As I stand outside the cinema in the dark waiting for Asher to pick me up, I start to re-evaluate my decision to accept a lift from him. It's five past midnight and I walked straight out of the cinema after my shift because Asher told me he'd be waiting, and I hadn't wanted to hold him up. Now, I regret being so hasty.

The cool evening air felt nice immediately after working under the hot lights of the candy bar for hours, but now it's starting to bother me. I guess it's a sign Autumn has finally arrived. The days are still stupid-hot, but the temperature is dropping significantly at night. I pull my light jacket around me tighter and grab the earbuds that I always keep on me, sticking them in my ears and pressing Play on my favourite playlist on my phone.

As the minutes tick by and the chilly night air seems to penetrate my jacket, my heartrate picks up and my agitation grows. I don't want to call my mother, but I'm getting close to it. Asher had a date with Maddie tonight, but when we'd spoken this afternoon, he'd told me he was still alright to pick me up. Specifically, he'd said that picking me up wouldn't interfere with his evening because he wanted an early night after all the late-night rehearsals MOD have had this past week.

So where is he?

Has he changed his mind and wants to spend more time with Maddie? Has he forgotten me? Asher might be making more of an effort to get along with me for Ethan's sake, but that doesn't mean I register high on the list of his priorities. And I'm starting to feel stupid and angry with myself for accepting his quick answer and offered ride so quickly.

Taking my phone out of my pocket again, I shoot him a quick text, asking him if he's still coming, and then slide my phone back into my jacket pocket just as Luke walks out of the cinema. It's all I can do not to groan. Sinking further back into the brick wall that I'm leaning against doesn't stop him from seeing me.

"Waiting for a ride?" Luke asks.

"Yeah," I say coolly.

Luke made a couple of attempts to speak to me at work tonight, but I blew him off, which he was less than thrilled about. Now he has me cornered and we both know it.

"Listen, Lilah, I know how the other night looked."

"It looked like you forgot about me the moment you saw Nicole at the Bayview," I tell him, staring straight ahead at the road in front of me and wishing like hell Asher would show up already.

"I'm sorry. Really. Nicole and I...," he sighs. "We go back a way. We hooked up a couple of times one summer and then she started dating Preston White and..."

"And you missed your chance to hook up with her again."

"Yes. I mean no. I mean..."

I swing my gaze to him. "Listen, Luke, the way you acted at dinner last weekend was shitty, but things probably would have ended quickly enough between us even if that hadn't happened. We don't have anything in common besides where we went to high school and where we work. My life is music and yours is sports. We're just too different."

Not to mention he wanted more from me physically than I wanted to give him.

"I know we have our differences, Lilah, but-"

Luke is cut off by Asher driving up alongside us and tooting the horn loud enough to wake up the entire population of Rockstar Bay.

Luke mutters something that I don't quite catch as Asher opens his car door and steps out. He sneers at Luke over the top of his car.

Just as I worry Asher is going to make good on his promise to deal with Luke and his harassment, he finally looks at me. "Are you coming or not?" he asks, annoyance threading his tone.

His obvious annoyance triggers my own at being stood waiting for so long. It isn't like I asked him to come. He offered and I took him at his word when he said he didn't mind. I could have asked somebody else, like my mum or Jesse, if he'd changed his mind.

"I've been waiting here for you since twelve," I shoot back at him before stepping around Luke. Well, I try and step around Luke. My ex shifts on his feet, sliding to the side, blocking my way.

"Lilah," Luke starts.

"It's over, Kelly. Let her go." The threat is clear in Asher's voice and his body language. "And don't message her again."

"I don't answer to you," Luke growls at him. "And you're her stepbrother, not her keeper. And a shitty one at that considering how you refused to be her partner for the showcase."

I swallow hard, almost feeling guilty as Asher flicks a brief glance my way. It wasn't untrue at the time I was talking to Luke about it, so why am I suddenly feeling guilty and disloyal for sharing the details?

Thankfully, Asher ignores the comment and focuses on Luke again. "She's done with you and you're only pissing her off and embarrassing yourself with the way you constantly message her."

Luke looks to me and I nod. "We're over. And the messages you send freak me out, so please stop."

Under the streetlight, I watch Luke's nostrils flare, his lips flatten and a flush colour his cheeks. He swings his gaze between me and Asher before giving a jerky nod of his head. "If that's what you want."

"It is," I say, moving around him and sliding into Asher's car as quickly as I can.

