Page 35 of Exactly What I Needed
I chuckled and nodded.
“So, are you?” She wiped it with her napkin.
“To both nights,” I hesitantly responded.
“By yourself?”
“Sydney will obviously go. She loves them. Plus, the rest of the usual party-going group that, for whatever reason, call me friend will most likely go as well.” I took another bite of lasagna and lifted my brow. I shouldn’t offer because that would make one more person to hide everything from, but I also couldn’t leave her out. Besides, things felt…different with Elysia. “Would you want to come with us? I’ll get you a ticket.”
She squealed in glee. “Would that be all right? Just for family night, that way I can maintain my ‘cool teacher’ status if I run into a student or two.”
“Perfect. I’ll plan on that,” I replied and sighed. Both happily and also in apprehension. As long as I kept everything above board with Asher, then there was nothing to worry about. Tera’s warning would have to play at the forefront of my mind. Her warning should have played at the forefront of my mind when I’d asked Asher for a favor. Okay, wait. Why hadn’t I simply asked Sydney to help? She could play all of the songs that I needed to learn, couldn’t she?
No, she didn’t know the set lists. But Asher did. Once I got the set lists from him, I could ask for Sydney’s help on everything else.
Yes, that was it.
No, that was an excuse.
Groaning, I pushed myself away from my desk for a moment.
What was I doing?
The final bell rang two days later on Wednesday. I still hadn’t gotten the courage up to tell Sydney about the concert. Though she probably already knew and would ask me the day before if I wanted to go. I needed to broach that subject soon so I could one, make sure we had an extra ticket on the first night for Elysia. But for two, to also find a way to make it seem harmless that I needed her help learning the songs.
Or I could just keep that between Asher and me? Maybe that was the more harmless route to go, and she could just help me film the videos for my students.
Gathering my stuff as quickly as I could, I shoved it all into my bag. I still hadn’t opened Asher’s Picsnap either. Partly because I was nervous about what it might be in general. The other part was from his warning. I feared that someone would walk in at the wrong time or just happen to see it.
Or hear it. Especially if he said something dirty, I could not risk my students hearing that.
I pushed open the heavy doors and unlocked my little Honda Civic. Lifting my leg, I slid into the driver’s seat, careful to not expose anything private beneath my blush skirt. Luckily, I had yet to spill anything on my white blouse that I’d tucked into the hem of the skirt and belted together today. Luck was definitely all I could credit it toward since I’d nearly splashed some soup on it at lunch.
Shutting the door, I tossed my book bag into the passenger seat and turned on my vehicle. Then I paused.
Glancing around me, I realized I was alone.
Students were home or at some after-school activity, and no teachers were in the parking lot either.
Snatching my phone from my purse, I quickly opened Picsnap and stared at the unread icon. It was a video, and it was now or never. My heart was racing in my chest as I touched the notification and grimaced, bracing for whatever came.
And then rolled my eyes.
Other than the fact that he was shirtless and the pants he was wearing left nothing to the imagination, all it was, was a recording of the new song they were releasing soon. But it wasn’t the verse that they’d shared on Vizgram. No, it was a different part.
“In your reign of my heart, Princess of allure. My soul’s bound and forever secure.”
He called me “Princess.”
The video ended, cutting out, but I remained frozen. Stuck staring at the screen. That was no accident. But he’d reminded me that I’d told him off. What was going on? That line, the song, his easy agreement to my request for a favor, were all the opposite of respecting my denial of him.
I raised an eyebrow as something sounded at the back of my mind. I’d also once told him to quit being respectful and polite toward my rejections.
Was that what he had meant all along?
Lost in thought, I mindlessly plugged the address he’d sent me into my GPS and began driving toward my destination. A destination whereI would once again be alone with someone who couldn’t be good for me but felt absolutely right. Maybe he was enjoying this little game of cat and mouse.
Winding along the road, I eventually left our small town and entered the city. Cars were honking and crammed on the street, pedestrians walking up and down the sidewalks as I continued along. Passing the hotel he was staying at, I rounded a corner and pulled into a familiar parking lot of what looked like a massive music studio.
