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The doorbell rings and I yell, “It’s open,” without bothering to get up The only people who coie—and she’s at work—or Liah to know the routine: come on in and make yourself at home
“You look adorable” Asher chuckles
I turn my head to the sound of his voice, horrified Never in a million years did I think Asher Anderson would be at ht For one, there’s the issue with our parents that he see up at seven PM with a ro
I reach for one of the three throw blankets Mom keeps on the couch to cover up with I’m not indecent, but the flannel Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer paja and,a bra I’ht of hi
“What are you doing here?”
Asher glides across s to sit on the far end of the couch I pull rabs my ankles and sets my feet in his lap At first, I'm too stunned to pull them back, but then he speaks and my stomach drops “It’s been a week We have a double date with Liam and Corah Remember?”
“Oh, no, we do not!”
The last thing I want to do is hang around with those two tonight I' his girlfriend of the h, every time I turn around, they’re in a full-blownhis body Hair Shoulders Stos It makes me physically sick to watch
Asher ss his thumb into the sole of my heel and rubs out knots I didn't know existed My head falls back against the ar my lips
I close o, this wouldn’t have been possible because I severely disliked Asher I wouldn’t say hate, because there were times he surprised me, but it was close
I will say that Asher has blown irlfriend, for real, he’d be a pretty great boyfriend He’s abandoned our old lunch table, with Liam and the cheerleaders, to sit with me and ets the chance, which is more often than I expected, he findsto hold my hand And,deep inside o rear their ugly heads, and I don’t like it
“El??
?? Asher queries, his voice soft and soothing
“Hmm?” I don’t want to open s insideAsher would be easy—I haven’t liked hirade, haven't even considered us friends since sixth—but separating what’s real and what’s not is turning out to be harder than I thought
Asher switches to my other foot and I melt deeper into the couch