Until the Stars Fade

Chapter 10

"Gogo, I'm leaving," I shout as I head out the door. "Asher text that he's outside, so I'll be back by eleven."

"Have fun dear, tell Asher I said hello," she says as I'm closing the door.

I practically run out of the lobby so anxious to see Asher in person, it's been way too long. When I get outside, I stop short because my boyfriend is casually leaning against his car wearing his ripped jeans, gray t-shirt and sunglasses. He already looks like a star. When he sees me, his face breaks out into a huge smile. He opens his arms and I race into them.

"God, Kins, I've missed you so much. I feel like I haven't seen you in forever, I forgot how pretty your eyes are," he says as he swings me in the air and then puts me down to give me a proper hello kiss.

"Stop, don't be ridiculous," I tell him as I lean in and get a whiff of his cologne. But I realize he's right, it has been too long. I forgot how good he smells.

"Come on, let's head out, I know Gogo expects me to have you home by curfew," he says as he opens the passenger door for me and walks around the front of the car to get in.

We drive to the restaurant the network rented out for this party tonight. It's a season one kick-off party and to celebrate the first month of filming. The restaurant is right on the ocean with a huge rooftop deck where we find everyone hanging out when we arrive.

"Asher James is here," someone shouts as soon as we walk up the stairs. I also hear, "Asher James has a lady friend." I can feel myself blushing already.

A guy, about Asher's height and looks to be around the same age, approaches us. He's dressed in dress pants, a button-down shirt and tie and I'm suddenly feeling undressed in my sundress and sandals. Asher said it was very casual and looking around, it looks like most people are casual like us. Not sure why this guy is so dressed up.

"Asher, so nice of you to grace us with your presence this evening. Who is this beautiful woman with you and why is she with you?" he glances between me and Asher and then leans in, laughing, and gives Asher a slap on the back.

"Levi, this is my girlfriend Kinsley. Kinsley, this is Levi. He's playing the uptight, wannabe rising political star on the show. He's been dressing as his character for weeks now. Just ignore him," he says as he puts his arm around me.

"Levi, it's very nice to meet you," I say smiling at him.

He looks between me and Asher smiling and says, "It's nice to finally meet you Kinsley. I've heard A LOT about you. You seem to occupy a lot of this guy's thoughts. He said you've given him a proper introduction to Jacksonville. You'll have to give us all some recommendations for stuff since none of us are from around here. The studio would have filmed in LA, but it was way cheaper to do it here in Florida, so here we are," he says as he spreads his arms out gesturing around us.

"Come on Kins, I'll introduce you to everyone else," Asher says taking me by the hand.

After being introduced to basically the whole cast, Asher and I grab some appetizers and watch the sky change colors as the sun goes down. As he gets drawn into a conversation about a particular scene they've been working on, Lily, the actress playing his character's crush comes and joins me at the table.

It turns out Asher was right and Lily and I do get along great. I find out she's only seventeen and finishing her high school with a private tutor her parents hired. Because she's a minor, her mom moved here with her from Chicago. She can't work late hours on set until she's officially an adult and her birthday isn't until February so she said the cast has all been giving her a hard time about being so young.

Before I realize it, it's after ten and Asher says his goodbyes and we head out. I feel bad that he's leaving early but he doesn't seem to mind at all. We walk to the car, hand in hand, and drive back to Gogo's. We're not ready to say goodbye to each other, so Asher comes upstairs with me.

Gogo is still up and reading on the couch when we come inside and she smiles warmly at Asher.

"Asher, long time no see, how's the show going," she asks as she gets off the couch and heads into the kitchen to put her wineglass away.

"It couldn't be better Georgia," he replies, "thank you so much for asking. The only downside is that I don't get to see Kinsley as much as before."

"Well, I'll let you two catch up a little before bed," Gogo says as she heads to her room. "Kinsley, please don't stay up too much later, it's late already." And with that, she's off to bed.

Asher sits on the couch and pulls me onto his lap. He leans down and softly kisses my neck. He whispers in my ear, "You look so beautiful tonight, I can't believe you're mine. Everyone really liked you, Lily especially." He continues laying kisses along my neck and I'm so distracted I can hardly speak.

"It was cool finally meeting everyone you've been talking about, putting faces to names," I say as his kisses send a shiver through me.

We spend the next twenty minutes kissing on the couch. When I yawn for the fourth time, Asher chuckles and says, "I think it's time for you to get to bed. You can hardly keep your eyes open."

I snuggle into him and kiss him one more time. "You're right," I say, "I'm exhausted. But you don't have to work tomorrow, so let's hang out. There's an art festival in the park and then we can get dinner at Giada's if you want."

"That sounds like a perfect day to me. I'll call you in the morning," Asher says as we stand up and I walk him to the door.

He leans down for one more kiss and says, "Thanks again for coming with me tonight. I loved getting to introduce you to everyone."

"I had fun," I say honestly. I reach up for one more kiss, we could kiss all night, and then he says goodbye. I lock up and head to bed. I think I'm asleep before my head hits the pillow.