The remnants of our dinner had long gone cold. The hours stretched toward the obscenely late half of the night, but I hung on to each minute like it was our last.
If I could’ve stayed on that rooftop with Scarlett forever, I would’ve.
“I’m sorry,” she said after a long silence. “Every time we go on a date, I end up making things so depressing.”
“Don’t be sorry. I’m no better,” I said. “Remember the time I brought you to Holchester and trauma dumped on you in my childhood bedroom? That was fun.”
Her laughter chased away the melancholy and brought an answering grin to my face.
“It’s not depressing to learn these things about you,” I said. “I want to know you better. The good, the bad, and everything in between.”
Scarlett’s expression melted into a different, softer smile. “Asher Donovan, I was so wrong about you at the beginning.”
“Most people are. I’m even more handsome, charming, and witty than they could’ve imagined.”
“You forgot humble.”
“Obviously. That’s a given.”
She laughed again, and everything else we wanted to say was communicated through our long, lingering gaze across the table.
Our relationship was built on unspoken words. We’d gotten better at expressing them over the past two months, but there were still a few words that remained locked away inside me.
Three, to be exact.
I was saving them for another time, when the prospect of revealing our relationship to my brother didn’t darken the horizon like a thundercloud.
For now, I simply enjoyed my last hours in Japan with Scarlett and let the future take care of itself.
CHAPTER 37SCARLETT
Thanks to the time difference (Japan was eight hours ahead of the UK), we left Tokyo Sunday morning and landed in London in the early afternoon.
Our late dinner, early wake-up call, and the change in time zones conspired to confuse my body about what it was supposed to be doing when, so I opted for the safe option and slept for a majority of the flight.
When we arrived in London, I went to Asher’s house instead of going straight home. Vincent was joining us at training tomorrow, and I wanted to say goodbye to our studio.
It sounded stupid, but the studio had been our private little Eden for two months. It deserved a proper farewell.
“How did he react when you told him we’ve been training at my house this entire time?” Asher asked as I ran my hands over the smooth wood barre.
I winced. “Um, he didn’t. He thinks we’ve been training at RAB.”
Asher’s eyebrows skyrocketed.
“I know, I know.” I dropped the barre and crossed my arms, hating myself for the lies piling up around me. The mature thing would’ve been to tell Vincent the truth. We initially changed studios because of the paps, not because we were trying to sneak away for weekly rendezvous.
But I knew my brother. He would flip out about me coming to Asher’s house three times a week, every week without telling him, and that would put him in a bad mood for when we dropped our relationship bombshell news.
I would rather rip off both bandages at the same time and contain the explosion to one instance instead of two.
Plus, a small, selfish part of me didn’t want to share this space with anyone else. It was a ballet studio, but it was our ballet studio.
“The paps aren’t hanging around RAB anymore,” I said after I explained my reasoning to Asher. “And people at the school aren’t going to say anything. Even if they did, they don’t know I’ve been training you at your house. So I told Vincent to meet us at RAB tomorrow like he did for our first session.”
The weight of our impending talk hooked into my stomach and dragged it down to my feet. My emotions vacillated wildly between anxiety and optimism, unsure of where to land.
Asher and Vincent were finally getting along (sort of). Our relationship news would either go much better than we anticipated, or it would destroy their fragile truce and bleed over into the upcoming season.
No pressure or anything.
“That makes sense.” Asher leaned against the barre, looking fresh and rested despite not sleeping during our long-haul flight. His eyes pierced mine. “So this is technically our last day together in this studio.”
My chest twinged. “I guess it is.”
We could come down anytime we wanted, but it wouldn’t be the same. I wouldn’t be training him anymore, and the vibes would just be different.
“Since it’s our last day…” He pushed off the wall and closed the distance between us with two lazy, pantherine steps. “Let’s make it count.”
Embers of heat flared to life at his suggestive drawl. The air thickened, infusing oxygen with electricity that rolled down my spine like a hot, sensual caress.
“How so?” My response sounded husky beneath the sudden crackle of attraction.
Asher’s grin was pure wickedness. “We’ve never christened the studio.”
The embers ignited into flames.
