Unfriended: A Geek and Stud Romance (Love in New Highland Book 1)

by Deana Farrady

  I managed to lower my voice to a near-shout. "Why do you even want your inheritance?"

  He didn't stop smiling. "Alice cast out an irresistible lure."

  "In her will? And what would that be?"

  He shook his head. He wasn't going to say. "Boy, you sure are het up about this, Ash. You might consider meditation. You could use some zen. Some calm. It'll help you in life through these rocky periods."

  I ignored that. "Break it off."

  "Break what off?"

  "The stupid engagement."

  "Can you call it an engagement when it only lasts a few weeks?" He started jumping around to warm up, puffing air into his hands. "Funny, that didn't even occur to me. Should I get her a ring? Any idea what stones she goes for? It'll have to be small, unless you could lend me a few thousand…?"

  If he was trying to incite me to slug him, he couldn't have done it better. "I will fucking kill you if you hurt her in any way."

  The taunting glint in his eyes softened. "I have no intention of hurting your friend. Who could hurt a sweetheart like Charis?"

  "Anyone who doesn't care about her enough. And that would be you."

  He looked curious. "And how would you know how much I care about her?" Suddenly his face lit up. "Tell you what, let's ask her. Hey, C.S!"

  I whipped around. She was walking briskly toward us from the street and looked from Karl to me with astonishment.

  "What are you doing here?" It was me she was asking. I was the third wheel here.

  "You're here for him?" I jerked my thumb at the man who'd taught me much of what I know about navigating the world of females.

  Who'd tipped me off about clit before I ever saw a picture.

  Who'd showed me how to shave with a straight razor.

  Who'd taught me to whistle.

  Traitor.

  And now my Charis was going to him.

  Karl put his beefy arm around her shoulders, bent down, and while I watched disbelievingly, kissed her slowly on the lips. She jerked back as if startled.

  "Oh, you're cold," she said, then pulled off her glove and reached up to rub his face with her hand, all tender and shit.

  "The fuck," I said, staring from one to the other. "You've got to be kidding me. The both of you. Get your fucking hands off of her."

  They turned as one and stared at me as if I'd gone crazy.

  And I had. I had.

  Seeing Karl holding Charis, touching her, was more than I could tolerate. It confused the hell out of me.

  See, here's what you have to understand. I'd never been jealous over a woman.

  That's right. Not even with Aura.

  When a babe tries to make me jealous, at best it amuses me, at worst I get impatient. Aura used to like to flirt, but when it got annoying I told her to choose whether she wanted a committed or an open relationship. I wasn't bluffing. I strongly preferred a committed relationship but I wouldn't have minded fucking other women at that point, as things had already gone south in our relationship.

  To my way of thinking, there's no point to possessiveness. Either someone wants to be with you or they don't. If they don't, wave them goodbye and find yourself another one.

  But in Charis's case…Karl had no fucking right to fucking touch her with his filthy paws. It was that simple.

  "Asher doesn't believe we're really doing this," he remarked.

  "We're doing it." She nodded.

  I swallowed back my retort to attempt a semblance of friendliness. "You care about him?"

  She looked up at Karl, then back at me. "Sure I do. Why wouldn't I? I love all your family. Oh, how did your exam go?"

  Was everybody mad as a hatter today? Or was I the mad one?

  "Fine," I said. "Do you honestly think he cares about you, Sloane?"

  Her eyes narrowed. "Are you trying to insult me?"

  "Tell me. Do. You. Think. He. Gives a shit. About you."

  Again, she surveyed him. "I'm not sure Karl gives a shit about anything."

  Karl pulled her in closer and he dropped another kiss on her, this time on her forehead.

  "No." I stepped forward. "No. This ends here. Stop touching her. If you don't—"

  Now, I wasn't thinking of actually separating them. It tore at me to see my brother embracing Sloane as if he had every right to touch her, but I hadn't been pushed quite that far yet.

  Instead, I would invade their space. One thing you learn growing up with a lot of siblings—territory is crucial. It's everything in fact. (Citation: In 99% of all Brady Bunch episodes, their spats are over territory. I wrote a paper on it and everything.)

