Page 29 of Asher

“If you’re not talking about the kiss…You mean you messed up again?” Cam clarified.

“Unintentionally.” I poured another drink and tossed it back. Standing, I grabbed the darts out of the board and lined myself up to throw. Ready to take my frustration out on something.Anything.I needed to go to the gym and hit a bag for a while.

“What does that mean?” Mason asked.

My shoulders hung, and I dropped my hands to my side as I faced them. “I’m thinking it means that Haley thought something was going on when it wasn’t.”

“Well, that clears things up,” Cam said dryly.

Grayson slid back up beside me, arms crossed, expression skeptical. “You mean you weren’t screwing the girl that was barefoot in your house?”

“The hell?” My brow furrowed. “What are you talking about, barefoot?”

He scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “Dude, I don’t know. All I know is Haley showed up at Stephanie’s door crying about you and a girl that was barefoot.”

“Where the hell was I?” Cam asked as my mind raced.

“You were on call. I went over to see Steph and Hales showed up upset.” Grayson explained.

It felt like a punch to the gut knowing that he was the one to comfort her.

“What the hell does Stella being barefoot have to do with anything?” I asked.

Cam leaned against the wall. All three of them stared at me intently. “Who’s Stella?”

“Apparently the pretty girl that Asher’s sleeping with.” Gray supplied, but it sounded almost like a question.

I scoffed. “I’m not sleeping with her.”

“Then what happened?” Gray asked, his voice flat. He was hesitant about what I had to say. That much was clear.

I sighed and looked at Mason because he would know better than anyone. “You know how Carrie’s family has never spent Nix’s birthday with us? They never want to celebrate that day?”

Carrie’s family loved Nix, but they had a hard time celebrating a day where they lost their daughter. Something that has been hard for all of us. Every year a few days after her birthday, they’ll come over and do gifts and lunch.

“Yeah?”

I threw the last dart into the wall. “Well, they came over Sunday morning to see Nix. To celebrate. It was the same day that Haley was supposed to come over, and I was still going to have her come for dinner that night because they were supposed to leave, but then Nix got sick. So, I cancelled. I didn’t think that she would want to be around Nix, who was throwing up like crazy. Hell, she had just puked on me when Haley showed up.”

“That doesn’t answer who Stella is, though.” Mason pointed out. “Carrie was an only child.”

“Yeah.” I squeezed the back of my neck. “Stella was her younger cousin. I’d met her a few times before, but usually she doesn’t come with.”

“So, she answered the door and staked her claim on you?” Grayson asked, his tone accusing. I didn’t fucking like what he was insinuating. Stella was a little more touchy feely than I would have liked, but in no way did she stake her claim. No one could do that but Haley.

“What?” I scowled at him.

He took a step in my direction so that we were only a few feet apart. “Look. I want to believe you, but Haley was a mess that night and I care about her. I don’t want her to get hurt.”

My blood boiled. I shoved his chest, pushing him back against the wall, a bar stool toppling over in the process. I was not the one to get physical, but I’d had enough. “Fuck you, Grayson. I love Haley. I would never fucking hurt her.”

Cam grabbed my arm, yanking me back and forcing me to release my hold on him. “Calm down, Ash.”

Grayson’s eyes were wide as he stared at me.

“Well, shit.” Mason smirked.

“What?” I asked, my chest heaving. I flexed my hands repeatedly, trying to calm down.