Always Asher

by Lyra Winters

  My shoulders sagged, and I let out a whoosh of breath. “Thank goodness.”

  I left his office with a pep in my step. He approved of the work-related relationship with Asher, and I got more information about Rosie. Nothing could drag me down. That was until I walked into the gym to see Linda talking to Asher.

  I pushed open the door and walked in. The door slammed open. Asher took the distraction as a way of slipping away from her and rushed toward me. He kissed my cheek, which caused my body to heat as flashbacks of last night played in my head.

  “What did you have to talk to him about?” he asked.

  Linda’s jaw was on the floor as she barged over to us. “What about your fiance, Faith?”

  “He’s a cheating fuck.” Asher laced his fingers with mine. “They haven’t been together for over two weeks.”

  She scoffed, glanced at our hands before she marched out without saying a word.

  I laughed, and squeezed his hand. “I was telling him about us.”

  “I would’ve come with you.”

  “No need, he’s kind of excited for us.” I shrugged.

  He bent closer and whispered, “Want a quickie before class?” His other hand caressed my backside.

  I leaned in and wrapped my arms around his waist. “I’d love it but let’s make it for after school.” I pulled away.

  “Such a tease.” He pouted. “You’re in for it later.”

  I began walking away and called back, “I’ll look forward to it.”

  The day was going well with no hiccups until planning when Linda barged into my classroom as I was grading a few late papers. She strode into the room with a big smile on her face and crossed her arms as she stood beside my desk. “You cheated, didn’t you?”

  I rolled my eyes. How could one human being be so shameless?

  “Stop being immature.” I glided the red ink over the paper to write one hundred percent. “Preston was fucking his client on our couch when I came home. Who knows how long that’d been going on.”

  Her smile faltered. “That actually sucks. I’m sorry to hear that. But it’s not fair how you got Asher just like that. You move fast.”

  I tossed my hair over my shoulder. “It’s always been Asher for me.”

  She muttered something incoherent as she pivoted and stomped out of the room. The door slammed shut behind her.

  I rubbed my palm on my forehead before I reached over to grab my phone and dial Mags.

  “Hey, you’ve been quiet lately. Everything okay?” she asked.

  “I’m sorry. Yeah, everything is fine. I needed some time away from everything. My tests came back all negative, so I’m grateful for that. But wanted to let you know that I slept with Asher last night.”

  Her high-pitch squeal came through the receiver. “No fucking way, babe! That’s awesome. So, are you guys officially together now?”

  I grinned. “Yes, we are. I’m thrilled, you know? My coworker, Linda, is all pissy about it though.”

  “Fuck that bitch! I’m so pumped for you! You text that in the group chat, so Eve knows!”

  “I will after work.” I glanced at my watch. “I gotta go. Talk to you later!”

  “Bye!” I hung up and hurried to music to pick up the kids.

  Magnolia’s light blonde hair sat in a bun with strands sticking out every which way, and her green eyes lit up as she sipped her iced coffee. She sat across the table from Asher and me at The Coffee Shop.

  “His name is Kenneth, and he’s adorable—”

  Asher cut her off, “I doubt any man would want to be called adorable.”

  She stuck her tongue out at him. “I met him on a dating app, but I’m not sure about it. He was super awkward on the date last night.”

  He grunted. “If you’re not vibing with him, drop him.”

  I whacked his arm. “Maybe he’s just shy or something. If you really think there could be something, one more date should give you that clarity.”

  “That’s the plan. I’m having dinner with him again tonight.” She took another sip of her coffee. “I wish Eve would’ve come with us. I wanted to tell her about him.”

  I shrugged. “She and Gerald are always doing something.”

  She snorted as the door to the cafe dinged. “You’d think since I’m his cousin I’d see them more, but nope. I never see them.” Her eyes widened. “Shit.”

  “What?” I asked, but she just shook her head.

  Asher and I turned around simultaneously to see Preston walk in with a redheaded client. She wore a tight dress with a low plunging neckline. I wasn’t impressed.

