Page 97 of The Last Time

His eyes darken. “Last I heard, she wasn’t your girl.”

Once he’s back on his feet, he gets closer to me with a challenging look.

“She’s mine,” I reiterate, making sure he understands.

Charlotte looks between us. “It’s fine, Asher. We were just talking.”

“Yeah, we were just talking,” Paul advances. “Butt out. It’s none of your business.”

My entire body fills with the all-too-familiar rage. “It’s my business. It was my business when you fucked my wife, and it’s my business now.”

The gasps around me let me know that we have an audience, but I don’t give a shit anymore. I tried to keep it a secret, tried to protect Lauren’s honor, but I’m done.

Paul’s face tells me he’s shocked. He had no clue I was aware that it was him.

“She told you?” he questions.

“It doesn’t fucking matter how I know. All that matters is that you’re a slimy piece of shit who ruins people’s lives. I don’t know how you sleep at night, knowing you slid in and fucked my wife repeatedly while I was taking care of our baby girl at home.”

“Is that fucking true, man?” Josh interrupts with a look of fury on his face.

Paul looks at him, looks at everyone watching, then shrugs. “She wanted it.”

Before I can even move in on him, Charlotte is in his face. I see her arm wind up then her fist close in on Paul’s nose.

He falls back, covering his face as he screams. “What the hell, Charlotte?”

“You prick,” she yells at him.

He pulls his hands away, and there’s blood running down his face. Shit. My girl can pack a punch. I shouldn’t be enjoying this as much as I am, but that was probably the hottest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.

“You’re lucky I don’t come after you for more,” she threatens as she advances on him.

“Okay,” Layla pulls her back. “As much as I’d love to see you do that again, let’s not get thrown in jail for assault.”

“All these years,” Josh looks between me and Paul. “You’ve kept this a secret?”

I realize he’s speaking to me. “I didn’t know how to tell anyone. There’s a lot of reasons.”

“And you,” Josh turns his venom to Paul. “You’ve had the nerve of coming around after what you did.”

“Lauren was mine first.” Paul wipes the blood off him with his shirt. “I was the one who met her in the bar.”

“I don’t give a shit who she talked to first. This wasn’t some kindergartenfinders-keeper’sshit. They were married. They had a child,” Josh screams.

Part of me was afraid if I brought it to light, no one would be as enraged as I was. But watching Josh now, and seeing Charlotte throw that punch, it makes me realize how foolish I was for second-guessing the people in my life.

“Hey,” I step in, realizing there’s no point. He is clearly not sorry for his actions. “It’s not worth it. Let’s just walk away.”

Josh turns me, first with a look of frustration, then understanding. He nods his head at me before he turns back to Paul. “Don’t even think of showing your face around us again.”

Paul mumbles some cuss words as he walks away, the crowd around us watching him go.

I think I’m in shock. I don’t know how long I stand in place just trying to process what just happened. I turn behind me and see Charlotte sitting on the picnic table bench holding her hand.

I’m in front of her in seconds. “Are you okay?” I ask as I squat down, gently taking her hand in mine.

“Yeah,” she flinches. “My hand is killing me.”

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