Chapter 30: Asher
Sitting at this overcrowded circular booth with a bunch of people I don’t know is probably the last thing I’d rather be doing right now.
But here I am, arms crossed over my chest, back pressed tight against the worn leather, counting down the seconds until I can get the hell out of here.
Because I had to be a fucking idiot.
Had to want to feed her instead of just
er off at home like I was supposed to.
Simple. Clean. Easy.
Instead, I’m crammed in here, one wrong
from flipping this whole table.
Penny’s to my left, squeezed between me and Tyler, her knee brushing mine every time she shifts. And Tyler – God bless his idiot heart locked in a heated, full–blown debate with some
- it.
I glance sideways.
Penny’s laughing quietly into her hand, her
eyes bright, her cheeks pink.
Not at me, obviously. At them. At this.
is
I don’t look away fast enough.
I have to admit, she’s funny.
In her own strange, quirky way.
Creative too, if the way she kept firing questions at me earlier is anything to go by. She’s quick. Smart in a way most people aren’t. And warm. Always too warm.
I like that she’s warming up to me.
Which means I need to fucking stop it.
Now.
Before I can think too much about how bad I’m screwing up my own rules, a voice cuts through the noise.
“Hey, I’ve never seen you before.”
–
I blink and turn my head – slowly to find the black–haired girl from the field sitting two seats over, leaning across the table toward me, fake lashes fluttering like she’s about to take flight.
Rebecca, if I remember right..
Great.
Exactly what I need.
Before I even bother/answering, Tyler jumps in Tike the proud idiot brother he is.
“He’s in the Navy. Just got back last week.”
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I resist the urge to kick him under the table.
Rebecca’s smile sharpens. “Ooh, Navy guy,” she says, twitling a lock of her hair around her finger like she’s starring in a bad en drama,” in
hot,
I grunt. Noncommittal. Short, Sharp.
Not that it stops her.
She keeps going – firing off compliments, fake questions, stupid laughs and I answer the bare minimum required to avoid being a complete asshole.
Barely.
Beside me, Penny shifts a little, and for a second I think maybe she’s uncomfortable too.
Or maybe that’s just wishful thinking.
Because then, like clockwork, the brunette sitting on Tyler’s other side
“Are you as good at soccer as your brother?” she asks, voice all soft and sugary, as she leans into Tyler’s side and lets her hand land conveniently on his shoulder.
Tyler grins, eating it up like it’s his last meal
I don’t bother answering beyond a grunt.
Soccer. Jesus Christ.
Earth.
I glance down at Penny.
She’s sitting stiff now, hands folded tight in her lap, fake smile plastered across her face like a shield.
Tyler doesn’t notice.
Of course he doesn’t.
He’s too busy soaking in the attention, talking about how great the field practice was after Penny left, how fun everything Rebecca and the others were at joining in.
was,
how awesome
Penny nods, that same pretty fake smile on her lips.
“Sounds fun,” she says, light and bright.
But I feel it the way her body tenses next to mine.
The way her knee stops bouncing.
The way the light in her eyes dims just a little, hidden behind the practiced smile she thinks fools everyone.
Everyone except me.
I sit there, jaw clenching tighter, feeling the anger burn under my skin.
Not at her.
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Chapter 30. Asher
A him.
At all of them.
Across the table, to the guy who’d been arguing toppings with Tyler eyes me.
Long.
Hard.
Sizing me up like I’m a stray dog that wandered in from the alley.
“So, lo says, loud enough that the conversation dips slightly around the table. “Why are you
I blink at him once. Slow. Cold.
back?”
“Can’t disclose,” I say simply.
Short. Flat. A warning, if he had half a brain.
But Jo smirks, leans forward over his plate.
“C’mon,” he says. “You Navy guys are all talk any. What, they send you home because you couldn’t hack it?”
My fist tightens under the table.
One more word.
One more word and I’ll wipe that smirk clean off his face.
I feel it in my bones
–
– the shift, the slide into
place they built me to go when words weren’t enough.
But then blessedly – the server shows up with giant trays of pizza, thudding them down onto the table with enough force to jolt the conversation sideways.
I don’t move.
I hold Jo’s stare across the table.
Longer than necessary.
Long enough that the smirk slips, unease flickering across his face before he finally looks away and grabs for a slice.
Smart.
I breathe out slow through my nose, forcing the yiolence back down into the pit of my stomach where it belongs.
When I finally turn back toward my side of the booth, Tyler’s already busy loading up his plate, laughing about something with the brunette.
Of course he is.
Penny’s sitting there, hands still folded in her lap, shoulders still too tight.
I grab a slice, rough and fast, and drop it onto her empty plate without saying a word.
She blinks at it like she wasn’t expecting it.
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Maybe she wasn’t-
Then I grab a slice for myself and lean back, Ignoring the stupid, hollow buzz of voices around the table,
I didn’t come here for them.
I didn’t stay here for them.
It was her.
It’s always her, even when it shouldn’t be.
I watch her out of the corner of my eye as she picks up the slice delicate fingers, neat bites and something low and rough twists in my
chest.
Mine.
The word is uninvited, sharp in the back of my mind.
I shove it down.
Hard.
Because Penny Vale doesn’t belong to me. And she never will.
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