  His manipulative brown eyes met mine briefly before I turned back around in our booth. “Oh.”

  Of course he’d fucking be here. I knew I’d probably run into him in town or at the market, but I really hoped it wouldn’t be this soon.

  “He’s heading this way,” she whispered.

  Asher slung his arm around my shoulders and pulled me against his side.

  “Your dad hired a moving team, so I didn’t have a chance to talk to you,” Preston said, standing in front of our table.

  “I wonder why that is?” I shot him a glare.

  He gave a slight, close-lipped smile. “I didn’t have time to apologize for what you walked in on.”

  Asher glowered at him. “Are you fucking that redhead too?”

  Preston’s eyes shifted to me as he ignored Asher. “I fucked up.”

  I shook my head. “How many girls, Preston?”

  He reached up and rubbed the nape of his neck. Purple hickeys littered the left side, barely visible under his collar. “It had started before I even met you, to be honest.”

  “You were sleeping with other women while you were sleeping with me?”

  “I told you earlier, this job came before you.”

  His words were another jab in my stomach. Did that mean sleeping with other women was part of his job description or something? I recoiled, pressing my face slightly into Asher’s chest. Thank God I didn’t catch anything from him.

  Mags slapped her hands on the table. The drinks sloshed as she did so. “Shove your apology up your ass and leave Faith the hell alone. She’s happier without some cheating bastard in her life.”

  Asher’s hold on me tightened.

  Preston’s eyes found mine again. “You’re probably happy to have found out since you wanted to leave me for that jackass, anyway.” He turned around and strode over to the woman he was with, bending down and kissing her cheek.

  I palmed my forehead as I pulled away from Asher. He kissed my temple as Mags gave me a sympathetic smile.

  “You okay, babe?” she asked.

  I nodded.

  “How about we head home?” Asher started gathering our empty coffee containers onto the tray.

  I was all for getting the hell out of anywhere Preston was. It baffled me how I had been intimate with a jerk like him, but I reminded myself that it wasn’t my fault Preston sucked. He had me fooled since day one, but I was thankful I found out before I married him.

  Asher took the tray to throw away, and Mags pulled me into a hug. “I’m going to head out. I have to meet Kenneth in twenty minutes.” She grabbed my shoulders to hold me out by arm's length. “If you need anything, call me and I’ll be there.”

  I flashed her another smile. “Thanks, Mags. I mean it.”

  She gave me a wink before she bounced out the door, shooting daggers toward Preston and the redhead who sat by the door. I pressed my mouth into my hand to contain the smile.

  “What’s so amusing?” Asher asked, as he intertwined our hands and walked us out of the cafe. He used his body to shield me from Preston.

  Once we were outside, I let out my laugh. “Mags. She’s like a guard dog. I love her.”

  He led me to his truck. “She’s a great friend.”

  “Yeah. I’m thankful for her friendship.”

  He helped me up into his truck. “I’m thankful for you, Faith.” His hands lingered on my body
as he leaned in to press a gentle kiss to my lips.

  “That feeling is mutual,” I murmured, not able to pull my lips from his.

  Faith and I sat in stiff chairs across from Mr. Higgins. Students had already left the building for the end of the day, and we were here to meet with Rosie’s parents. The principal called us five minutes before dismissal to let us know about the meeting. Faith was trembling beside me, and I clenched my hands into fists. This situation was affecting her differently than it was me. She was feeling helpless and heartbroken for Rosie, but I had a surge of anger in me that made me want to kill the bastard that laid hands on her.

  Rosie and her parents walked through the door. We rose to shake their hands.

  “Nice to see you both again,” Faith said before Rosie gave her a hug.

  They smiled before shifting their attention to me. “My name’s Kathryn. I’m Rosie’s mother.”

  “I’m Ben, her father,” he told me before they sat on the love seat situated on the wall next to us, Rosie in the middle of them. They had pulled her dirty blonde hair into a ponytail and her blue eyes were red and puffy like she’d been crying for days.

