Page 104 of Blitz'd

“What front office? There’s no one here but us.” Asher leans back, tilting his head and letting a slow smile cross his features. “Doesn’t that sound… safe?”

A threat with a smile on his face.

And my mother’s face goes slightly paler. I wait to see if it strikes something in my chest, some level of anger, or that need that kept me tethered to her for so long…

But…

No.

I don’t feel anything but mild amusement as she takes a step back and heads down the hallway. I push myself into the stairwell until she steps onto the elevator, so she doesn’t notice me. Once I hear the ding of the door closing, I make my way out.

Asher’s waiting for me at the doorway, and I can see the tension running through his body for the first few seconds he stares at me. When he realizes I’mnotangry about what he did, his shoulders slump and he leans against the doorframe, his arms crossed over his chest.

“Didn’t you hear? You don’t live here anymore.” He manages to keep the serious expression on his face for another few seconds before a small smile spreads across his lips.

My head tilts. I’ve known Asher for almost a year, and it almost feels like this is the first time I’ve really seen him.

“Shit, if I knew you were such a good guard dog…” I gently bump into his shoulder as I walk past him, and the low laugh that spills from his throat as he closes the door lets me know he’s not offended.

He waits until I sling my bag onto the table and start rummaging through the kitchen before he speaks.

“I know that might have been stepping out of line…”

“It’s fine.” I fill in the silence as his words trail off, snagging a container of leftover pasta and throwing it into the microwave. “I honestly don’t care what you say to her.”

“Yeah, but she’s your mom?—”

“That didn’t seem to stop you from threatening her.”

His cheeks go pink, and I’m actually a little thrown. IsthisAsher, or was he the man threatening my mother like he would happily have gutted her? Which is it? I usually have a read on people, but he’s thrown me for a loop.

“I’ve just… I’ve seen you a few times after you had a run in with them. And I’ve… I mean, I’ve heard your phone conversations sometimes? I noticed bruises.”

And he’d been in the apartment when I’d shattered my phone and taken his, so it makes sense that he’d put two and two together.

“It’s fine.” I say it again, and I really do mean it. The lightness in my chest is still there—the knowledge that I don’t have to deal with my parents ever again.

That I don’t feel theneedto deal with them.

And…

“As long as you’re not upset. I… You matter to me, you know?” Asher’s voice comes out soft, and I throw a glance over my shoulder at him. He’s standing there with his lip caught between his teeth and a half-pained, half-exasperated expression on his face. We fucked a few times, but I didn’t think it meant that much to him. I just thought he was obsessed with my dick. And like he can read my face, he adds, “Not like that. Not anymore. Just… I don’t have many friends, Kerian.”

Friends.

I’d never really thought about what it meant to have friends, or how that might be normal or important.

But shit, Zander has friends. I’ve seen him with them… I’ve occasionally thought about skinning them alive for taking up his time… but…

“Okay.” I come to the conclusion without realizing it, and the word actually seems to take Asher aback.

“Okay?”

“Yeah,” I pull the bowl out of the microwave and toss it onto the counter. “We’re friends. So the fact that you threatened to kill my mother so she’d leave me alone is… good.”

His blush goes deeper, but he comes to the opposite side of the counter and leans in, looking at me.

“It is?”

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