Chapter Thirty-Eight
Max
I need Asher’s advice so badly right now. I’ve been waiting since Monday to talk to him and too chickenshit to text.
Tera is cutting me off again, and I’m struggling with a new way to get her back. She’s too embarrassed by her outburst, even though I found it funny as fuck that she ripped Trev to shreds. I need to make sure and tell Asher that part. I like that he supports Tera, no matter the situation.
I walk in with determination and freeze in place with sudden dread.
Asher is glaring at me. Holy shit he’s actually pissed about something. I’m not sure how to handle this.
“Hello, Max,” he says grimly.
I feel sweat start to roll off me as I take in his aggressive stance and crossed arms. It’s the weirdest fucking reaction I’ve ever had to a person. It doesn’t help that he seems like he could easily kill me in over a hundred different ways and knows exactly where to bury my body. He’s that kind of scary motherfucker, even if he’s smaller than me and covered in flower tattoos.
“Are you ok?” I ask hesitantly. I’m not even ashamed of the fact I’m ready to run. Fuck standing my ground against this guy. I know my limits.
His eyes narrow on me, and I swallow hard.
“How are things going with your girl?”
They’re the right words but a really fucked up tone.
“Not good,” I blurt out. My shoulders sag as my defensive stance loosens despite the obvious threat he poses.
“Explain.” His arms drop to his sides.
I guess he’s gotten involved with my life whether he likes it or not. I’ll take his advice over anyone else’s, so I’m down with it. He’s normally a pretty good guy. Today being a weird ass exception.
I tell him what happened at the bar, and he listens attentively, not bothering to start the class at all, which is also really weird. Am I his Friday soap opera now? Who gives a shit, at least he’s invested. I don’t know what changed from last Friday, but I’m liking the results. I have his full attention instead of the normal blasé attitude he gives out.
When I get to the part about her yelling at Trevor, his lips twist up in the most satisfied grin. It cracks me up all over again.
“She tore him up, man. It was epic. She could barely defend herself to those other bitches, but Trev got both barrels. It shook him up.”
“Oh, really?” Asher smirks as he tips his chin.
“Yeah. I don’t know why it’s taken him this long to get his head out of his ass, but he’s actually scared as fuck to go near her. Him! Afraid of sweet little Tera. Maybe she’ll get him kneeling instead. That would be hilarious.”
Asher’s smile drops, and his eyes slide over my face. I feel like he’s looking really hard for something, and I have no idea what it is.
“Why is there a problem then?”
“She lost her temper and ran,” I blow out a loud breath and take a sip of water. “I’ve only ever seen her lose it once before. It’s like watching a kitten puff up and spit at you. She actually cursed. She never curses. Tera doesn’t like hurting people, even when they deserve it. She’ll find the nicest way to let you down easy and throw herself under a bus to make sure you’re comforted the whole time. That hasn’t changed at all. She told that bitch it was ok to throw that plate at her because she threw one first and deserved it. I’m pissed at her for that one, not that I’ll ever tell her that.”
Asher takes in that news with a heavy scowl. “She upset Trevor, and now she’s avoiding the fallout?”
“I’m not sure. If it wasn’t for how she got onto the waitresses, I would say yeah.”
“She just told them to be on time and get back to work, right?” His brow furrows in confusion.
“And she told them to leave me and Trevor alone so we could relax with each other. She wants us to be happy. I think she’s going to cut me out. She just hasn’t figured out how to do it without hurting my feelings yet. I need your advice again.”
He’s back to normal as he eyes me suspiciously without speaking.
“I think she’s backing off because she’s afraid she might break me and Trevor up. She’s mentioned that it might never work out with both of us before, but I was hoping I could get them talking, and it would all work out.”
“She doesn’t want to take just you?” Asher gives me a jaded tone, and I glare because he’s got a bitter filter that he needs to remove when it comes to Tera. He can take his cold-as-ice persona straight to hell with that shit.
“That’s not Tera. She’s told me over and over again that my relationship with Trevor is beautiful and shouldn’t be taken advantage of. She gets onto me when I talk about starting shit with him.”
“Fuck me,” he rubs his face in frustration. I agree.
“She’s a romantic. It’s frustrating as fuck when I don’t have a romantic bone in my body. Neither does Trevor now that I think about it.”
“How does she usually handle conflict?” He sits on the mat with me instead of crouching beside me.
“Old Tera brushed it off and made a joke. Then she started axing people out of her life and running. I guess she doesn’t handle it at all. I don’t know if I should back off or push because either way, she might try and skip town again. At least Shade would bring her back this time around, but what if she manages to escape him, too? If anyone could do it, it would be her.”
“Shade,” his eyes narrow thoughtfully.
“Yeah, her roomie. AKA her big brother, AKA the silent assassin. Don’t ask,” I roll my eyes. The guy is a jack of all trades and more dangerous than Asher. No one can convince me otherwise. “Tera says he’s the sweetest dictator she knows.”
“Of course,” His lips twitch up in a half smile as he shakes his head.
“What do you think? What should I do now?”
Several guys wander in. We’ve been talking long enough that the next class is starting. I didn’t get any physical stress relief, but my emotional relief is sitting next to me, contemplating my issues, so I won’t complain.
“Has she been contacting you at all? Letting you know what’s going on in her life?” He gives me a narrow-eyed look of suspicion as he asks.
“No, she’s not answering when I call anymore. The last thing she told me was that one of those assholes got her into a yoga class. Probably some penance Shade tortured out of him, which is amazing. I’m really starting to like that guy.”
Asher gives me a glare at that, and I shrug.
“If I had known how much she loves doing yoga, I would have put her in your class to fuck with you. Consider yourself spared the extra Max life drama.”
“Ok,” Asher snarls at me. “Advice time.”
I sit up straight and give him my full attention.
“Keep up with the texting, don’t let her shut you out but don’t be a dick, either.”
“I’m not a dick to her, asshole,” I snap back.
“Right,” he gives me a disbelieving look, and I scowl. “That’s the only pushing you’re allowed right now.”
“Allowed?” I can’t hold back the surprised bark of laughter.
Asher leans into my space with a dead serious look. “Yes, Max. Allowed. Do not test me.”
Fuck, he’s really serious.
I give a confused nod. I’m not really sure what’s happening right now, but he sounds right. I don’t want to push too hard, but I don’t want to fully back away, either. Texting is like a safe zone as long as they aren’t misinterpreted or her phone doesn’t get taken from her again. I can do that.