As soon as I have my seatbelt done up, Asher guns the engine of his deep pearl-blue Ford GT sportscar. I don't give a crap about cars, usually, but even I can admit that Asher's ride is insanely nice. It's still got that new car smell, only now it's mixed with the smell of the leather seats and the scent of Asher's aftershave. As upset as I am, I still get a little thrill, a zing of adrenaline as the engine purrs and Asher takes off. I have no idea how much the car cost, but I know he had cash from a combination of his revenue streams. The fact Asher hasn't skimped on his first car or the stereo he had installed is a testament to how much he's already worth.

Asher turns the music up without looking at me at all. He appears so angry and upset that I feel the need to defend myself.

"I told you that you didn't have to pick me up."

"It's fine," he says without glancing at me. "I offered, didn't I?"

So then why is he acting like he'd rather be doing anything else in the world right now?

Huffing silently to myself, I sit back and listen to the band that is playing. The music is so loud that there is no way I could start a conversation even if I wanted to. From what I know of Asher's taste in music, it's pretty similar to Ethan's, but I'm not familiar with the band I'm currently listening to. The song playing is a combination of both rap and rock, and it works well. Asher drums along to the lyrics and I watch him out of the corner of my eye, getting sucked into the sad and depressive world that the band are drawing me into with their lyrics. The song is about goodbyes, about death and abandonment, and I can understand exactly why Asher is sucked into it.

I don't know how far through the album he was when he picked me up, but a couple of songs later, the album ends.

"Who was that?" I ask.

Asher looks at me briefly, then returns his gaze to the road. "That was MV Smalls."

"I've never heard of them."

"Him," Asher corrects me. "He's a guitarist and singer for Janey Falls."

"Really?" I'm more than a little familiar with that band, since they were one of Ethan's favourites and I'd grown to love them as much as he did. "They didn't split up, did they?"

"No, but Smalls likes to work on his own projects. His brother, who he has a tense relationship with, passed away last year and this album is the result of all his feelings about that."

"It's quite the trip."

Stopping at a red light, Asher takes the opportunity to put a new album on from his phone. As soon as the light turns green, he presses down on the accelerator and then flicks me a bored glance before saying, "Maddie doesn't like them either, they're too dark for her."

"I never said I didn't like them. The music is gripping, an intense journey of pain and confusion and despair. I felt every moment of it."

"I wouldn't have picked it as your taste."

"I'm not sure you know my taste, Asher."

"I've been in your room, Lilah. I've seen your wall of favourite artists."

"My taste is eclectic. I love Janey Falls."

"Yeah, but that's because Ethan loves them." Asher can't quite curb his disgust.

It reminds me of all the reasons Asher and I have been enemies for so long. So much for me thinking the days of his disgust for me are behind him. The old habit of wanting to explain myself and then not bothering because he doesn't listen arises quickly. But he is giving me a ride home even if he doesn't want to be, and he has listened to me more lately, and so, hesitantly, I try to explain myself.

"I love Janey Falls because their lyrics and music make me feel this crazy gamut of emotions with every song I listen to. They're amazing."

We reach another red traffic light and Asher turns to me and studies me. "They're really good at making you feel awful, aren't they?"

My lips twitch and I nod, grateful that he's taken my explanation at face value instead of throwing it in my face and insisting that the only reason I like them is because of Ethan.

"I hope that MOD can be like that, you know?" Asher says. "Inspire those crazy feelings in someone one day."

"I don't think you're going to have any problem with that, Asher. Whenever I hear your songs, I feel something."

"You do?"

His uncertainty shocks me. Does he not know how insanely talented he is? How talented MOD are? He is so arrogant and has been such an arse that I assume he must know, and yet there is a sense of desperation to him that makes me question just how confident he is underneath that tough exterior of his.

"Asher, your songs always make me feel something." I smirk. "Even when they're named 'We'll get rid of the bitch one day, brother."

Asher gives me a full-blown grin at that, one that knocks the breath from my lungs and makes my stomach feel weightless and tight at the same time. I don't think I've ever seen Asher act so relaxed and free with me.

"That was a shit song. I can't imagine it made you feel anything."

"Actually, it made me feel really angry."

Asher throws his head back and laughs, a loud belly-laugh that makes my stomach feel weightless again even as I smile because his laugh is so contagious. When he sobers, he says, "You really think MOD will make it?"

The traffic light changes to green, and I motion for him to go. When his gaze returns to the road, I say, "I know you will. Your songs are amazing and not in the my-daddy-has-money-and-influence-and-can-give-me-a-leg-up kind of way, but in the I'm-so-awesome-I'm-going-to-blow-your-mind kind of way."