  “You weren’t supposed to tell anyone!” Rosie sobbed. “He-He said he’d kill my parents.”

  Kathryn pulled her into an embrace as she cried, Kathryn’s bottom lip trembled.

  Ben patted her back. “He could never hurt us, sweetheart.” He turned to me. “Thank you. I am so grateful that she told you so we could get her away from him.”

  I took a deep breath. “Sir, I just want what’s best for Rosie. You don’t have to thank me for doing what needed to be done.”

  Kathryn’s tear-filled blue eyes met mine. “We appreciate you.”

  Mr. Higgins cleared his throat as Officer Richards came in. “Alright, so it seems like this case is going to court.” Rosie’s parents nodded. “Officer Richards is here to walk you through some paperwork. Before that, I wanted Ms. Reed and Mr. Wells here to see if they’d be interested in testifying for the case, if it gets to that point.”

  “Before you answer, I need to be frank,” Officer Richards said. “These cases rarely ever go to court because it’s obvious who committed the crime, and it’s easy to gather the evidence to put the perpetrator in jail. The only reason this is going is because he got himself a top dollar lawyer willing to fight for this.” His face twisted into disgust. “How he could find anyone who would back him, I do not understand. I don’t predict this case getting to the point of you testifying. This is an open and close case, directly to the point,” he finished.

  “I’ll testify,” Faith said, giving Rosie and her parents a reassuring smile. “I’ll do whatever I can to help.”

  “I figured you would,” Mr. Higgins nodded. “What about you, Mr. Wells?”

  I unclenched my fists before clenching them again. “I’ll do whatever I need to.”

  Officer Richards gave us a broad smile. “Thank you both, you may leave now. I have to go over some paperwork with the Jenkins’.” He nodded toward the door.

  Faith and I stood, saying goodbye before we left the office. We stopped by The Coffee Shop to grab something for dinner. She, of course, got her bagel sandwich to go, and I got one as well.

  We didn’t talk much until we were home, snuggled up on the couch eating our dinner. A pit in my stomach accompanied the silence as I worried about Rosie. That little girl was far too young to deal with what she had to, let alone go to court. Whoever the bastard lawyer was to back that monster was just as evil as her uncle was. That’s why I hated lawyers. They only cared about payday and rarely had morals.

  “My heart is absolutely broken for her,” Faith whispered, staring down at her half-eaten sandwich.

  I kissed her forehead. “Mine too, but we’ll do everything we can to help her.”

  She nodded and grabbed her phone. The screen lit up with Preston’s name, and she groaned.

  “Why the fuck is he calling?” Seeing his name on her phone sent a fiery rage through me.

  She shook her head and handed me the phone. “I don’t know but I don’t want to speak to him.”

  “What do you want?” I answered.

  “I want Faith. Not you,” he said.

  “Fuck off,” I grumbled, ending the call and handing her the phone back.

  “Thanks,” she smiled before the phone began ringing again. Her smile dropped, and she hit the ignore button. Then he called four more times, each time she hit ignore.

  On the fifth call, she sighed, and pressed the answer followed by the speaker button. “What do you want?” she asked.

  “I realized my apology at the cafe wasn’t sincere enough. I’m sorry,” his cocky voice rang through. Fuck, I’d never wanted to punch someone so badly.

  “Yeah, you fucked up, but I was going to end it, regardless.” She took another bite of her sandwich.

  “You’re really not who I thought you were, Faith,” he said.

  “Same to you,” she muttered before ending the call and blocking his number. “There, now he won’t be calling me anytime soon.”

  I kissed her lips. “You’re perfect.”

  I felt her smile against my lips. I loved that feeling of my lips on hers. She was something I wanted to get used to. I wanted her for the rest of my life.

  I sprayed the essential oil cleaning spray on the counters and wiped it with a microfiber cloth. Asher and I had spent so much time together, we had slacked on cleaning and the house had been in a disastrous state.

  Asher’s warm hands captured my waist. “Still cleaning?” he asked, his breath tickled my ear.

