4. Asher

I catch a whiff of her perfume as she glides past me. It’s intoxicating to say the least. Everything about this woman is. From her brown skin to those freckles on her nose and those big eyes that seem to take in everything. She’s a Polynesian princess, and my stupid brain can’t help picturing that lush, curvy body in a grass skirt with a coconut bra.

That’s probably really bad, but damn, she would look fucking fine in that getup.

Those hips of hers swaying to some Hawaiian beat, her toes sinking into the sand while she danced for me.

Would you shut the fuck up? She’s not going to dance for you, you moron.

She may be beautiful, but she’s a bitch. An intelligent, bossy, Potterhead, likes-classical-music bitch.

What a mindfuck.

I shake my head, forcing my eyes away from her body while she walks to a table near the center of the room. It’s basically the only one left. This place is packed.

It’s only then that I notice the guy at the front getting ready to start up a quiz night.

Lani takes a seat and pulls her phone out of her purse. “Quiz night,” she murmurs.

I nod as I sit in the chair beside her. She’s already downloading the app displayed on the screen up front, and it’s obvious she wants to take part. Truth is, so do I. I love this kinda shit. Competition. Trivia. It’s my drug of choice (not that I’ll ever admit that to anyone), but being on a team with this woman?

Can I stand it?

You’ve done it once before.

Yeah, but I had Caroline and Casey as buffers. It’s just the two of us tonight and?—

“Wanna?” She shows me the app on her phone screen, and I nod before logic has time to stop me.

She starts filling in our team information before I can retract my agreement, and then the waitress comes over to distract me.

“Yeah, can I get the double cheeseburger with a side of fries and a Coke Zero, please.” I don’t even need to look at the menu to order. I’ve been to this place a couple times before, and I found my gold. Why bother ordering anything else?

Lani scrambles for the menu, passing me her phone while she quickly scans the selection.

I continue filling in the little intro form because my brain is stupid and obviously hasn’t gotten the message that I don’t really want to do this.

“I’ll have the buttermilk chicken sandwich, please.”

“Any sides or drinks?” The waitress takes the menu from her.

“Just water, and I’ll steal some of his fries.”

“Oh, will you now?” I mutter.

She fights a grin. “I’m paying.”

“So? They’re my fries.”

With a little eye roll, she shakes her head. “Please tell me you’re not one of those guys who doesn’t share food.”

“If I shared food in Hockey House, I’d never eat anything. You saw Casey inhale that pizza last night, right?”

She snorts and her shoulders shake with laughter as she continues to fight her grin. She really doesn’t want that thing to show. Pity. When she lets one of those smiles free, it’s seriously stunning.

Which you don’t want to see, remember? Stop wishing for stupid shit!

I clear my throat and focus back on the phone screen.

“What should we call our team?” I ask.

She looks thoughtful for a minute, the side of her nose creasing on the left.

“What about Potterheads?” I can’t help myself.

For a second, I think she’s going to frown and shake her head, tell me I’m lame, and then?—

But her shoulder hitches, and she softly agrees. “Okay.”

Wow. She agreed! Miracles do happen, people.

Placing her phone down, I sit back in my chair and wait for the first round to start. It’s kind of awkward just sitting here not saying anything to this woman, and eventually, I give in with a sigh and ask the question that’s been burning my brain since our conversation in the car.

“So, which Hogwarts house are you in?”

She gives me a closed-mouth smile. “Can you guess?”

“I’m gonna have to say Ravenclaw.”

She cringes, and I know I got it right. “Am I that transparent?”

I laugh and shake my head. “You’re smart and decisive. You don’t take bullshit. You’re a Ravenclaw through and through.”

“Just like you’re a Slytherin.”

“What?” I bulge my eyes at her, touching my chest and feigning offense until she laughs.

There’s that pretty sound again.

“I’ll have you know that I am a Gryffindor. I did the test three times to check.”

“Because you didn’t believe the results.” She gives me a pointed look. “Because you’re actually a Slytherin.”

I smirk. “Guess that makes me Harry Potter. He was kind of split between those two. Could have gone in either house.”

