Page 66 of Wilder

“Thanks! But—” He gasped, as if something had just struck him. “You’re coming to the wedding, right?”

I nearly choked on my own breath.

Oh, he was definitely drunk.

I ran a hand down my face, already feeling heat creeping up my neck. “I’m not sure your brother would want me there, Asher.”

“No, no! He so would.” Asher’s words tumbled over each other, slurred just enough to confirm what I already thought. “I promise! I’ve talked about you before to them, so they know who you are. You have to come!”

Talked about me?

I swallowed. I shouldn’t be allowing myself to linger on that. The last thing I needed was another excuse to let this ridiculous, impossible thing, fester any more than it already had.

Instead, I focused on the part that made the least sense.

“You’re really trying to invite your boss to a family event?” I asked, raising a brow.

Asher huffed dramatically.

“You’re not just my boss! You’re—” He paused suddenly, the sentence hanging as he searched for the words. “Uh.”

My stomach dipped.

What did it matter what he was about to say?

His drunken rambling didn’t actually mean anything. He could say hundreds of things in this state, things he’d never say sober, and by morning, he probably wouldn’t even remember any of them.

It wasn’t real or intentional.

Still, my pulse had no business kicking up that way that it did.

“Wait, hold on,” he said suddenly.

The noise in the background abruptly died. For a second, all I could hear was my own breathing. I pulled the phone back from my ear, frowning as I glanced at the screen, expecting to see the call had dropped or cut out.

But no, his contact name was still there along with the timer on the call still ticking away.

“Asher?” I said, bringing the phone back to my ear.

Silence.

I waited a beat. Then another.

Nothing.

Did he mute me?

Keeping the phone clutched to my ear, I started making my way back up to the main house.

Given that it was well after midnight, I should’ve already been heading to bed anyway, especially since five a.m. would be rolling in whether I was ready for it or not. I’d already been stupid enough for staying out here working this late, and tomorrow, I’d be paying for it.

My body would make damn sure of that.

Right as I reached the edge of the main house’s front patch of grass, the other end of the phone picked up.

“Hello?!”

I bit the inside of my cheek. “Asher. It’s me.”