Page 23 of Asher

“You answered because I called?” I asked, sounding like a fumbling idiot. I couldn’t help it. The sight of her like that made me stupid.

“You never call.”

“Uh-huh.” My throat tightened. I needed to get my shit under control.

“I thought someone might be dying. Is everything okay? Is Nix okay?”

I dropped my chin, scratching my cheek. “Uh, yeah. She wanted to call you and see when you could come over this week. She misses you.”

I miss you.

Haley’s eyes softened. “Where is she? Can I talk to her?”

“Yeah. I need to go grab her. I’m in my room.” I nodded.

She sat the phone down so the camera faced the ceiling. A hand reached over to grab something. My eye caught on a piece of pink lace that had my entire mind moving in a dirty direction.

“Sorry, I’m just getting dressed real quick,” she apologized.

I mumbled something in agreement and adjusted myself. Holding a hand over the mic, I cracked my bedroom door. “Phoenix!” I called down the hallway, and she came running. “Here’s Haley. I need a minute, okay?” I said, passing the phone to my daughter, the door blocking most of my body.

“You’re weird,” Nix said, giving me a look. She snatched the phone from my hand. “Hi, Haley!” Her face lit up full of joy. Their voices faded as Phoenix moved further down the hallway. Shutting the door, I sat on the corner of my unmade bed and fell back. Covering my eyes with both hands, I thought of football stats and random plays to get myself under control.

“Shit.”

CHAPTER SIX

HALEY

Asher

Can we reschedule? Phoenix isn’t feeling well.

I stared at the text, my stomach knotted. Poor girl. I was looking forward to going over tonight. I hadn’t actually spent anytime time with just Ash and Phoenix for over a week. After thinking about my conversation with Holly, I decided I needed to man the fuck up let Ash know what I’d been feeling.

Let the chips fall where they may.

No matter how much that terrified me.

I planned to talk to him tonight after I gave Nix her gifts and we ate some Chinese. My least favorite food but Asher loved it, so I dealt with it on the occasion it was what he wanted to order.

The man really needed to learn how to cook. Those two were too used to take out and frozen pizzas.

The longer I stared at the message, the more my hackles rose. Ash never cancelled our plans, even if one of them were sick. Normally, we’d let Nix cuddle up between us and watched a movie until she fell asleep.

Haley

Poor girl. Is there anything I can do?

Asher

No. We just need to ride it out.

Haley

Okay. Let me know when you want to get together.

Asher