Page 128 of The Sidekick

Shade starts laughing, and I follow suit as Asher pulls away with a grin. When he starts eating, I glance at the noodles in front of me, chewing my lip. He might be right. I’d better eat as much as I can to save face.

Babygirl,

I’m so proud of you. I know you probably don’t give a shit, but I had to say it. I haven’t seen Max this happy in a long time. I’m fucking up with him, shutting him out. Jesus, I'm thinking about writing him letters now. He’s still blown away by the anger management and the therapy. He says it’s helping, though, so I’m not giving up.

Chapter Forty-Five

Max

Unknown: This is Asher. We need to meet up.

I stare at the text in confusion. I gave him my number months ago, and now he wants to hang out? Maybe it’s a slow day at the gym.

“Is it Tera?” Trevor’s tense voice asks from the couch, and I shake my head. “Who else would be texting you?”

“Ash,” I shrug.

“Your mediator?” He sounds taunting.

I want to hit him. If he would actually listen to me for one goddamned second, my life would go so much better. I should go to his next therapy session in his place.

“He wants to meet up,” I scowl back at him. He turns to me with a dark expression.

“Alone?”

The question has an angry tone that gives me goosebumps. Having him be visibly jealous without trying to hide it is a nice stroke to my ego. It’s still new, and I’m excited that the firm control he usually keeps himself under is slowly loosening. He’s more possessive than ever, and I’m appreciating the results.

“I don’t think he’s into guys, mi rey. If it makes you feel better, I’ll tell him not without you.”

His eyes narrow on me, but I’m being completely serious. If he wants to meet up with me outside the gym, Trevor needs to be there. I haven’t given up on my idea. I want Asher to get a feel for Trev’s asshole personality. He can finally see what I deal with daily.

“Tonight is our only night off together,” he reminds me, and I roll my eyes.

“It’s not going to take all night. I’m texting him back.”

Me: Tonight? Trevor mandatory. No getting out of it.

Asher:Good.

“He’s fine with you coming,” I say with a smirk. Trevor reads over my shoulder with a frown as I retake my seat next to him on the couch.

“He’s not one for words.”

“He’s got this whole Zen dickhead vibe. I want his attitude to rub off on you.”

“Brat,” Trevor grumbles and changes the channel.

Trevor wants Asher on home territory for some reason, and I let it go, telling him to meet us at the bar. Asher has no idea we work there, but the way the waitresses are acting toward us after Tera’s blow-up, he’ll figure it out pretty quickly.

We settle at a table next to each other, facing the door a little before ten. I feel keyed up for this meeting. I want everything to go right and have no idea how to accomplish it. My leg is bouncing under the table, and Trevor is giving me curious looks.

“Are you sure you aren’t into this guy?” Trevor asks suspiciously.

“I’m not. He’s for Tera only, man. He’ll treat her like a queen if I can get them both in the same room.”

“It’s your night off,” Emily interrupts with a smile and presses her arms together so her breasts are close to falling out of her top as she stops at our table.

I ignore her to watch the door. I’m surprised she has the guts to come over here after she took her top off in front of us in the break room. Why can’t they just get the memo that we aren’t interested?

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