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Sloane Glass
Fresh pairs of shoes waited, and I grinned, grabbing three pairs to stick in my bag. I’d rather prep them and sew my ribbons at home than be late to rehearsal because I needed to do it at the beginning. Ian already didn’t have a great impression of me. I wasn’t going to make it worse.
I turned and froze.
Asher stood at the end of the aisle, staring at me with the same anger and passion as the first time he’d seen me. I pressed a hand to my stomach to quell the anxiety and the butterflies.
He prowled toward me with intent, and I shivered. If there was one thing I was sure of, it was that Asher West would never hurt me, even if he were furious with me. But I still had no idea what to say.
Stopping in front of me, his scent wrapped around me like a warm blanket. Comforting and so muchfucking more. The perfume I’d been desperately trying to avoid swirled around the two of us. I had to look up to meet his gaze. So familiar, and so strange after so long.
“Sloane.” His voice broke on my name, and then I was in his arms.
Ash pressed me up against the shelves, my body entirely cushioned in pointe shoes. One hand in my hair, the other curling around my waist to keep me close, and his face pressed into my neck while he inhaled me like I was oxygen.
A purr roared to life in his chest, so strong and pure it made my body melt against his. Pangs of regret washed over me at the thought of missing so much of this feeling. Of running when I should have stayed and fought.
I shuddered and closed my eyes, breathing him in, savoring the warmth of his body and scent.
“This is why you left?” His words brushed over my skin, bringing back a hundred memories that felt so different now that he was here and now that heknew.
Ash pulled back and looked at me. “Why?”
What could I possibly say to make it better? That I saw how happy he was and after everything, I couldn’t be the one to take it away from him? That even though it was everything I wanted, I was a fucking coward? That I worried as soon as he knew we were scent-sympathetic, he’d look at me in disappointment?
His fingers tightened in my hair. “Why, Sloane?”
I shook my head, unable to speak. Tears filled my eyes, and I wasn’t sure if they were embarrassment or relief.
“Blue,” he whispered, pulling me against his chest. “Talk to me. Please.”
My old nickname just made the tears come faster, and they soaked into his shirt. I smelled like blueberries and pancakes. Ash had started calling me blue not long after we met. “I can’t,” I whispered.
“Please,” he begged, lips brushing my temple. “I need to understand. I’m so fucking pissed at you, I don’t know whether I want to fight with you or kiss you.”
A sob caught in my throat, and the door to the room opened. A few members of the corps entered, chattering about the new productions. One of the guys came down our aisle and stopped when he saw us.
I pushed against Ash and he let me go.
“Sorry,” the guy, Jacob, said.
“It’s fine.” I swiped my tears away and moved, pushing past Jacob and heading to the door.
“Sloane,” Asher called.
I couldn’t not look. His gaze burned into mine, eyes on fire. A look that told me we weren’t done, and he was going to find out every secret I’d ever kept from him.
The door opened again, and I forced myself to walk through it and sprint up the stairs before I went back and spilled them myself. He felt so good, smelled so good, and I was cracking in two with shame and fear.
I had no doubt Asher would make me tell him everything, but today? I wasn’t ready.
CHAPTER FOUR
________
ASHER
Fuck.