  It boils down to this: You honor their territory or suffer the consequences. I intended to foul my brother's space. To violate it until he voluntarily relinquished it.

  But when the siren voice called my name, I halted as though I'd been jerked back on reins.

  Great. Just great.

  I saw Charis's eyes widen as they focused past my shoulder.

  "Ash, oh, Asher, baby, love," came a crooning voice.

  I didn't turn around. A familiar softness plastered itself to my back.

  Even through layers of my wool coat and her down parka, I'd recognize those soft, lush breasts anywhere.

  Luckily, my cock didn't recognize a thing. The cold, thank fuck, kept my usual response to Aura Renaldi from stirring. A rambunctious cock was all I needed right now to make this whole scene ludicrous.

  "What are you doing here." I made it a statement rather than a question. I didn't turn around.

  "I was passing by and saw your car. We have to talk."

  "No, you weren't," I said, pissed. "You were following me."

  She'd probably followed me from home. Which meant she'd been watching us from her car like a stalker. I finally turned around to face her.

  She looked up at me. Her eyes were wide and green and glistening with tears, her skin translucent, her cheeks red with cold. She looked like a beautiful, chastised child.

  And I was thankfully immune. My dick didn't even stir.

  In the background, I could hear Karl and Charis talking together. I turned my head to watch.

  Charis's arms were around Karl's neck and she was beaming up at him. He had his palms cupped over her ears, the bastard.

  "Aura, get off." I unwrapped her hands from around me and set her away. As I did, my cock suddenly hardened.

  Just like that, from out of the blue, I was suddenly desperate to bend down and kiss Aura.

  And then it hit me why.

  It wasn't because I wanted her. I didn't.

  It was my frustration with Char. My savage fury at my brother. I craved satisfaction. Purely reflexive, the urge to fuck.

  So yes, I was tempted to take Aura home. I didn't doubt she'd let me use her for angry, cathartic sex. We excelled at that. I could fuck her and calm down.

  Then I'd sit down with Charis and talk to her calmly instead of like some randy hothead. I'd use irrefutable logic to steer her out of her doomed path.

  Yep. Sounded good.

  Except for the part about its being creepville to deliberately use Aura that way.

  And I was getting a sick feeling from her perfume. There was no forgetting the baggage between us. Mine eyes had seen my ex's true light and my own not-so-noble motivations.

  To go back to using Aura would sully our past and our present.

  She deserved better.

  The relationship was over, and it was going to stay over.

  As Winnow says, I might be the darling of the family, but I'm also the most stubborn and ruthless. You have to be, to get your way with five bossy siblings. I can be impulsive, but once I arrive at a decision, it's gold.

  I willed my hard-on down. Focusing on her petulant mouth, it was easy.

  Stage Three, achieved.

  "No," I said.

  She shook her head wildly, refusing to accept my rejection. "We're not done, Asher. You know it as well as I do. What's between us is too powerful."

  I sig
hed. Glancing over at Charis, I caught her rolling her eyes. I tried to hold her gaze for some meaningful eye bonding, but she averted her eyes quickly and said something to my brother.

  "I've got to get back in there anyway," Karl was telling Charis. "See you later."

  "I'm crashing the rest of the day," I heard her reply. "Then I have papers to grade all week. Hey, why don't we hook up Friday for pizza."

  "Sounds good. Pepperoni?"

  "Make it a double and add jalapeños, and you're on."

  "No way, jalapeños and pizza do not mix."

  "You think vegetables and pizza don't mix."

  The easy back-and-forth between them made me gag. I'm her pizza buddy. Hey, what about me?

  "Asher!" Aura's tone was urgent and she pulled on my sleeve.

  "Ah…actually it's not. That powerful." I dragged my gaze back to Aura, down to her pleading eyes.

  I knew we'd broken up. In her reality, it wasn't penetrating. There was no convincing her I wasn't budging, not when she felt free to reach up and touch my mouth with her forefinger.

  "Asher…oh, love…we'll work through this, I promise. You need me. You know you need me."

  I took a deep breath, gathering momentum for what I was about to do.

