Page 41 of The Fate Of Us

A scoff comes from Achilles.“Am I the newbie in this little scenario in your head?”

“Well, who did you think I was talking about?”I take a step closer.“It’s just that I’venever seen your face before, or know your name to connect the dots. But because you so rudely interrupted me as I tried to introduce myself, we never got to that part.”

Achilles licks away a smile, clearly trying to hide the frustration that is no doubtbubbling inside of him.“I’m Asher,”he says in a whisper, too sultry for a boy of his stature.“Asher Hartford.”

I try not to let my legs buckle beneath me as he steps closer.“Well, Asher Hartford,I’m Adaline Mo—”

“I know who you are, Miss Moore.”

My silly little heart did nothing but thump ten times the speed it was ever meant towhen his confession reached my ears.

“Oh,”is all I can muster up as he reaches the tips of my shoes, before lifting ahand for me to shake, but for the life of me, I don’t know whether I should shake it or attempt to shatter it.“Well, Asher, I would say it’s a pleasure to meet you, but I think I’ll wait until this reading is over to make my final decision.”

I ultimately lift my hand and meet his as we shake it, his head leaning down ever soslightly to whisper.“Likewise.”

Seventeen-year-old Asher was a cocky little thing, which was probably why I hatedthat shoot more than I had any other, to begin with. He was pompous, arrogant, and the definition of entitled…

But there were times when he’d drop that mask, and for the minute that he did, I likedhim. I liked the person he was letting me get to know.

He’d do little things, like bring me my favourite breakfast on Mondays, because heknew not having them to myself was eating away at me. He pulled that little nugget of information out of me when he’d somehow convinced me to sneak away from the set for an hour to go get ice cream from the parlour around the corner.

There were times when, coupled with his height and pacific gaze, I felt drawn to him.The blue in his eyes would lighten and when I’d notice the change… I’d melt.But, like something would switch in his head, after being sweet, he’d pick up thatasshole attitude and carry it around with him until the next time he felt the need to whisk me away.

I couldn’t tell what caused it at first. What made him morph back into the asshole who I’d met before knowing how sweet he could be… until one day, when I finally plucked up the courage to ask him where the attitude came from, he sunk his head in his hands and told me what had brought him to L.A. in the first place.

Like me… acting was his parent’s idea, never his. And when he’d told me that he’d bedragged away from his hometown, in one of the Carolinas, away from all his friends and everything he knew, just to live the life that his parents could never have for themselves… I’d never felt more understood in my life.

Sure, Nate was there as my shoulder to cry on. He was there to pick me up and wipeaway the tears. But Asher knew what it was like to live a life where all you wanted was nothing more than to set it alight.

That was what made me hold onto the times when he’d flash me a smile and a headtilt, dragging me from the set and sneaking me away for ice cream. When I’d watch that smile fade and that cape of anger and frustration strangle him, so much that he had to walk off set… I’d remind myself that he was new in town and his attitude was a front for how he was trying to fit in, trying to deal with the cards he’d been dealt.

That was probably why I introduced him to Nate.

I thought that, maybe, if he had a guy friend who was almost his age, it would ease him into theintensity of L.A., and that with Nate being as sweet and understanding as he is… was…I thought it was a foolproof plan.

But I get the feeling that from the way Nate’s eyes are burning a hole through the sideof Asher’s head, like he’s hoping if he stares at him long enough he’ll burst into flames, his opinion of him hasn’t changed in the years since they met.

“Hello, stranger.” Asher’s words pull me away from Nate and onto him. Up close,he’s even more devastatingly handsome than he was from afar.

Was he always this hot? Or has he just gotten taller?

I shake my head, focus my eyes on his and slide out from the booth I was gettingtoo comfortable in. “Hi, Ash. God, I can’t remember the last time I saw you.” I rush out the lie, like my mind hadn’t been possessed by that moment just now, those nerves he naturally brought out in sixteen-year-old me bubbling for the first time in years.

Before I can steady my nerves, I feel Asher bend down to embrace me, his armssnaking around my shoulders and tugging me into his chest. The collar of his shirt brushed the top of my head, washing waves of sandalwood and earthy musk all over me.

He doesn’t pull away as quickly as I thought he would, his arms lingering on my backand brushing the tips of my hair, which I can only assume is making Nate twitch like crazy.

Keep hugging me, Achilles.

Soon enough, he’s straightening away from me, his smile even wider when he stepsback. “I think I spotted you at that Defenders Two premiere last year.” he admits, his eyes sweeping over my face.

“You were there that night?”

“Oh yeah, I snagged a last-minute invite. Which I am pretty glad about considering it’sprobably my favourite movie ever.” He steps around, causing me to spin and find Nate still tucked away in the booth. “You were personally my favourite performance, though, Nate. You were awesome, man,” he beams, his cheeks glowing with a certain starstruck wonder.

Nate, on the other hand, still looks like he’s plotting how to murder him, as I knockmy head to the side to watch him. “Oh, thanks,” he grits out, before catching my pointed stare, one he’s seen a few times when we interacted with Asher when we were younger.“Yeah, I um… loved you in that new period drama. It was… a performance.”

I act better than that, right?

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