Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 129110 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 646(@200wpm)___ 516(@250wpm)___ 430(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129110 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 646(@200wpm)___ 516(@250wpm)___ 430(@300wpm)
I stare at the envelope in my hand.
Examine it.
Turn it every which way.
It's as sealed as the day I closed it.
"I remember your hair, your eyes, even what you were wearing - a brown coat and a ridiculous pink scarf with those frills. Yellow shirt poking out underneath. Teary-eyed from the cold, cheeks red. I remember you."
"That's not possible," I croak.
"Sure it is. How could I forget?" His eyes are as glossy as mine. "You felt it then, didn't you? Our connection."
I slowly nod. "Why haven't you said anything?"
"Why haven't you?"
I shake my head.
"Whenever I mentioned anything remotely close to you being a fan, for some reason you freaked out," he hesitates. "And I didn't push it because I knew if you said something that I'd have to come clean too."
"What do you mean?"
He opens his mouth and pauses.
"I tried to find you before."
"What?"
"I know," he rolls his eyes. "All I had was this vague description of a beautiful girl and an intense connection. Everyone thought I was crazy. I even got the names of all the ticket holders."
"You didn't!"
"I did," he laughs.
"Jess's Mom bought the tickets."
He laughs again.
"Eventually I gave up. Moved on. Figured maybe it was all in my head..." His lips curl. "Then you walked into my hotel room."
"And you-"
"Immediately knew it was you and gave you a hard time."
"So that whole time-"
"I already completely adored you... and maybe I was a little pissed that I spent so much time looking for you, only to then think you weren't real, and then realized you were. I hated you for not going through what I did."
"So that's why you went and found my number..."
"Yeah," he huffs.
"And when you invited me back to your room for lunch?"
"Oh you were totally right. I definitely wanted to fuck you. You called me out on it and I was mad," he chuckles. "You were the exact girl that for years I built up in my head... and you hated me. I was pretty determined to stay away from you and not make things worse. I thought being friends would be enough."
"I didn't hate you," I correct. "I didn’t want you to think I was some crazy fan because I liked you... because deep down I wanted a chance."
"You are a crazy fan though," he teases.
I roll my eyes.
"Well I thought you wouldn't like me, and yeah, I did think you were cocky... and that you were just using me to pass time.
"Yet you came anyway."
"Yeah, and then you really did just want to talk and I felt… ugly. You didn't even try to kiss me."
"I wanted to keep my balls."
He stares at the envelope in my hand.
"Go ahead," I hand it over.
"I have to admit," he smiles, ripping the seal. “I only did this because I was secretly hoping you would reveal your crush on me."
"That's a strange strategy," I laugh.
"I'm Asher Montgomery. I've never had to work for a girl before and I have no idea what I'm doing."
He looks down at the paper with a smile.
"To be fair, I didn’t think my crush was ever something that wasn’t already obvious."
"Sometimes yes, and others I truly had no idea." He clears his throat and reads the note out loud.
We met before outside the Sound Of Music, but I'm far too embarrassed to admit it, and you probably wouldn't remember anyway.
"I had no idea how satisfying it would be to prove you wrong," he chuckles.
"Says the person whose secret is still safely tucked away in his envelope."
"You're just not ready yet," he shrugs. "It's okay."
"Well that's just ambiguous enough to make me completely curious and pissed off."
He picks up his glass. "Let's toast."
"Let's not change the subject."
He gives me a look.
"Fine," I roll my eyes and grab my glass. "But you're drinking water."
"We can toast with water."
"To tonight," he smirks. "To being alone. To the fact that I found my girl and she finally knows it... and to finally being able to hear every one of her little moans without holding back."
"Asher!" I burst out laughing.
He innocently shrugs, pausing as our gaze meets.
"And here I thought you were going to make me scream. Didn't you promise me that once?"
His eyes darken. "Oh I'm definitely gonna do that too."
"Okay," I clear my throat with a devilish smile. "And here's to me getting your secret out."
"I'd like to see you try."
"Is that a challenge?" I raise an eyebrow.
"Absolutely."
It takes a minute for my eyes to adjust. I blink twice, narrowing in on the unrecognizable high-tech clock on a nightstand I can't place. I dart up in a panic.
Then I remember I'm in LA. There's a time difference. I'm not late for work but still have to call out, and I have to pee.
I scan the room, not wanting to physically get up.
I'm sore, my legs ache as I stretch.