  Then I skipped back, extended my arm till it found Charis's coat, clutched it, and hooked an arm around her, yanking her away from Karl.

  "What the hell?" Charis squeaked.

  "Can't hide it any longer," I declared, and then I hauled her up against me and slammed my mouth down on hers.

  Yeah. I know.

  It must have been icicles in my brain.

  Or pollution in the air.

  I didn't care. I wasn't going to let myself regret this yet.

  Her lips were freezing. Her mouth was hanging open in stunned amazement, creating the perfect opportunity. I took her with my tongue, swirling around in exploration.

  As had happened the last time, she refused to participate, while I lit up.

  You see, Charis tasted…right. No, not just right—perfect. How had I resisted kissing her all these years?

  After that first hungry taste, I began to put my skill to work. I explored her mouth, keeping her head still, teasing and nipping. At last I felt her tongue tentatively come forward.

  Thrill! Charis Sloane, my completely platonic and clearly innocent best friend, was, very sweetly, kissing me back.

  After that, there was no stopping me. I paid no attention to our observers and did my best to consume her. I kissed her like she had all the experience I did. I had no excuse. Except for the being a ruthless ass part.

  After I-don't-know-how-long, I did make myself let her go. By then she was limp in my arms and my cock was in a full-blown rage, yelling, Good job, you've got her, now finish it, now, now, now.

  Not exactly coolly, I assessed the situation. Aura was staring at us with horror. Karl's expression was one of utter incredulity.

  And Charis…despite being flushed, out of breath, and having melted in my arms—that's actually Joel's term—he uses "the melt" to describe the way a woman looks when a kiss makes her leak her panties, and Char definitely had the "melted" look—she also looked livid.

  Right, I might have fucked up again.

  Karl scratched his eyebrow, twisted his head on his neck…sighed…and threw a punch. Just at my shoulder, where it spun me a quarter of the way around, so a token swat, but still.

  The gratifying thing, though? Charis grabbed his arm and held him back. "No, don't hit him."

  Defending me from her fiancé…I chose to take that as a good sign.

  "I want you," I proclaimed loudly, rubbing my shoulder, and glanced down at Aura. "I want her. I finally realized you were right. All this time, it was Charis I wanted. I'm a despicable bastard. You can say good riddance to me now, Aura. I'm bad news."

  Aura's face clouded up and, predictably, she burst into tears. Karl muttered something, came over and patted her back. Aura looked up at him with dazed, grieved eyes.

  And Charis—she gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. As she looked back and forth from me to Aura, I saw comprehension dawn. Saw when she realized, He's using me to give Aura the shaft.

  Then that livid expression I mentioned before?

  It was nothing to this. I'd never seen my best friend so enraged. She shoved me back so hard I stumbled into the street. Then she took off.

  CHAPTER 13

  Three Years Ago—Hinting

  Charis: Birthday cake tastes good—why?

  Asher: Taste buds. Neurotransmitters and hormones and shit. Dopamine, endorphins, serotonin…

  Charis: No, no, I don't mean the physical stuff. I'm talking about the subjective experience. The intangibles. Why do we love cake? Especially lemon cake, mmm.

  Asher: I hate lemon cake.

  Charis: Traitor! And keep your focus, here.

  Asher: Then say birthday cake, not lemon cake. Because lemon cake is vile.

  Charis: Pluh. Whatever. We love birthday cake. Why? Why is it that we know, like, without question, that birthday cake tastes good? We can't prove it. It's like love. When you feel it, you have all these signs and symptoms, and you know it's there, you're positive you love someone, you even know some of the reasons, but when you try to pin it down, you can't.

  Asher: Life is like that.

  Charis: Don't be dismissive, it's really an interesting question.

  Asher: No, I'm saying organic life is like that. When you try to define it by its properties, to distinguish it from non-life, you come up against a wall. No single set of criteria applies to all recognized life forms.

  Charis: So it's like obscenity? You can't say what it is, you just know it when you see it?

  Asher: Exactly.

  Charis: Get out. Life isn't subjective, it has objective reality. You can define it. It's simple. If you can reproduce, you're totally alive.

