Chapter 30 #2
“There you are.” Asher walks in the side door after me.
“I want to be alone.”
He ignores me. “I was wondering if they still had this,” he says, walking up to the large structure covered in a tarp. He removes it and before us is a sailboat. Of course they have a sailboat. Asher climbs up the wheel of the tow it sits atop and over the silver railing. Then holds out his hand
for me to join him. I look back at the door, where the rain and wind blow furiously outside. I slip off my heels and take
his hand, climbing onto the boat with him. “Good memories on this thing.”
I lean back on the railing with my arms crossed as he messes with the steering wheel. Thunder rumbles outside, shaking the
structure.
“Tell me why,” I say.
He clears his throat. “I think you know why.”
“Then say it.”
He looks at me for a while, before walking to the back part of the boat and disappearing down the stairs. And I should just
leave. Go and find Wes. But the rain still comes down hard outside and I’ve never seen the inside of a boat. So I follow him
down the stairs. Wood-paneled walls push in on me in the small space below the deck, and I think that boat living is definitely
not for the claustrophobic.
“Asher?” I say his name when I don’t see him. But then his hands are on my waist from behind, and I startle. He turns me around
and lifts my chin up to him and puts his mouth on mine. I pull away. “Tell me why,” I say again.
He grabs my hands and walks back, through a door that practically blends into the wall, and into a small bedroom.
It’s nearly pitch-black in here aside from the small porthole window that looks out into the garage.
He sits on the edge of the bed, pulling me between his knees.
“They say actions speak louder than words, don’t they?
” He starts to untie my top and I grab his hands to stop him.
He stands again, leaning in so our foreheads are touching. “Let me show you why.”
He kisses me softly, then kisses me again, and again. Each one sweeter than the last. And I’m waiting for the moment that
his hands start grabbing me, pulling at my clothes. Waiting for his teeth on my skin. Waiting for him to take, like he usually
does. Waiting to be fucked. But this time is different. When he reaches down to untie my top again, still wet from the rain,
I let him. It falls to the floor, as he removes his blazer and unbuttons his shirt. I slide them down over his shoulders,
running my hands over his chest, his shoulders, his arms. He lays me gently on the mattress and lies over top of me, planting
these foreign soft lip kisses on my lips and my jaw. I reach down for his pants but he grabs my hand and threads his fingers
through mine. He continues down my neck, over my chest, to my stomach. He lets go of my hand and starts to slide down my skirt,
leaving me totally bare in front of him. His eyes roam over my body, really looking at me now, and usually I would want to
shrink in on myself. But instead I open my legs for him. He unbuckles and unzips his pants, kicking them off and adding to
the pile on the floor. We both inhale when he pushes into me, and I know in the way he holds me tight to his body and whispers
my name that Asher Collins McCavern is in love.
He just won’t say it.
We lie there, and for once, Asher holds me in his arms. He strokes my rain-soaked hair while my head rests on his chest.
“What are you thinking about?” I whisper.
“That we could do this in Colorado instead of arguing.”
I sigh and shake my head as reality sets in. “I’m dating your cousin.”
“Break up with him.”
But how could I break up with Wes for Asher, who can’t even admit that he loves me. How could I move across the country for
something so fragile.
“We need to get back to the party,” I say, getting up and walking over to my clothes.
He sits up in bed and leans forward, resting his arms on his knees. “Make sure you’re packed to go by graduation. I’ll be
back that weekend.”
I scoff. “What makes you so sure I’m going with you?”
He smiles that arrogant smile. “Because you’re in love with me.”
I finish tying on my top, shaking my head. I look over at him again and open my mouth . . . before closing it, and leaving
the room.
Because he’s right.
The dirt and grass squish under my feet as I walk back to the yard holding my heels, to where the guests are huddled under
the tents and pavilion.
“Where were you?” Dani says to me when I join them by the bar. “You’re drenched. And I think . . . I think your top is on
upside down?”
I fold my arms over my chest. “I got caught in the downpour. I had to take it off to wring it out,” I say, shivering. “I’ll
probably go in and change. I just need to grab my phone. Have you seen Wes?”
Dani looks around. “No, I thought he was with you.”
I unlock my phone to find multiple texts from Wesley.
Where are you?
Annica just told me you’re sleeping with Asher, is that true?
Sloane?
Followed by a missed call from Annica.
My stomach drops. “Oh my god.”
I call her back, looking through the crowd again for her or Wes. She answers on the second ring. “Sloane,” she sobs.
“Annica?”
“You have to get up here, hurry.” Her words are a jumbled mess through the tears.
“What? What’s wrong?”
“It’s Wes,” she cries. “He’s hurt.”
“Oh my god.” I grab Dani. “Call 911, now!”
“What?!” Her eyes go wide.
“Where are you?” I ask Annica.
“Attic, hurry!” Her frantic cry sends a jolt through me as my worst fear seems to be coming true. “He’s been stabbed.”