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I lick my dry lips, enjoying the way his eyes dip down to them when I do so.
“Honestly? I’m not a very exciting person.”
His eyes smile along with his mouth. “I find that hard to believe.”
I’m pretty sure my heartbeat is beating double time as Asa slips the pad of his finger between two of mine.
“Trust me, it’s true. It’s hard to be interesting when I’ve got three other sisters who are the exact same age and look almost identical to me.”
“Hmm…. How was it growing up as a quadruplet? I can’t imagine it was easy.”
“It got easier the older we got because we were able to help take care of ourselves.” I pause and Asa continues to watch me with curious eyes. “My mother was sickly most of our childhood. My older brother, Wesley, helped her raise us.”
His brows furrow. “What about your father?”
Bitterness sours my stomach, and I’m sure Asa can see it on my face. The subject of our father is not a pleasant one.
“He was a shit husband and an even bigger shit dad. He was around at times, but it was never to help Mom. It would have been a lot better if he wasn’t in the picture. His specialty was physically abusing us.”
He stops moving his finger over my hand and laces our fingers together. Something that looks a lot like anger darkens his eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“It was a long time ago. I’m over it.”
“Is he still around?”
I shake my head. “Here and there, but we never see him. After Wesley beat the shit out of him the last time he hit me, he knows to stay away.”
“Good,” he grunts, some of the animosity fading from his eyes. “I need to meet Wesley so I can shake his hand. He’s a priest, right? I assume the beat down was before he became one.”
I nod. “Yes, it was before. He was a priest, but he no longer is. He met the love of his life and decided to leave the priesthood behind to be with her.”
“Sounds like a special kind of love.”
I grin, still happy for my brother. I never expected him to leave the church behind. Of course, I never expected him to commit to it in the first place either. “It is.”
“Is your mom still with your dad?”
My smile wilts and sadness weighs down my heart. “She passed away years ago.”
His hand squeezes mine. “I’m sorry.”
“It was expected. We all knew for years she would die. Unfortunately, it was a waiting game.”
“Still, it must have been hard.”
I nod. “It was. But I had my sisters and brother. Having each other made it a tiny bit more bearable. What about you? Are you close with your family?”
He grins, one side of his mouth tipping up more than the other. The look makes him appear adorably young.
“You mean, you don’t know?” he asks. “But I thought you knew everything about me.”
I laugh lightly. “I know as much as you allow anyone to know. Like, I know you have a younger brother named Parker. And your parents, who are still together, are Nathaniel and Catalina Sharpe. They live a couple hours away from you in a small town called Cape Helen. That knowledge is not public, and I assume you want to keep it that way to keep the media away from them, which I find incredibly sweet. Your brother lives close to there. He’s in med school, right?” I don’t give him a chance to answer before I continue. “Your high school girlfriend’s name is Kiara. You were with her from sophomore year to right before you both left for college. You still keep in touch with her because you two were close friends before you were more. She’s happily married with three kids, and you’ve become good friends with her husband. You went to Berkeley and earned a degree in bioengineering. That bit of information was surprising. As far as I know, you’ve never used your degree, opting to pursue your music career instead. You’ve known your bandmates since middle school and you’re quite close with them.” I pause, tilting my head to the side. “How am I doing so far?”
He looks momentarily surprised. “Very fucking impressive and spot on. But how in the hell did you know about Cape Helen and Kiara?”
He doesn’t look pissed or annoyed that I know things about him he doesn’t want the world to know.
I pick up my wine and take a sip without removing my hand from under his.
“I have my ways,” I say cryptically.
In truth, I found out the information from the source herself. I’ve been talking to Kiara on the phone for the last nine months. In Penelope’s line of work, she knows a lot of people in Hollywood. I just so happened to be in the office one day when she was on the phone with a client while her secretary was busy. She asked me to answer the ringing phone. And it just so happens the person on the other line was one of those people in Hollywood. I sweet-talked some information out of them and several phone calls later, I was talking to Kiara. She thought I was an old friend of Asa’s.
I did mention I was a stalker, right?
From the look on Asa’s face, I know he’s not going to let me get away with my vague answer, so I give him more, leaving my sister’s name out of it. He very well could hate me after I reveal this, but I refuse to lie or get my sister in trouble.
“I know some people in Hollywood. Through them and after several phone calls, I managed to get Kiara’s number.” I stop for a moment before I give him the rest. “Kiara and I have been talking on the phone for almost a year.”
“Holy shit.” He releases my hand and grabs his wine glass, draining the full glass. “You really are a stalker.”
I smile crookedly at him. “If it makes you feel any better, I’m not the creepy kind of stalker. I promise not to cut you up into little pieces and store you in my freezer.”
He laughs, just what I was hoping for. “It’s probably stupid of me, but I believe you.”
I tug on my bottom lip. “You’re not freaked out?”
“I probably should be, but no.”
“How long are you staying in Silver Falls?”
“I’m not sure. I need to head back soon because our tour starts in a few weeks.”
