Page 45 of Shapes of Love
“Not really.” He shrugs. He must see the shock on my face, because he snickers. “I can buy anything I want. It’s no big deal.”
“There are things you can’t replace, no matter how much money you have.” Irritation courses through me. Why is he doing this?
“I know that.” He snorts. “Sasha, don’t worry about me.”
“And now, the private concert from singer-songwriter Sassy is awarded to…”
A sudden tension seizes me. I scan the tables until I spot Creepy Guy. When his eyes land on me, he removes his peacock mask and smiles with a leer that makes my skin crawl, like he’s devouring me with his eyes and has every right to do so. All I’ve gathered about him is that he’s a studio executive and the son of a powerful politician.
“Asher Grish!” The host’s voice booms through the room. Creepy Guy’s expression falls. He looks as baffled as I probably do. I turn to Asher, heart pounding, but he rises from his seat, offering a polite wave to the crowd, then issues a challenging grin to Creepy Guy. “Give it up for Asher, who is also our highest bidder tonight, contributing a whopping five hundred thousand pounds to Homes for Change.”
My mind reels. I must have heard wrong. Because there is no way someone would pay half a million for my concert, let alone Asher Grish. My hand balls around the sleeve of his jacket out of sheer shock, demanding an explanation. Asher winks at me in lieu of a response.
I can buy anything I want.I guess that includes me.
CHAPTER 12
I always avoid after-parties if I can help it; they’re the worst sensory assault. The flickering neon lights send jolts through my nerves, and each throb of the music from the speakers hammers against my skull. I don’t understand how people can actually have fun at these things. It took me ten minutes of hiding in the bathroom by myself to muster up the courage to come back out.
The air is warm with the heat of bodies and the smell of spilled drinks. Someone is pouring liquor into one of the vases they won at the auction while someone else is doing coke off one of my guitars.
Kill me now.
All around me, guests fall over themselves with laughter, dancing with drinks in their hands or lounging on the couches of the private area. I tighten my jaw, pushing past the instincts that are begging me to turn around and leave. But I can’t until I talk to Asher in private. I need to know why he spent half a million pounds on a private concert.Myprivate concert.
I can buy anything I want.
I dodge through the crowd, trying to find him and escape this chaotic frenzy, but my vision swims and my heart races as I’m drowned in a sea of noise and light. I cover my ears in a futile attempt to keep calm. This shouldn’t be so different from performing, but to me it’s like night and day. When I’m onstage, I’m wearing an earpiece. The music is controlled, not an overpowering force. I can’t see the glare of the lights, and I’m not smothered by a throng of people.
“Asher!” I make a beeline toward him when I spot him across the room. “Come with me.”
“You okay?” His voice is muffled by the music. Confusion flashes across his face as I drag him toward a large balcony at the other end of the repurposed ballroom. He follows me without complaint, a hint of concern passing through his eyes.
A rush of cool air hits my face as we step outside. It’s cold enough that I should be shivering in just my gown, but I welcome the night breeze, the noise inside washing away. I gulp in a lungful of air and lean against the railing. There seems to be a garden below us. I can’t see it in the dark, but the sweet scent of flowers and dewy grass lingers in the air.
“What’s going on?” Asher asks, closing the balcony doors behind us.
“Why did you do that?” I say. “Why did you pay half a million pounds for my concert?”
He winces like he tastes something bitter. “Rosa told me what happened. I wasn’t going to let that asshole harass either of you. I’ve heard about his family. You don’t want to get mixed up with people like him. I had to outbid him.”
“I—”Thanks, I want to say. But frustration still surges within me. Asher spent half a million pounds to keep me safe. The idea makes my head spin, but this is probably pocket change for him.
I can buy anything I want.
“My team and I could have handled it.”
He shakes his head, taking off his mask. “I don’t doubt it. I was just trying to help.”
“Like you did at the bouldering place?” I blurt out. His expression falters, and regret washes over me. He did help me tonight, and I know he didn’t mean to hurt Kai, even if it was reckless.
I don’t know why I’m so mad. I just don’t get him. What he wants from me.
“I will apologize as many times as I need to for that.” He cracks his knuckles, staring down at his hands. “Look, the money will go toward a good cause anyway. I don’t care about the private concert. Let’s consider it settled, for yesterday?”
There’s something genuine in his tone, an honesty amid the layers of who he pretends to be. I slump against the wall, fixing my gaze on the night sky, crowned by a full moon.
Maybe Asher’s like the moon. Sometimes he’s a crescent, sometimes he appears open and full, but there’s a side of him that he keeps hidden, a side no one is allowed to see.
