Chapter 54

“Get out of the doorway,” said one of the cheerleaders, standing on the landing outside of my hotel room. I hadn’t let anyone in yet.

I hadn’t known, when I had reluctantly agreed to host this party in my room, that it was going to include a group of random guys.

“Maybe this isn’t such a good idea after all,” I mumbled.

Elena’s smile tightened. “Backing out now, Cynthia? When we’re here on your doorstep?”

“I thought you were cool,” another girl said. “Why are you being so lame now?”

“Come on, Cynthia. Just let us in.”

I could slam the door in their faces, but then they’d hate me for sure. So instead, I swallowed down my worries and stepped back, allowing them into the room.

Someone lined tequila shots on top of the dresser. The music started, with a speaker in each corner of the room. The beds and floor were covered with people talking and laughing. A couple was making out in the bathtub.

I stood near the front door, a bottle of water in one hand and my phone in the other, ready to bolt. But where would I go?

Elena sauntered up to me and shoved a plastic cup with a tequila shot into my hand. “Loosen up, sweetie. Parties are supposed to be fun.”

“This is more than we agreed on,” I said.

Elena rolled her eyes. “What are you, a goodie-two-shoes? This is why no one likes you.”

The words burned me, even if I had already suspected it was true. Yet with that dejection also came courage. If they didn’t like me anyway, why was I trying so hard to fit in?

I shoved the drink back at her. “I’m not drinking tonight.”

Elena snorted in agitation. “Suit yourself. But if you tattle to Coach about any of this, I will personally make your life hell.”

It wasn’t an empty threat. I knew she meant it.

“I won’t say anything,” I said, against my better judgement. “But don’t expect me to take part.”

Elena turned her back to me and faced the rest of the room. “Cynthia continues to be a disappointment, everyone!”

Several boos sounded in the crowd. Soon, however, they returned to their merriment and forgot all about me again.

I stood in the corner for a long time, feeling awkward and unwelcome, even in my own room. The party continued for another hour, then two, without any sign of stopping.

Needing some fresh air, I stepped out of the room and onto the outside landing that overlooked the parking lot. I leaned heavily on the railing and sighed.

I had been kidding myself by thinking that this party would be brief and quiet. And I should have known better, too, than to think that it would make the girls like me.

Looking out over the parking lot, I traced the outlines of the cars under the glow of the streetlight. Our bus was parked in the back, some smaller cars parked up front, and a slew of sedans and SUVs in between.

One dark car parked among the rest caught my eye. I knew that car.

“You didn’t call me,” Asher said from beside me.

I closed my eyes, finding instant relief at his voice. Everything would be okay now, with him here.

“I didn’t think it would be this bad,” I said.

Opening my eyes, I took in the sight of him. He was wearing a loose-fitting v-neck t-shirt and black slacks. He was barefoot on the cement.

“What are you doing here, Asher?”

“Worrying about you,” he said.

I gave him a flat look. He knew I didn’t mean at this moment, but at this location. He should have been back on campus.

He didn’t relent. “I was worried about you, so I decided to make the trip to watch the competition. I hadn’t intended to make my presence known. I only wanted to be nearby in case you needed me.”

“But here you are,” I said.

“Here I am.”

He glanced behind us, at my hotel room door. The pulse of music, though muffled, was audible. He didn’t need to say it, his point was apparent.

In this moment, I needed him.

“Is that your room?” he asked.

I nodded. “Elena tricked me. It was supposed to just be the team and a couple drinks.”

“Parties at Lunarhaven Academy are never that simple.”

I was beginning to see that now. “I feel like an idiot.” I couldn’t believe I had trusted Elena, of all people. She hated me. That wasn’t going to change just because she wanted something from me.

“Maybe I’ll get another room,” I said. The hotel main office was downstairs at the head of the parking lot.

“The hotel is booked solid tonight,” Asher said.

I glanced at him, surprised. How did he know that?

He watched me. “I got the last room.”

Oh.

I deflated at once, curling further around the railing. “Maybe I can sleep out here.”

“You are not sleeping outside.”

“Maybe on the bus.”

“Cynthia.”

“Your car?”

He blinked, slow. “No.”

He placed his hand on my upper arm, then let it trail downwards over my elbow and across my forearm, stopping at my wrist.

I shivered at the warmth of his fingertips. The night air was cool, and my skin had chilled.

He stared at my shoulder, then across to the base of my neck. His eyes were distant. I had no idea what he was thinking, but I desperately wished to know.

“Asher?”

“You can stay in my room,” he said, voice rough. He cleared his throat. “So you can get some sleep.”

I glanced at the door behind us, then at the tempting man before me. I shouldn’t go with him to his room alone, not because I didn’t trust him. I didn’t trust me.

Even if nothing sexual had happened when I’d clawed at him in my sleep, I had still dreamed it. I had still pawed at him.

Now he was asking me to sleep in his close proximity again, with his scent of pine and leather all around me? With him on the bed right next to mine?

So no, I did not trust myself. My aching body might very well teleport between any distance between us, to bring that hot, hard body closer.

And the way he looked at me, God. I trusted him. He would never act on it. But a wildfire burned in those blue eyes. He wanted me too.

I should wait until the party was over, then go to sleep in my own bed, among the tequila stains and crumpled plastic cups.

But should and would were two very different things, especially when the man proposing a night side by side was the one I desired above all else.

Too easily, I said, “Okay.”

He took my hand in his and led me away from the railing. His room was on the opposite end of the corridor, on the corner.

He dropped my hand only to retrieve the key from his back pocket and unlock the door. He clicked on the light, then ushered me forward.

“After you,” he said.

Heart thundering in my chest, I stepped across the threshold, only to stop suddenly just inside of it.

“Asher,” I said, confused.

The room had only one bed.