When the fear of isolation pulls Ashton and Ria together, nothing can prepare them for the collision. An anomaly shatters the repetitive fabric of their lives, sending them on a journey of discovering themselves and one another.
Beneath Ashton's gen...
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FURY GUIDES ASHTON'S HAND. His eyes dance across the canvas as his brows cast a shadow over them.
The bronze of her skin, hazel of her eyes, flames of her hair. They change every time his brush touches the surface. One moment, they're light and fiery. The next, they're dark and alluring.
How does he see Ria?
Is she luminous or is she obsidian? Is she a searing flame or is she the cold ash left over? Perhaps both are intertwined beneath her exterior.
Ashton drops his brush and stares at the painting before him. She's hiding.
A knob rattles. The studio door swings open. He glances up to see his two best friends striding in midst a conversation.
Daniel and Dea Alessandro, the driving forces of his life and occasionally the pains in his ass. He wipes paint-stained hands on his jeans and throws them a humbled smile. "Hey, guys."
Daniel grins and raises a large hand. "Why are you still here? I thought you were coming over tonight." When he finds himself next to Ashton, instant disapproval flickers in his dark eyes. The cheeky smile he was sporting morphs into a scowl as the painting of Ria overtakes his vision.
Dea skips up behind her brother and tilts her head to the side, examining his work. "Oh," she coos. "That's the new girl. Ria DeVoure." She nudges Ashton's side and teases him with a knowing smile. "She's been coming by for a couple weeks now, but he won't let me meet her."
"I don't want you guys to scare her off." Ashton slides off his stool and stretches his tense arms above his head. "For once, I really like a woman. I don't want your interrogation to intimidate her."
"Ashton," Daniel says with a warning laced through every letter of his name, "you know there's a reason we do that, right?"
"I know. I have a bad history with women, bu-"
"Terrible," Daniel corrects.
"Terrible history with women, but Ria is something entirely different."
"How can you be so sure?" Dea wonders. She twirls dark locks around delicate tan fingers. "You've been optimistic about a lot of women before."
He rubs his neck and his gaze finds Daniel as he examines Ashton's painting with critical eyes; like he can pick out Ria's personality beneath each layer of color. Even if she's vibrant on the surface, a perfect star in a universe of shadows, Daniel will find a flaw burrowed in there somewhere.
"She tries to fight her feelings for me," Ashton explains. "I feel like she's hiding her true self. There's something about her that I have to figure out. She isn't using me or begging for a commitment. In fact, I think she's afraid of commitment."
