Sometime later….Olivia shuffles on his lap, Asher glancing down at the awakening wolf. Olivia yawns, displaying her acute teeth, and perhaps Asher has lost all sense of self-preservation because he wonders what those fangs would feel like if they were as sharp as they appear to be.Olivia twists on her stomach, and she pushes herself off to sit, barely leaving a second for Asher to admire the wolf’s elegance before Olivia gracefully jumps over the couch to land on the floor and saunter to the bathroom.“I don’t know about you, but I’m getting tired,” Steve says through a yawn, the rest following him with aborted grunts and sleepy words of approval. “Olivia, hurry. I was about to take a piss!”“M’done,” Olivia mumbles as she steps out of the bathroom a minute later, clad in her former clothes. She pads to the living room and bumps into Adam on her way there. She grabs a blanket and climbs on the couch, crawling toward Asher, her eyes half closed.Asher freezes when Olivia drops hersel

"I won't because you don't. You don't f*cking understand," Asher snaps, and someone shifts behind them, the two freezing for a moment as they survey the heaps of sleeping bodies under the blankets.Once assured that the others are unaware of the discussion growing into an argument, Asher says, "You have no idea of what entering my world entails. It's eons away from a regular li—""You're the one who doesn't understand sh*t. You refuse to, actually, for no reason and—""I'm not, and if anyone is refusing anything here, it's the one who—""It's the one who won't listen to someone else and would rather treat them like they're a gullible child unable to comprehend anything that comes out of their annoying mouth.""Stop cutting me off.""I will when you stop being a f*cking idiot and cutting me off.""I don't even know why I thought it'd be a good idea to talk to you," Asher says, and he straightens up. However, Olivia halts him before he gets to turn around."Look at you doing the same th

Olivia lets herself be guided inside the living room, and she pushes the balcony's bay window behind them, the latter slotting shut with a click.They walk to the mattresses, stopping at the edge of the one installed on the floor against the couch, and Olivia drops the collar of her sweater to move closer to Asher as she says, "Do you mind if I sleep on the mattress with you? I'm sorry if I'm clingy. I j—""I don't mind, come on," Asher says and steps on the makeshift bed, Olivia following suit. "Do you want to sleep against the couch or next to Steve?""Against the couch, I prefer sleeping on the right when there's someone else." Olivia moves to her place as Asher lets go of her wrist, and she crouches to push the blanket aside, grabs her own pillow, and soon lying down on her right side, the couch behind her, while Asher and the others face her, the other five men and Mia laid down in a row on the mattresses.Asher is quick to mirror her, shuffling under the covers, and Olivia smile

After a brief moment of hesitation, where she concludes facing Asher isn’t as damning as having her nape kissed so gently, Olivia swivels, and she doesn’t get to see Asher’s face. She refuses to before she scoots lower underneath the blanket until she reaches her destination.Her path leads her right under Asher’s chin, and she curls there, head on Asher’s bicep, as she tucks her face in the neck with a sigh. “Okay?”“It is.”“‘kay.” Olivia, similar to how Asher is, curves her left arm over the boss’ waist as she nestles further against him, finding shelter in the presence of another body so close to her own.However, her nape feels bare now, devoid of any warmth. “Want the kiss again.”“You’d have to move for that.”Olivia huffs, and instead of shooting a retort, she blindly looks for the wrist of Asher’s right hand, which she grabs and drags high up her neck.“You don't have to,” Asher says when he notices the pause in Olivia’s movement.“I know. I want to try.”And so Olivia contin

Paul looks at Asher, who looks like a walking cold block of ice, void of any motions on his face. He asks with concern, “Asher, are you okay?”Asher blinks out of his trance and stares ahead as he replies, “Adam is right. Olivia has been a distraction.”“That’s not true,” Paul is quick to deny. “it's the exhaustion talking and the tournament approaching. Adam is cranky. Well, more than usual...”“Even then, he raised a point,” Asher says.Now Paul feels helpless, Asher is slowly closing off again. “He did not. Even if Olivia is a distraction, you're more than allowed to have it and enjoy it,” Paul assures Asher with a smile.“I should just focus on the tournament and all we've been dealing with.”“And that's what you've been doing, Asher,” Paul says. “Every day, you wake up and work nonstop until late at night. You should have that distraction.”“I don't think so.”“Did you talk to Adam? After the sleepover?” Paul asks without answering Asher.“I didn't,” Asher says truthfully.Paul s