I can’t hide the amused smile that spreads across my face, but my eyes stay on Tessa. “She’s my student. What do you think?”
“And you just let me hit on her like that?”
“Oh, relax. I wasn’t going to let it go anywhere.” I turn to face him and lightly smack his cheek. “And besides, a little humility could do you some good.”
EVERYTHING SEEMS TO BE going smoothly. I even start to enjoy myself and let my gaze leave Tessa for a bit. The only thing she’s been doing is hanging out with her friends and eye-fucking me from across the room. Meanwhile, I make sure to stay sober to avoid falling into her spell. Having my guard up around this girl isn’t just recommended—it’s a goddamn necessity.
“I’m just saying, letting off a bit of steam could be good for you,” Colby continues on his drunken tangent. “There are over a hundred girls at this party who would jump at the chance to sleep with Asher Hawthorne.”
I snort and shake my head. “Thanks, but I’m good.”
“No, seriously. I’m telling you. Watch!”
Before I can stop him, he grabs the first girl he can get a hand on and pulls her close. It’s some blonde, obviously a college student, and probably in a sorority, but definitely not my type.
“Hey, babe. I’m taking a poll. Would you sleep with my friend here?”
She lets her gaze rake over me then purses her lips. “Yeah, why?”
He pushes her away like that’s all he needed and now he’s dismissing her. “See? If you weren’t so wrapped up with resisting your not-so-unattainable girlfriend, you could be enjoying all the beautiful women here.”
Lennon approaches with an unsure look on her face, but of course, Colby doesn’t notice that. He points to her and narrows his eyes on me.
“But stay away from girls like her. They’ll send you to prison, and trust me, you’ll become someone’s bitch in prison.”
A part of me wants to comment on that last part, but the fact that Lennon is standing in front of me alone gives me reason to ignore it.
“You okay? What’s wrong?”
She runs her fingers through her hair and glances around, then sighs and looks directly at me. “I can’t find Tessa.”
My body goes cold as exactly what I was afraid of becomes an alarming reality. “What do you mean you can’t find her?”
“She started to feel really dizzy so she sat down. I went to get her some water, and when I came back, she was gone.” Her bottom lip starts to quiver. “I’m really worried.”
13
ASHER
I push through the crowd of people, looking for any sign of the brown-haired pain in my ass. I fucking warned her not to come here, and now look what happened. She’s God knows where, getting God knows what done to her, because she just didn’t want to listen.
“She was sitting right here,” Lennon points to the bottom of the stairs.
Glancing around, I don’t see any sign of her. Colby leans against the railing and rolls his eyes. “She’s drunk. She probably just wandered off somewhere.”
“I really don’t think she did,” Lennon argues. “Tessa’s my best friend. She wouldn’t have gone somewhere else without telling me.”
“Unless she did.”
“Colby,” I snap. “If there’s ever a time in your life where you decide to shut the fuck up, let it be now.”
He makes a face and takes a sip of his beer. “Someone’s feisty.”
I can’t listen to this right now. I shake my head and continue the search for Tess. The line of people outside the bathroom tells me she can’t possibly be in there. The kitchen has plenty of people in it, but she’s not one of them. Finally, I spot Charleigh in the living room and march over to her.
As soon as she sees me, she looks like a deer caught in the headlights and quickly moves to hide her drink. “Mr. Hawthorne. I didn’t expect you to be here. I was…uh…holding this for a friend.”
“I don’t care that you drink, Charleigh.” I resist the urge to roll my eyes. “I just need to know where Tessa went.”