  I pressed my ass back into his groin, and a low whimper escaped him. “I want it spotless for our friends.”

  “We still have at least thirty minutes. We could always indulge in a little fun?” His hand skimmed between my legs.

  I stifled a moan before I swatted his hand. “You keep the house dirty. I have to clean.”

  “I’d rather make you dirty.” His lips parted as his eyes scanned me from head to toe.

  I pursed my lips. “Later, I promise.”

  “Okay.” He chuckled and put his hands up in defeat. He took a step closer and rested his hand on my shoulder. “Why don’t you just stay here indefinitely?”

  “Seriously?”

  “Why not? We’re dating. You’d move in eventually, anyway.”

  My mouth hung open. I loved the idea of living with him, forever. He made a good point. We were dating, and this would happen, eventually. “It would be nice.”

  “Why do you act surprised? You know how I feel about you.” He pulled me into his chest, and wrapped his arms around me.

  I wrapped mine around him. “It’s settled then. Until you say otherwise, I’ll stay here.”

  He pulled away. “I won’t say otherwise, so you’re stuck here.”

  I laughed. “I need to finish a few more things. Why don’t you order some wings?”

  After another half an hour of wiping, sweeping, and vacuuming, Mags knocked on the door.

  I invited her in and she started laughing. “I see you took over cleaning here too?”

  I scowled. “Nothing wrong with that!”

  “Is cleaning her thing or something?” Asher asked.

  She nodded. “This woman cleans like nobody else I’ve ever seen.”

  I huffed. “At least we have a clean home.”

  “We?” Her eyebrows raised. “Are you not looking for a new place anymore?”

  “It’s a new decision, but we decided this is my home too.” I smiled at Asher, who winked back.

  “Good for you guys.” She walked into the living room and collapsed on the sofa. “So, you mentioned Luca was coming?”

  I eyed her. “Still into my cousin?”

  She blushed and picked at her nail polish. “No way, but speaking of feelings, Kenneth and I just did not mesh. Like at all.”

  “How’d you come to that conclusion? Did you sleep with him?” Asher snorted.

  She l
aughed. “Well, yeah. How else could I measure our compatibility?”

  Asher chuckled. “Thankfully for me, Faith and I have great compatibility.”

  “Glad to hear that.” She rolled her eyes. “So, about Luca?”

  “He’ll be here any minute,” I replied.

  A few minutes later, I was true to my word. Luca let himself in and Mags was more than pleased. That woman was not shy by any means, but whenever Luca came around, she turned into a mouse.

  She had her knees curled into her chest as she sat in the sofa's corner, staring at Luca. Luca, on the other hand, was not shy and immediately sat down next to her, giving her one-liners.

  “Luca, be more original,” I said before leaving to answer the knock at the door.

  “That better be Evelyn!” Mags called.

  I opened the door and it was not Eve. It was the delivery guy. I gave him a sheepish smile before grabbing the boxes of wings. “Thank you.”

  Asher jogged over to me with cash to pay him as I went to set the wings on the kitchen island.

  “The wings are here! And I have wine!” I called out. Mags and Luca came in, followed by Asher.

  “Eve’s not picking up her phone.” Mags pouted as she grabbed a plate and helped herself to some wings.

  “Yeah, I texted her, but no reply. I’m sure she’s just running late or something.” I shrugged, doing the same as her.

  Once we all had our plates, we poured some wine and sat around the island talking. Luca and Mags were sitting close, and he kept whispering stuff in her ear. I’d never seen Mags so giggly before. Asher and I talked about other things, giving them a chance to bond.

  About an hour later, there was a small knock on the door. Mags bolted up. “About damn time!” She answered the door.

  “Sorry we’re late,” Eve kept her head down as she scurried into the kitchen to us, Gerald dragging his feet behind her.

  Gerald was not what I expected. He sported thick-rimmed glasses that made his brown eyes small. He was tall and lanky, not much meat to him, with a black mop of curly hair on top of his head.

  “Glad you two made it.” I grinned. “Nice to finally meet you, Gerald.”