Page 122 of The Love Penalty

My stomach sinks, and I can feel the blood draining from my face as I gape at him. “Why? What are you going to say?”

He turns to me with the most dangerous look I have ever seen. “Nothing.”

I gape at him. “Asher, I?—”

“Get out of the car, Leilani.”

I stare at him for a moment longer, trying to come up with a valid argument to stop him, but my brain is dead. My mouth is void of any decent words, and even if I could say something… I don’t think it’d be enough.

I can’t stop him. The look on his face is kind of scary, so I slip out of the car. As soon as I shut my door, the tires squeal and he takes off down the road.

“Shit,” I whisper. Why did I just let that happen? I never acquiesce without some kind of fight, and I let one lethal look push me out the door? “Fuck,” I mutter, wrenching my phone out of my pocket and searching for any number I can call.

I start with Asher, because maybe I can talk him into turning around, but he, of course, doesn’t pick up. I should have known he wouldn’t.

Turning my back to Huxley Hall, I start hustling down the sidewalk and turn left toward campus. I scour my phone in vain. I don’t have contacts for any of the Hockey House guys, so I go for Mikayla’s number. She doesn’t pick up, so I try Caroline instead. She stayed with Casey last night, I think.

Her phone goes straight to voicemail, which probably means she’s in class… where I should be.

I check my watch and swear again. I need to contact someone and tell them what Asher is up to. The way he was looking, I wouldn’t put it past my boyfriend to end Harvey on the spot. I can’t let him do that. As much as Harvey deserves a good swift kick in the balls… and maybe a little castration, I don’t want my boyfriend getting in trouble.

Enough shit is gonna rain down on him as we pursue this matter with the police. I don’t want Asher ending up in a jail cell with blood on his knuckles.

Picking up my pace, I start sprinting for Hockey House, hoping one of the guys will be there. I need Ethan. Or Liam. They can race after Asher and talk some sense into him, right? Maybe they can stop him before he does something insane.

I make it to Hockey House completely out of breath and ring the doorbell incessantly, trying the door handle and grunting in frustration when it won’t budge.

“Is anyone home?” I shout, starting my doorbell routine again.

A dog starts yapping just as a voice calls from inside the house.

“I’m coming!” I think it’s Rachel. “Calm down, Fezzi, it’s all right. We’ve just got ourselves a visitor.”

Her pretty face appears behind the wood. She’s holding Fezzik, who’s still barking up a storm and wriggling in her arms. She looks over his little head, her confusion turning to a smile that quickly drops to a frown.

“Are you okay?”

I walk past her, frantically moving into the dining/kitchen area and scoping out the place. “Are any of the guys home?”

“No, they’re all in class.” She puts Fezzik down and he scampers across the tiles, sniffing my ankles while his tail goes nuts. His little paws come up to my knees as he stretches to sniff my legs, but I’m too stressed out to appreciate how cute he’s being.

“I need to find someone. Asher needs help.”

“What’s the matter?” Rachel’s eyes round as she reaches for her phone.

“He’s gone after Harvey.” I show her the flash drive in my hand. “We now have proof that he was the guy at the party.”

“Oh no.” Her expression crumples. “He wouldn’t have taken that well.”

“Nope.” I shake my head, my chest starting to heave as panic tries to take me out. “We need to go after him and stop him before he does something that’ll get him in trouble.”

“Do you know where Asher’s going? Or where Harvey is?” Rachel holds the phone up to her ear, then frowns and hangs up with a huff. “Liam’s not answering. Everyone’s in class right now.”

“I know,” I whine. “I’m supposed to be there, too, but I can’t just—” I click my fingers and point at her. “Can I borrow one of their trucks or something? Maybe I can chase Asher down.”

“Do you even know where he is?”

“He’s probably gone to Lennox or?—”

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