  Asher: Yeah, so crystals and viruses reproduce and they're not alive. Try again.

  Charis: Well fuck me. I wonder if anyone's done a thesis.

  Asher: Probably. Damn, talking with you makes me dizzy, Sloane. How did we get from birthday cake to the cosmic truths of life? And why are you thinking about love and birthday cake today of all days?

  Charis: Well since you ask, it's my birthday. I was trying to hint. I've been hinting all week, you oaf. Obviously I'm way too subtle because nobody's wishing me happy birthday here.

  Asher: Well, whadya know? How old are you again? Oh, yeah. A decrepit old woman of twenty-three.

  Charis: Listen, whippersnapper…

  Asher: Here you go, little girl. Happy birthday. I wanted to throw you a big party, but Aura's got plans for some fashion benefit. Hey, treat it with respect. I spent ten minutes wrapping that thing.

  Charis: Asher! Omigod, this is the most amazing hat I've ever seen!

  Asher: It's definitely you.

  Charis: Totally. I take back the oaf slur. I have just now fallen in love with you.

  Asher: Such was my evil plan.

  Asher

  I CAUGHT UP TO CHARIS quickly but lagged behind to give her a chance to cool off. As a big, buff guy openly trailing a scrap of a young woman carving her way frantically through pedestrian traffic, I was being eyed suspiciously. If I'd had the bad-boy vibe Karl had going I'd fully have expected to hear sirens.

  As it was, pics were probably hitting social media before I stopped her by grabbing her sleeve.

  "Hold up, Charis!"

  She whirled around, backing up. "Stay away from me, Asher."

  I held up both hands but kept coming.

  "I'm sorry," I said humbly. When she narrowed her eyes and kept retreating, I appealed to our witnesses, some of whom had come forward all badass. "Tell her I'm sorry, will you?"

  I'm not ashamed to admit I can work a crowd. The militant looks vanished. Phones were held up. Record buttons were pressed. Our press of impromptu paparazzi chimed in as one, "He's sorry!"

  "He's totally not," Charis countered.
"He is unabashedly unapologetic, no matter what he says. He can, and will, sweet talk a street light into turning green and back to red when he's through—and then deny the whole thing." She flounced away.

  Cool. I'd never seen her flounce before.

  I darted after her.

  "Sloane, listen to me, listen, dammit. I'm sorry I kissed you." I lowered my voice. "No, you're absolutely right, I'm not. I'm sorry I kissed you like that. No, no, okay. I'm not sorry for that. What I am is sorry I kissed you for that particular reason, all right?"

  "Why?" Suddenly she was facing me again, and I nearly slammed into her. "Why would you do that to me? Why would you lie to your girlfriend like that? It was mean behavior and I've never known you to be a mean person, Asher Norrell."

  I winced, but had no defense. All I could say was, "You know she's not my girlfriend."

  "She acted like she was."

  "She was mistaken about that. Her interpretation and my interpretation of what happened Sunday apparently suffered a disconnect."

  "A disconnect. About your breakup. In which you ended a multi-year relationship potentially leading up to marriage. Huh. And so you thought—"

  "I thought it would be a clean way to close the wound, let her know it was, indeed, a hundred percent over between us."

  "By kissing me."

  Shit. When she put it like that. "Correct."

  "And pretending you had a secret passion for me? That there is your idea of closure?" She drew back her leg and thwacked me in the side of the knee with her boot.

  My involuntary laugh turned turned into a cough as I became aware she wasn't being funny but was glaring at me with real rage. I sucked in a deep breath.

  Might as well lay it on the line.

  "Yes, because it's no pretense, Sloane. Not a word of what I said was an untruth. I finally figured that out, once the Platonic Shutter came up."

  "What are you talking about? Platonic whutter?"

  I looked at her steadily. I felt my hands get moist despite the cold and wiped them on my jacket. "Here's some news. I never really got over my thing for you, Charis Sloane."

  Charis jerked back as if shot. As in, her whole body staggered backwards, right up against the brick wall of the New Highland Central Laundromat.

  "Watch it!"