One True Thing (21 page)

another picture as Alice brought a fistful of white

cake and strawberry mousse filling up to her mouth

and shoved almost all of it inside.

“Alice! No, sweetie, that’s too much!”

I grinned as Rue rushed over to her, but Alice

was already going for her next mouthful. “It’s a

good thing we made a second cake,” I said. That

one was waiting in the fridge for Erik, Rue, and me

to enjoy later. We’d just finished an early dinner of

black bean veggie burgers, pasta salad, and grilled

asparagus before singing “Happy Birthday” to

Alice and letting her at her individual cake. After

she opened her presents, it would be time to clean

up, and then… then I’d be seeing Asher.

It had been just under two weeks since I’d

spent the night at his place. We hadn’t done much

more than kiss. Some tickling, a little bit of

wrestling and touching—and, okay,
maybe
some

grinding—but mainly we kissed, long and deep

and slow, for what felt like hours. Same with the

other two nights I’d spent there. Eventually the

kisses would slow even further, dampening from a

blaze to a smolder, languid and dreamy, until

finally I fell asleep in his arms. And that was

exactly where I’d wake the next morning, wrapped

up and protected.

It was wonderful.

The memories made me shiver and sigh

softly. A sharp look from Rue told me he’d caught

that sigh and would be asking about it later, but for

the moment, we all went back to paying attention to

Alice. It was her day, after all. One year. God, I

couldn’t believe how drastically our lives had

changed in that time. It was kind of crazy, but

thinking back, I couldn’t say I would have changed

a thing.

“SO,” RUE said when we were alone in the

kitchen packing leftovers and washing the

remaining dishes. “How are things going with you

and… Asher? That’s the good twin, right?”

I snorted and placed the tray I’d just dried on

the counter. “Yes. Asher. And they’ve been great.”

Better than. We saw each other nearly every day,

even if it was just for an hour or two, and the

feelings between us kept growing, getting deeper,

more powerful. “There’s only one thing that’s been

kinda bugging me, though.”

Rue handed me another plate to dry and

started washing the next one. “What’s that?”

“Well, it’s only been like two weeks, and

maybe it’s just a coincidence, but… I haven’t seen

him at The Banana Leaf since we got together. I

mean, I’d run into him there a couple of times

before, and now that we’re dating, I figured he

might stop in more often, you know, or suggest we

meet there for lunch, but he hasn’t.”

Rue shrugged lightly. “So? He’s been

working, right? It might not be convenient for him.”

I considered that for a moment. Asher hadn’t

told me the locations of the shoots he’d been

working on, but it was entirely possible they

weren’t anywhere near our little section of WeHo.

If that was the case, of course he wouldn’t be

stopping at The Banana Leaf.

“That’s true,” I said. “It makes sense.

Maybe….” I sighed softly. “Maybe I’m just being

paranoid because of what Lane told me. I’d seen

Asher there with girls a couple of times, and I…

well, I was wondering if it might be intentional.

Like, maybe he was avoiding the place on purpose

or something.” Rue shot me an incredulous look,

and I felt my cheeks heat. “Okay, yeah, I know how

that sounds, but—”

“Wait a second,” Rue interrupted, in such a

reasonable tone, my cheeks got even hotter. “From

what you’ve said about him, he seems like a good

guy. Or at the very least not a total douche like his

brother. Do you think… well, do you think you

might be projecting a little? Who knows if what

that Lane guy heard is true? I mean, have you asked

Asher who those girls were?”

“No.” I shook my head. “I guess… maybe I

should. Michelle said something similar when we

talked about it, something about how maybe people

had been mixing Ash and Archer up like I did. But

the girls I saw Ash with—that was before we got

together. I figured it wasn’t any of my business.”

“Well, if it’ll make you feel better, ask him.”

Rue switched off the water and reached for the

towel I was holding to dry his hands. “But I think

you might be worrying for nothing.” He folded the

towel and set it next to the sink, then turned to face

me, his green eyes serious. “Don’t get me wrong,

Dust. I know with your history, you might be

nursing some serious trust issues when it comes to

guys. But your relationship with Asher? It’s a

clean slate. A brand new page. Leave the past—

and your exes—out of it.”

“You’re right, Underoo.” I pulled him into a

quick hug. “Sorry. I sound ridiculous, don’t I? It’s

not that I don’t trust him. I… I just—”

“I know.” Rue ran a hand down my back and

squeezed me a little. “I get it, Dust. But if he hasn’t

given you a reason to be suspicious, then don’t be,

okay? Based on what you’ve told me, he seems

really into you. I doubt there’s anything shady

going on.”

I nodded and leaned against him for a long

moment. “Yeah.”

“And I know he had to work today, but I’d

like to meet him soon. I want to see the guy

responsible for that goofball grin you’ve been

walking around with lately.”

I laughed at that. “Soon. I promise.”

LATER that night I was pacing near the front door,

waiting for Asher. He hadn’t been able to attend

Alice’s little birthday celebration because of an

all-day shoot, but we’d made plans to catch a late

movie and maybe revisit the ’50s-era diner where

we’d shared our first meal together.

