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When Mom and Grandma aren’t around, his father, my grandpa, says anger is a part of our heritage—unforgiving and endless.
Right now, though, Lucy’s not even looking in my direction. I wonder if that’s why I feel so stupid.
He immediately starts purring, and the hint of a smile pulls at her mouth. That smile feels like the eighth wonder of the world.
The stupid, selfish part of me wishes she’d direct it my way, but she’s always favored animals over humans. Everything over me.
Those blue eyes swivel up. “Are you sad, Asher?” Only when you are.
“If there’s a creature out there worse than a human, I’ve yet to be convinced.”
The thing with Mom’s anger is that it burns out quickly, whereas Dad’s is a quiet flame that builds and consumes slowly. Mine is…eternal. That’s all I know about it.
“That stuffy old doctor is terrible at sharing.” I nudge Dad with my knee. “Yet he’s one of your closest friends.”
Use me. I don’t fucking mind.
“Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.”
Mom likes to say Dad adopted pretty much every stray human he met after they got married, as if he was making up for the fact that he’d been alone most of his life.
“The world is your oyster, but you’ve barely even begun to see it.”
“Gas money please.” My other eyebrow hitches as well. “You’re asking me to fund my own kidnapping?”
How did everything get so fucked up? I would have crawled on hands and knees to my death for Lucy Wolfe. Now she doesn’t even want to see me.
though none of that felt worse than seeing Lucy again after all this time and knowing it hasn’t changed a fucking thing. All I wanted to do today was wish her a happy birthday.
She’s easy to hide from plain sight; I cover her body completely, tucking her in. Just in case. My nose grazes her soft hair, and I involuntarily inhale the sweet coconut scent.
“A piece of paper wouldn’t keep me from you,” I tell her, leaning in to finger the red hair brushing her face.
Such a ridiculous notion, that I haven’t changed in three years. As if all that time I’ve been sitting in some sort of growth stalemate and not lamenting the fact that I didn’t go with her when we graduated. I would have followed Lucy Wolfe to the ends of the goddamn earth.
Powerful, compelling women are as alluring to some men as they are intimidating, and they either embrace the attraction or aim to squash it altogether.
“Your wants are external. Always have been. They contrast with what you feel on the inside.”
The idiotic part of my soul is hopeful I’ll see beautiful blue eyes. Hopeful and naive.
I could throttle him for being the one to almost make her smile, though I guess that’s what he’s always been good at. Me, I just make her angry.
Her eyes sparkle in the early morning light, ocean waves I want to dive deep into and drown in.
Turning in my seat, I hike my foot and kick the back leg of his chair. It splinters and explodes, sending him sprawling onto the ground. I know he’s fucking with me. His heart belongs elsewhere.
“You’re being extra needy today.” “I’m but a simple goldfish,” he croons, flipping his hair out of his face. “If you don’t pay enough attention to me, I’ll die.”
“That’s what I said.” Liar. God, I can’t stand this man.
Long ago, I believed our souls were connected. That he was my missing half, the other part of the equation that made me whole.
“Shut up,” she spits. “You have no right to talk about any of that.” “No right? I didn’t break your heart there, cupcake.”
His soul and mine, floating somewhere in the ether.
Hooking his ankle around one of my chair legs, Asher yanks me closer, spreading his knees and fitting me between them.
Shaking my head, I try to peel my fingers off him, but he reaches down and covers my hand with his, keeping them there.
Is a little PDA going to kill you?” “It might.” “Come on. Just let me be near you.”
“So, use me as your audience. Read the material, and I can quiz you on it after. No pressure. But… Maybe I’ll learn something too.” His cheeks darken with a blush. “And if not, at least I get to enjoy the sound of your voice.”
“I’ve never been more honest in my entire life,” I say around her. “You are the most magnificent creature I’ve ever laid eyes on.”
I’m here, by your side, forever. I’d sooner kill myself than spend another second of this godforsaken life without you.”
Love is a gamble, and I’ve never been very good with odds. My brain likes structure and sure things, and this has the potential to crush me.
Asher Blake Anderson. The angry boy who broke my heart when we were younger. And the one who put it back together again.
