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A throat cleared at the door. Ash looked up and his entire expression changed. Hardened. He backed off and pulled me off the floor immediately, spinning me so he was the one closest to the exit.
I looked around him and saw Ian staring. “Last time I checked, the class studio wasn’t a pay by the hour motel.”
“Good thing, too.” Ash kept his voice light. “The floor would be terribly uncomfortable, and there’s no turndown service.”
Ian came further into the room, and I busied myself with getting out of my pointe shoes and gathering my things. Ash still stood between me and him. I wasn’t afraid of Ian. Not in the way I was afraid of Craig. But he clearly had some kind of beef with me.
Well, it wasn’t just me. From what I’d seen, he didn’t seem to like anyone at the company very much. Which made me wonder why he’d come here at all? If he hated Slate City Ballet, there were plenty of other companies that could better suit his attitude.
“If you’re not in rehearsal, don’t linger in the studios.”
“And if we are rehearsing?”
“Fucking isn’t rehearsing.”
Asher went entirely still. “Clearly we weren’t doing that. And if you ever even think, insinuate, or speak anything so fucking inappropriate about Sloane again, you’ll regret it.”
Ian’s eyes went flinty. “Is that a threat, West?”
“Yes.”
“Ash,” I said quietly. He wasn’t going to lose his job over something like this. Sure, Gabrielwasthe Executive Director, but even he could be put into a position he couldn’t get out of.
Looking between the two of us, Ian smiled. It was a look I wanted to slap off his face. “Careful, West. You’re good, but no one is irreplaceable.”
“Seems like you’re content to make threats of your own.”
“If I have to.”
Ash turned and saw me ready to go, stalked over to the barre and grabbed his own things before holding out his hand to me. I took it without question, letting him pull me past Ian and back down to the bike. It was clear Ash was wound tight as a new set of shoe elastics, so I didn’t say anything. But he was still gentle with me as he put on my helmet and got me on board.
We went home in silence, and when we pulled up, the street was congested with a moving truck and also one from Nest Inc. True to Addison’s word, there was a man standing outside the door, watching. Our neighbors must hate us right now.
I got off the bike, and Ash caught me by the arm. “I need to go ride for a while.”
“Are you okay?”
His hair was mussed from the helmet, and he took my hand carefully. “I will be.”
“Ash—”
“He reminds me of my father, blue. That cocky, smug attitude like he can do anything he wants and is untouchable. And the fact that it was directed at you makes me want to do something… inadvisable.”
I squeezed his hand. Ian bringing up those kinds of memories hadn’t occurred to me. “He’s just an ass, and I’m okay.”
“I know. I just need to ride for a bit and let it out.”
“Okay. Don’t be too long.”
He smirked. “You’re going to be busy anyway.”
“Tell mesomething.”
“Nope.” He smiled, and the fact that he could was a good sign. Leaning over, he kissed me quickly. “But have fun.”
I watched him rev the bike and speed away, ignoring the warming in my chest. Something about watching Asher on his bike had always done things to me I couldn’t explain. Especially when he was doing it because ofme.
The guard at the door didn’t stop me, and I found Roman in the lobby, observing. He smiled, but said nothing. I just hugged him, enjoying that feeling, closing my eyes and imagining being surrounded by trees and mist and Roman. That could be fun.
