“Your family doesn’t think it’s weird that you’re bringing home some random girl for a week?”
“Juliette, you are anything but random.”
I see her left hand creep over to scratch at her right wrist the way she does when she’s anxious. I knew eventually her anxiety over meeting my family would surface, and I’m glad it’s happening here instead of in the car so I can give her my full attention. Thinking fast, I slide out of my side of the booth and take the seat next to her. Turning to face her, I use one of my hands to cover both of hers, and with my other hand, I slide two fingers under her chin and guide her face up so she’s looking at me.
“It’s okay to feel anxious to meet my family. They’re new, and there are a lot of them, but the Hansleys are a welcoming bunch. I promise, they are going to adore you.”
I feel her hands clench under mine, so I tighten my grip a little to ground her.
“How can you be so sure? They don’t even know me. I’m not that likable.”
It breaks my heart a little that she thinks that and makes me even more determined to change her mind. To show her how incredible she is. That she is, without a doubt, the most spectacular woman I have ever laid eyes on.
“You’re definitely wrong about that. And they know everything I’ve told them about you.”
“You told them about me?”
“I did. I told them I danced with a girl in July who made my heart race and turned me into an idiot who said things like, ‘you look gorgeous tonight,’ and then she refused to give me her number even after I practically begged for it.”
She laughs a little at that.
“And I told them I saw you again at my game and got to spend some time with you afterwards and finally got your number. I told them you needed a break from work, and I asked you to come with me to Boulder. I told them you are importantto me, and that’s all they needed to hear. You’re important to me, so you’ll be important to them too.”
Julie’s eyes glaze over a little at that so I release her hands and reach over to wrap her in a hug. She stiffens for a second before she melts into it, laying her head on my shoulder and fitting against me so perfectly there is no way in this world or any other that she wasn’t made just for me to hold.
Slow your roll, Asher.
She hangs on for another minute before letting go and sitting up, an embarrassed expression on her face. “Sorry about that. I don’t…love meeting new people.” She says the last part so quietly I barely hear her.
Knowing how much it cost her to reveal that little piece of herself, I lean forward and kiss her forehead, then cup her face in both of my hands. “You never have to be sorry for anything you feel. I want you to tell me every single thought and feeling in that gorgeous, brilliant brain of yours. You’re safe with me, Juliette.”
Her whole body relaxes at that, and she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. When she opens them again, they’re clear, and she smiles. Pulling back from me she says, “If I eat another taco I’m going to explode, so what’s next, Hot Shot?”
I grin, grabbing her hand and pulling her up from the table.
“Come on, you’re going to love it.”
Chapter Seventeen
Julie
“We’re going to what?” I can’t possibly have heard him right.
“Howl, Juliette. We’re going to howl.”
His grinning face makes it almost impossible to scowl at him, but I try my very best anyway. I feel myself slipping into warmth and amusement more and more the longer I’m around him, and I don’t know what to do with those feelings. Irritation I can handle. So, I try to be irritated.
“I’m going to need more information.”
It was a three-hour drive from Columbus to where we are now, about an hour outside of Indianapolis. Three hours during which Asher and I took down an entire bag of peppermint Hershey Kisses and I lost a game ofwho can spot the most state license plates in thirty minutes. As his prize, he got to pick the music and proceeded to throw himself a little Taylor Swift concert.
I’d be lying if I said Asher Hansley wearing aviators and driving his big burly car while singing along to Taylor wasn’t hot as fuck. Like, jolt to the clit, wish I had my vibrator andtwenty minutes alone hot. I tried to sneak a picture of him but, of course, he saw what I was doing, and just beamed at me.
I swear, I have never met a more cheerful man in all my life.
Five minutes ago, we pulled up in front of what looks almost like a zoo but isn’t. The sign at the front says Wolf Park and Asher is now trying to explain to me exactly what we’re doing.
“It’s called Howl Night. This is a wolf conservation center. We’re taking a tour to see the wolves in their natural habitat and learn how they communicate. Then, we get to howl with them. We’re howling at the moon like werewolves. Fun, right?”
