Page 87 of Restrictions

A lie everyone else has just accepted. He claimed her, and they all just sit around and accept it—hell, they embrace it.

But I can’t.

“Asher, I’ve loved her since the day we met, and I don’t owe you shit. But she is mine.”

“He had her first.”

“No.” Hisvoice is a hoarse growl into the night. “He didn’t.”

I feel sick as my eyes close and my stomach heaves, thinking about Penelope and Colt’s senior prom. The night I saw Linc take Penelope into our parents’ bedroom, stay in there with her for hours doing God knows what to her body.

“Does that make you feel like a big man, Linc? Fucking her first?” I turn to look at him again. “Turning her into your slut?”

His eyes flash red, and I jump up just out of his grasp a second before his body lunges for mine as he tries to calm himself. “Don’t.”

The word is a threat, and I see the rage burning in him as he stands a foot away. “What? That’s what happened, right? She was dating him, but you just had to claim her. You fucked her when they were still together.”

“They weren’t together.”

I was there. I saw them posing for pictures for my mom in their prom attire. I saw his kiss graze her forehead and then her lips before they climbed in the car. They were in love before prom, and then somehow the night ended with her in bed with Linc.

“Keep telling yourself that.”

He shakes it off, running his fingers through his hair, his chest heaving with anger I recognize. “This isn’t about me and P. I don’t really give a flying fuck what you think about us. She’s mine, and I'm hers.” His eyes meet mine. “Vivienne isn’t a fucktoy. She’s Sebastian’s mom.”

“Who the hell said she was a fucktoy?”

“Ah, okay. So you and she are a thing? You’re fully committed?”

My jaw ticks and part of me wishes he would hit me. I want to feel it, the fist crunching against my bones, the physical pain through my body to match the way I feel inside. “Again, none of your fucking business.”

“It is.” A deep breath follows before he adds, “Sebastian is my business, and she is his mother.”

I scoff. He really has lost his fucking mind. “Sebastian is your nephew, but he’s also mine. And I have spent a hell of a lot more time with the kid. I adore that fucking kid. I’ll never let anything happen to him.”

“You’re fucking his mother.”

“I take good care of his mother.” It feels fucking dirty coming out of my mouth, and she’s above it, but I don’t back down.

“For how long?” He takes a step closer to me. “How long before you’re bored?”

My throat dries. “It’ll be fine.”

“Bullshit. She’s a single mother. I have no idea what lies you told her to get her to engage in this fucking dumbass affair, but whatever it is... it will end badly. And Baz is going to get hurt.”

“I’ll never hurt him.”

“Fucking his mother and not loving her. Not committing to her. That hurts him.”

He doesn’t think any more of me than I do him. And although he’s not wrong, it stings. “I have it under control.”

He shakes his head. “You care about her. I see it.” My jaw ticks as my teeth clench, but I'm surprised and try like hell not to show it. “I know you don’t want to hurt either of them, but you have so much to learn, and you can’t play with her heart.”

“Fucking hypocrite.”

“Learn from me.”

What? I stare at him, trying to figure out what the fuck he’s talking about. “I’m not you.”

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