Alice was already in bed for the night,

exhausted after hours of playing with her new toys

and toddling around the house (she’d just started

walking a few weeks before). Rue and Erik had

vanished into their room, where, judging by the

thud and moan I’d just heard, they were having a

bit of fun. Lucky for them—or maybe all of us,

considering I might have Asher over sometime in

the near future—Alice was a heavy sleeper. I, on

the other hand, usually had to bury my head under

my pillow to avoid hearing them.

It had bothered me before, but since the night

I’d spent with Asher, I’d felt oddly at peace with

the whole thing. Erik and Rue were right together,

and I had a hunch that Ash and I were too. His

presence in my life had taken away the loneliness,

and with it any lingering hurt I’d been feeling about

Rue and Erik. We were still new—very,
very
new

—but being with him was so different than

anything I’d known before.

I couldn’t say it was love because, God, it

was way too soon for that. But the potential was

there. I knew if things kept going as they were, it

probably wouldn’t be long. And, strangely enough,

that didn’t scare me. In fact, I could say with all

honesty that I was looking forward to it.

My cell phone buzzed in my pocket,

announcing Asher’s arrival. I did a quick check in

the mirror next to the door—hair soft and

unspiked, makeup light with just a bit of mascara

and some clear lip gloss. I was good to go.

The moment I settled into the passenger seat,

Asher’s fingers were in my hair, pulling my face to

his for a slow kiss. “Hi,” he whispered against my

mouth.

All I could do was moan in response, tracing

the seam of his lips and urging them to part for me.

He let me in, and our tongues tangled, slick and hot

and oh-so-good.

I wanted him. So badly. More than anything.

For a second I considered telling him as much,

suggesting we skip the movie and go back to his

place instead. I’d let my insecurity get the better of

me earlier, and with no good reason. We’d already

said it would be just us, me and him, while we

tested the foundation of this new and fragile thing

we were building. I couldn’t let my unfounded

paranoia get in the way of that.

But… as much as I did want him, we’d been

taking things slow so far, and maybe that was for

the best. I allowed myself a couple more minutes

of kisses, the fingers of one hand buried in the soft

hair at his nape, the other sneaking beneath the hem

of his T-shirt to skim across silky skin at the small

of his back. He felt so warm, smelled so good, like

the wind and maybe the tiniest hint of something

tropical. Sunscreen, I thought. He’d said he would

be shooting outside for most of the day, so that

made sense. Whatever it was, I liked it.

Finally, I broke the kiss and buried my face

against his neck, taking a moment to get my

breathing under control. “Love how you kiss me,” I

said, dipping my fingers just below the waistband

of his jeans.

“Me too.” His voice shook a little, his lips

brushing my temple as he spoke. “God, Dusty,

you….”

Asher didn’t finish the thought, but that was

okay. He didn’t have to. I knew exactly what he

meant.

His hands smoothed down my back. “Should

we go?”

I nodded and started to pull away so I could

get situated and buckle my seatbelt.

Asher stopped me before I could get too far,

his fingers cupping my nape. “Another kiss first?”

he asked.

I was smiling when his lips met mine. We

made it to the movie ten minutes late.

Asher

I WAS pretty sure I was falling in love with Dusty.

Yeah, it hadn’t been very long, and we were just

supposed to be feeling things out, but every time he

smiled I swear to God my heart stopped. I was on

my way to see him for our… tenth date? I didn’t

even know anymore. Needless to say, it wasn’t

enough. Every time I saw him I just wanted more

and more.

My palms started to sweat as I pulled up to

the curb in front of his house. It wasn’t Dusty. He

still gave me the best, most fluttery butterflies, but

the sweaty palms, that was because I was at his

house to meet his family—his best friend Rue,

Rue’s partner, and their daughter. Dusty had made

it very clear that they were the most important

people in his life. I didn’t know what I’d do if they

didn’t like me.

Dusty opened the door to the house before I

even managed to talk myself into chilling out and

going inside. He came bounding down the

sidewalk like everything was super relaxed and I

wasn’t about to face the Spanish Inquisition, and

leaned into my open car window.

“Hey, gorgeous. What are you doing still

sitting out here?” He brushed a kiss across my

cheek and reached in to pop open the door. He was

wearing these drawstring khaki pants that looked

like they were barely perched on his narrow hips,

flip-flops, and a black tank top that hugged every

inch of his lean torso. For a moment, lust overrode

my nerves, but a black-haired head peeking out the

window brought them galloping back.

“I’m kind of nervous,” I admitted. “I don’t

want them to hate me.”

Dusty held out his hand, and I took it. Just that

little contact made me feel better. “Don’t be

scared. It’s just Rue and Erik. They’re nice. Just

curious.”

“And protective.” Dusty had told me about

Gary and how Rue and Erik came to his rescue.

Dusty rolled his eyes. “Yeah, but you’re a

good guy, and hot, and Rue will probably flirt with

you even though he means nothing by it. Erik will

stammer and not talk much at first, but then he’ll

warm up to you and everything will be fine. I

promise.”

“Kiss first?” I wasn’t going to stick my tongue

down his throat in front of his family, but I needed

something to tide me over.

“You don’t even have to ask.” Dusty wound

his slender arms around my neck and planted a

long, deep kiss on my lips. I was out of breath by

the time we parted, but far more relaxed. “C’mon.

They’re probably wondering what the hell we’re