,” he grumbles.
“You can have a boyfriend, and she can’t? How open-minded of you. So much for a poly relationship.”
“Stop being an asshole.”
“Think about your words before you speak, and I won’t have to,” I remind him for what feels like the hundredth time.
“Look, I wouldn’t have a problem with her having another person, just not that guy. I’d feel better if it was you.”
“Now we get down to the truth of it. You can’t control this guy, but you can manipulate me since we’re ‘buddies’.” It’s not a bad plan. Too bad I’m not going for it.
“No,” he faces me with a severe frown. “He’s one of the people who bullied her, and I don’t trust him for shit. If she was with you, I know you wouldn’t treat her like shit or let anyone else do it, either. No one manipulates you. You’re a fucking block of ice covered in barbed wire.”
I glance over at him in surprise. “Was that a compliment?”
“You should meet Trevor.”
We’re just glossing over the hero worship, huh?
“I’m not going on a blind date with your boyfriend.”
He glares at me, but it doesn’t have any real heat. “Not like that. Just to talk to him, let him get to know you and see you aren’t a bad guy. Then you could meet Tera.”
“You want me to meet up with your asshole fuckup of a boyfriend, who has trust issues might I add, so I can what? Tell him I will be your girl’s shield before I’ve even met her? Guide the horse to water and beat him until he drinks?” I scoff at the idea.
“Exactly,” he grins back.