Kiss Cam

Ch. 12 - Romeo and Juliet

He laughs. "You're really innocent and cute. It's refreshing to see Asher with someone like that."

"What are his other girlfriends like?"

"He hasn't had that many, but sure there has been a few. The ones I met were nice, but a fake nice. I'm a pretty good judge of character, unlike Lainey."

"Guess that's why you're together." I pause. "That wasn't supposed to be an insult."

He smiles. "I got it, Riley. Well, I'm going to go find my girlfriend. I suggest you try and find your boyfriend."

He stands up from the couch, taking a few steps before spinning around. "And, Riley, remember that Asher isn't perfect.. for the future."

He winks before disappearing in a sea of drunk bodies. I let out a sigh, hating that awkward conversation. It's nothing against Ari, but I'm just not comfortable right now.

I stand up from the couch and decide to take his advice and find Asher. It's not as simple as a task as it sounds. I don't like the crowds here; they're intimidating and quite pushy.

Some girl elbowed me in the eye and didn't even say sorry.

I'm over it.

After several minutes of searching the house, I find Asher outside.

"Hey, thanks for leaving me in there," I mutter, walking behind him and poking his spinal chord.

He spins around, a smile on his face. "Riley, there you are! I thought I lost you forever!"

He hugs me tightly, crushing my face into his chest. I push away in laughter.

"You didn't even look for me, punk."

"Didn't even look for you?" he gapes. "Riles, I almost called the police after I couldn't find you for five minutes."

I note the sarcasm and roll my eyes. The other people in the circle he was standing in start laughing, clearly finding Asher to be some kind of comedian.

"Are you going to introduce us to your girl, Westfield?" one of the boys asks, his hair messy and a cigarette in his hand.

Asher puts an arm around my waist. "This is Riley, my girlfriend."

"Hi," I say, my voice seeming so small.

I look around at the group of people, all similarly dressed to Ari. They had ripped clothes, the girls with barely anything. Most of them look at me in awe, others look at me in disgust.

"She looks like a prude," a girl mutters.

Well, you look like a slut.

Asher doesn't say anything to the girl for her comment, but he grips my waist a little tighter.

"Shut up, Carly. You're jealous because you're not half as hot as Riley," the same boy from before laughs.

Oh.

If I thought Asher's grip couldn't get any tighter before, I was wrong. He's practically squeezing my skin now. "Watch it, Hector."

A taller boy trails his eyes down my body slowly, carelessly. "Yeah, the whole virgin thing she has going on is super sex-"

This boy doesn't get the chance to finish his sentence because Asher's fist is already crashing into his nose.

I cover my mouth with my hand as the loud cracking noise is heard. Asher cooly turns around and grabs my hand, dragging me into the house.

I'm still in a state of shock as we travel past the loud crowd of dancing young adults. He takes us upstairs, and my mind immediately takes me to Sam's orders of never letting this happen.