She makes a face, sticking out her tongue before slaying me. “No way you’re a Harry. You’ve got Gilderoy Lockhart written all over you.”

“That coward?” I gape at her, then growl in my throat. “Woman, you don’t know me at all.”

I’m kind of half joking, but the statement seems to shut her up, and I feel bad for killing what seemed to be a lighthearted moment.

She’s going back to her perpetual frowny-face, and I’m trying to decide if I’ve got the energy, or willpower, to get her smiling again.

Thankfully, the quiz master steps up and gets things going.

We nail the first round with ease. It was history, and I know she’s majoring in that, so I let her answer most of the questions, even though I knew them as well.

For the second round, I take charge because it’s sports, and she obviously doesn’t care too much because she barely knew any of the answers.

Our food arrived in the middle of the geography round, which we were cruising through, and then we only got one wrong for the entertainment round.

She ate ten of my fries while we tried to remember who won the Best Actor Award for the 2014 Oscars. I will never admit this to her, but Matthew McConaughey was a lucky guess on my part. I was tossing up between him and Leonardo DiCaprio and just happened to fall the right way. She was convinced it was Eddie Redmayne for The Theory of Everything, but she wasn’t holding the phone, so… lucky for us.

She stole my last two fries, and I growled at her, but she ignored me with a grin, munching away while smearing her greasy fingers on the screen.

“What is the rarest blood type in humans?” She looks to the ceiling.

“AB negative.” I wipe my fingers on a napkin.

“Are you sure?”

I roll my eyes. “You don’t have to ask me that every single time. Yes, I’m sure.”

“Fine.” She bulges her eyes like I’m the unreasonable one.

Honestly, she drives me fucking nuts!

So, why the hell do I want this night to last?

“And final question of the evening…,” the quiz master says while my gut deflates.

Seriously? I should be happy, but…

Lani turns to me with a little grin. “We’re gonna win this.”

Damn, that look on her face right now.

My brain takes a quick snapshot before she turns back to the front.

“What is the heaviest organ in the human body?”

We both think on that for a second before I snap my fingers and we say in unison, “The liver.”

Her lips stretch wide and she flashes those straight white teeth at me before punching in our answer.

“Done.” She sits back like she knows she’s aced the test, and I can’t help snickering.

“You’re like the top of your class, always, aren’t you?”

“It’s the only place to be.” She looks at me like I’m dumb for thinking otherwise.

I shake my head with a rueful grin, biting my tongue against any kind of comeback.

“And the final tally shows that the winners are…” The quiz master draws out the words like he’s announcing the contenders in a WWE match. “The Potterheads!”

“Yes!” I raise my arms with a loud whoop, soaking in the applause.

Lani laughs, clapping along with the crowd, then actually high-fiving me when I hold my hand up.

Seriously, people. Miracles!

The quiz master’s assistant walks over with a friendly grin, gifting us vouchers for a free meal each. Lani passes one of them to me.

“You can keep it.” I wave my hand through the air.

“No way. You answered some of the questions. It’s only fair.”

“Some?” I raise my eyebrows. “Girl, I answered most of them.”

“Most?” She mirrors my expression, her eyes heating with a look that’s downright sexy.

Fuck, I want to take that pretty face in my hands and lay one on her. It’d be the perfect way to shut up the rant she’s just launching into.

And get a slap in the face.

And piss off Caroline.

Which in turn will piss off Casey.

Which will rile Ethan, who’ll call me a douche for crossing lines and?—

“Kidding.” I end her rant like a diplomat and take the voucher from her. If I don’t, she’ll probably lecture me about equal rights or some shit. It’s impossible to be chivalrous these days.

Though she does let me hold the door for her again, so at least that’s something.

We reach the top of the steps and both pause, gazing up at the night sky and not saying anything. It’s stopped raining, but there’s still a damp chill in the air.

“That was fun,” she murmurs. “Never tell anyone I said this, but… you’re really smart.”

I give her a side-eye, fighting a grin as I admit, “Yeah, you’re kinda clever too.”

“Damn right.” She flicks her hair over her shoulder, and I grin at the playful look in her eyes.

So this is what ice looks like when it starts to defrost. Not bad.

Not bad at all.