"You really believe that?"

I nod. Then, remembering that he's watching the road and not me, I say, "Yes."

He doesn't say anything, letting silence sit between us. Where the quiet before felt strained and uncomfortable with only the music between us, it now feels like something different. I take a second to study him out the corner of my eye. Wearing a shimmery blue shirt that sets off his dark hair and ink, he's clearly dressed up for Maddie.

Kennedy's words from a month or more run through on my head so fast, they leave me dizzy:

"The tats, the intense brown eyes, the cheekbones, the dark hair kept long enough to run your hands through...If I'm totally honest, I may or may not have had a few really hot dreams about him over the years."

Damn it, I do not need to remember my best friend's assessment of my stepbrother. I couldn't see it back then, and now that maybe I do see it, I don't want to.

After a moment, Asher breaks the silence. "Have you warmed up yet?" he asks, his fingers hovering over the temperature dial. It is then that I realise the heat is really pumping.

"Yes, thanks."

Asher turns the heating down. "I'm sorry I was late to pick you up. Maddie and I, we fought when I dropped her home. It was our first fight, and I couldn't get away even though I tried."

"Don't worry about it," I tell him, appreciating the apology and relieved for the distraction from my new and unwanted awareness of Asher.

"It's not fine. You were waiting and I told you that I'd be here on time. Weren't you starting to worry?"

"A bit. But I would have called Mum if you'd been any later."

"Well, I won't be late if I pick you up again."

I'm taken aback by just how vehemently he says it.

"I still feel bad that you had to cut your date with Maddie short."

Especially since they'd been fighting. God, I hope Asher's decision to pick me up wasn't the issue.

"Yeah, well, don't. I told you that I wouldn't have offered if I wasn't okay with it."

"You and Maddie are getting pretty serious from the sounds of it."

He raises an eyebrow and flicks me a glance. "It's been three months."

"Exactly," I say.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," I say, shaking my head quickly.

Asher pulls into the large driveway of the Cassidy mansion – the place I now call home. And I don't just call it home these days, it feels like home.

Asher turns the car off but leaves the stereo on and I undo my seatbelt. "Thanks for the ride."

"Any time."

He says it so sincerely that I don't doubt he means it.

"Should we...could we work on our song tomorrow?" I ask. "I mean, if you have time."

He nods. "Count on it. Somehow, I need to transfer some of my decent lyrics to our song, don't I?"

"That you do," I smile. "And while you're at it, let that magic rub off on me."

"You want me to rub off on you?"

I nearly choke at his suggestive comment, heat spilling through me and my stomach bottoming out as the image Asher has just put in my head takes root in my brain. Did he mean to be so...suggestive? His smirk is ridiculous, and I mock-glare at him even though I'm aware of the heat staining my cheeks and tugging low in my belly, my body responding in the most shocking way possible to his dirty suggestion.

"You're a child," I say, thankfully sounding mostly normal.

"Pretty sure a child wouldn't have said that."

"Fine, just immature."

He smiles. "I won't deny that." He pauses, watching me for a moment. Where normally I feel Asher's presence as dark and heavy, right now it feels...somehow lighter. "You know, the song you wrote for the auditions was pretty good," he says after a moment.

I smile back at him. "Yeah?"

"Yeah, I felt every word."

My heart thumps heavily in my chest as I turn my whole body so that I'm facing him. "And what did you feel, exactly?"

He sits back and drums his fingers on the steering wheel while looking at the ceiling of the car before he stops and looks back at me. "Anger," he says. "Regret." His dark eyes lock with mine. "Respect."

A punch to the face would have surprised me less. "Is that why you decided to help me with the showcase? Because when we were paired together..."

"Yeah, I didn't think it would work out," he finishes for me.

"But now you do?"

"Now, I think there's a possibility that it might, yeah."

A possibility, I'll take that.

"Thanks again for the lift," I say softly.

"Anytime, Lilah."

It's with some reluctance I slip from his car and walk inside the Cassidy mansion.

As I get ready for bed, I find myself combing over my interaction with Asher. I've made a habit recently of trying to understand his intentions and the reasons for his attitude change. I still don't know for sure why he is suddenly being nice, and why he picked me up – or even why he offered to tell me how he really felt about my song. But I'm deciding right here and now to just accept it, to stop trying to understand it and just enjoy it while it lasts. And hope like hell that if Asher's change of heart is all for Ethan's sake that he doesn't bounce back to being an arsehole, and that it doesn't hurt like a bitch if or when that happens.