That’s impossible.
Out of all the places for me to be, there is no way I am in the same house as Asher Haven. I hate him.
I loved him, but I hate him more.
Not thinking and letting the rage fuel me, I unlock the door and swing it open so fast my hair breezes over my shoulder. I’m staring at broad shoulders and a wide back. A man with dark hair is blocking the path to Asher.
I think it’s Asher.
No, I know.
The man, Sebastian, turns his head over his shoulder and stares at me wide-eyed. He’s surprised that I opened the door.
Yeah, me too.
He steps out of the way, and I’m bombarded with the past when Asher’s face comes to view. He got taller, broader, and if it were possible, better looking, and it makes me hate him more. His dirty blonde hair is kind of long, wavy like he brushes his fingers through it too much. He has stubble on his face, which is new because when he was seventeen, he barely had peach fuzz.
His beauty is holy, something that deserves to be praised, but someone so pleasing to the eye can only promise one thing: sin. And I’ve had enough of that for a lifetime.
Asher’s lip part, and when he sees me, he smiles in relief. “It’s you. Oh my god, Heather. It’s you. It’s really you.” He charges at me, arms out to pull me in a hug, but I lift my hand to stop him from coming any closer.
All I see is him covered in my sister’s blood.
I know he didn’t kill her. I thought he did, I tried to convince myself that he did for the longest time, but as evidence came forth, and his character came into play, I knew he didn’t. Asher Haven was a lot of things, but a woman beater and killer was not one of them.
I can’t speak for who he is now. For all I know, he kills women in his spare time, which is something I don’t believe, but I’m not feeling all too kind right now.
“Heather—”
he says with a broken voice, staring at me with watery eyes as his cheeks redden. He rubs a hand over his mouth as he tries to pull himself together. “Heather, I…I am so sorry.”
I hold my palm in the air to stop his apologies. I don’t want them. I step forward, leaving enough space between us that I don’t feel bombard by his presence or melted by the strength he exudes. Asher always had that effect on me, and it’s why I kept my distance.
I knew him back then. I knew what he liked to do. He wasn’t the kind of man to settle down and have a girlfriend. He fucked who he wanted to and left all of them wanting more. And I know the kind of woman I am. I would have wanted more from him, more than he was able to give. So I turned my love into hate, and it’s something that’s been boiling over ever since.
Then my sister…
He went to prison for a crime he didn’t commit but never complained once. He took his punishment, served his time, and he got out.
One letter.
I wrote to him one time, and I never heard back.
My love would never be reciprocated, so it’s easy to hate him.
“Everything okay here?” Sebastian asks timidly.
I don’t know, to be honest. I want to slam the door in Asher’s face and crawl back into bed. I want to go back to feeling sorry for myself and scared of my own shadow. I want to move on too and figure out a way to live my life again. I want to hug Asher. I want to slap him.
I want to scream and punch. I want to cry.
But I just stand here because I’m too tired to do anything.
I search his blue eyes, which have not changed. He always spoke volumes and a million stories with one look. If Asher is one thing, it’s honest, and he wears his heart on his sleeve. He makes himself transparent for everyone. He doesn’t hide himself.
Seeing him breaks something inside me. It’s been so long since I’ve seen a friend. A sob breaks free when reality hits me. My knees buckle, and I fall toward him because all of my strength to fight vanishes. His arms wrap around me, cupping the back of my head with one hand as I lean my cheek against him.
“Yeah, everything is okay, here,” Sebastian says from my left, and his footsteps echo down the hall in his departure.