Page 7 of Asher's Answer
I nod. “I’m sorry. You’ve been…” I struggle to find the right words, “unbelievably good about my whole…well,me,” I hang my head, “but I can’t stay here.”
“I hate to tell you this, kiddo, but you can’t live in the library on campus, either.”
I startle at how close he sounds now and when I look up, he’s directly in front of me. There’s not even a foot of space between us. And, huh, did he smell this delicious earlier? Fuck.Focus, Ash.
I try to take a step backwards, but I meet a wall of firm muscle and squeal.
“Easy there, bud.” The front door is open and the police officer who didn’t exactly arrest me but who did put me in the back of his patrol car is standing behind me, his hands up in the universal gesture of surrender. He shoots an amused look over the top of my head. “You still haven’t gotten him inside? It’s been hours, Charlie.”
“Fuck you,” Charlie shoots back with a smile. “He’s just woken up from a nap. I’ve been cooking dinner.” He looks at me and then the other cop. “Ash, you remember my brother, Josh.”
Brothers. Well, that makes sense. They do look very alike, only I guess that Josh is closer to my age and Charlie’s a little older than us. Maybe thirty? Not that it matters. I’m not planning on sticking around.
With my heart still beating madly from the surprise of backing into the younger of the two, I glance between them and attempt to charm my way out. “Well, as fun as it’s been playing ‘Hot Cop, Hotter Cop’, I’m just gonna go now.”
“I hope I’m Hotter Cop,” Josh says playfully, while Charlie groans and pulls me back via my backpack.
“You’re an idiot,” Charlie tells his brother, then gives me a gentle shove into the living room. “And you and I have a lot to talk about.”
“Do we have to?” I ask and manage to keep the whine from my tone.
“Yes,” he answers plainly. I’m guided to the couch and he sits beside me, turning his body in to face mine until our knees bump.
“Josh, can you keep an eye on the spaghetti sauce?” he directs the question over my shoulder in his brother’s direction, and we all hear the dismissal for what it is.
But Josh calls back his agreement and his footsteps fade away as he heads further into the house.
Then Charlie’s blue eyes are on mine again, and he takes my hands in his, as if he’s afraid I’m going to run if he doesn’t tether me down. To be fair, he’s not far off the mark. I send a longing look in the direction of the front door, but Charlie squeezes my hands, silently demanding my attention again.
“Let’s start with the easy stuff first, okay?” he says, and I snort because there’s nothing about my situation that’s ‘easy’. His eyes narrow. “Why were you living in the library? And don’t try and tell me that it’s all a misunderstanding. Josh said Security has footage of you using the showers in the gym and going back to the library every night for the last week.”
“It’s only been three nights,” I sigh, concluding that the jig is up. “And it’s only been while I try to find a new place.”
“What happened to your old place?”
I flinch. The wound is still raw, and humiliation thrums through my veins.
“Ash?”
When I look up, his blue eyes are full of compassion and concern and that has me talking even though I really don’t want to. “My dad kicked me out. He…well, he opened a package of stuff that he really shouldn’t have,” my cheeks burn, “and he flipped out. Called me…” The words aren’t ones I want to repeat, burned deep into my psyche, making the shame and embarrassment I already felt ten times worse. “Well, he called me a bunch of names and told me I had ten minutes to pack my essentials and get out.”
“Oh, baby,” the words are soft, but Charlie’s expression pulls into a scowl after he says them. I know the look is intended for my dad, but I pull back from him instinctively. The anger on his face is immediately schooled into sympathy. I don’t know that it makes me feel much better. “I’m sorry. Your dad’s a dick.” He squeezes my hands. “Go on.”
“So…I did. And then I went to…” I trail off.
“To?” He prompts.
“To my ex’s place.” My face burns again. “He wasn’t exactly my ex until I walked in on him with his new girlfriend. So, fuck me, right?” I feel so stupid all over again. How could I have not seen what Cooper was doing? “And, other than him, I don’t have any friends. I’m…I’m not exactly an extrovert, and Cooper kind of dominated my life for the last year…” Likely a tactical move on his part, I’m rational enough to see that now. I don’t know how I manage to keep my shit together when I finish, “I didn’t have anywhere else to go…”
I’m wrapped in strong arms and breathing in the spicy scent of Charlie’s cologne before I know it. I can feel myself trembling, but unlike earlier, I don’t fall apart. The nap -and my earlier breakdowns- have helped me get myself back under control.
“The stuff your dad found…” Charlie begins slowly, still holding me. He can probably feel my heart race as my embarrassment kicks in. “It was kinky stuff, right?Littlethings?”
I can only nod, shame turning my stomach into a lead weight.
Charlie pulls me in tighter and I wind up in his lap with my face pressed into the crook of his neck. It’s not an unpleasant place to find myself. And, damn, he really does smell good.
“Sweetheart, there’s nothing wrong with being little, you know that, right?”
