Page 58 of The Better Choice

“A prank?” she asked skeptically. “Asher, do you even realize what losing this bag meant to me? It was my first day in New York City. I was suddenly without anything in the world that belonged to me. I didn’t have any money or a phone to call for help. I knew no one.”

He nodded, looking at the floor like a scolded child. “I wish I could take it back. It was stupid.”

“You can’t, though. It’s done. If it wasn’t for Finn, I honestly don’t know what I would’ve done that day.”

“Yeah, Finn saves the day, just like always.” He rolled his eyes.

“Don’t do that,” she said angrily. “Don’t you blame him. It’s your fault, Asher. All of this is your fault. Including the fact that I met Finn in the first place. I walked away from you in that church because you lied. It had nothing to do with Finn.”

“So, you don’t love him?”

She started to answer but stopped. “I don’t know how I feel. I’m still trying to process everything that’s happened.”

“Does that mean we still have a chance? I’ve changed, I swear to you I have. I love you so much.” He reached for her hand, his eyes filled with sudden hope.

“No,” she said quickly, pulling her hand away. “It definitely doesnotmean we still have anything even remotely resembling a chance. You and I are done. What you did…what you’ve done and gotten away with. I’m disgusted by that part of you, Asher. And that part of you is a really, really important piece of who you are.”

“I haven’t stolen in months. Not since I met you.”

“I could never believe you,” she said. “Never. Even if we got back together, I wouldn’t be able to trust you.”

“I will work day and night to earn back your trust,” he vowed. When he reached for her hand again, she didn’t pull away. Instead, her eyes filled with white-hot tears.

“You should’ve already done that. You should’ve told me the truth about who you were. You should’ve recognized who I was. Was I just a face in the crowd to you that day? Are you so numb to stealing that you don’t even notice the people you hurt?”

“I—no, of course not, I—”

“I was aperson, Asher. A person who you destroyed just because you could. How could you be both people? The man who won my heart and the man who broke it?”

“I never deserved you,” he admitted, pulling her fingers to land on his chest. “But I’m yours. My heart…it belongs to you. I made a mistake. I just need you to forgive me. I can’t survive without you.”

She sucked in a breath. “You told Bianca about stealing from me. Why?”

“Because when we were kids, we got into a lot of trouble together. She did much worse stuff than I ever did. It was…I don’t know. It was what connected us, I guess. I never wanted it to be that way with you. I never wanted you to see my darkness.”

She pulled her hand away at that. “You know, the thing is, I could’ve loved you through that. I could’ve forgiven everything if you’d just told me the truth. But the lies…I can’t forgive that. My parents were married twenty-two years when they passed away. And my mom always told me the most important part of any relationship is honesty. We will never have that.”

“Finn lied to you, too,” he said.

“About a path thatyouput him down. Finn has been kinder and more selfless to me in the time that I’ve known him than you ever were. Don’t compare your crimes.”

He sighed. “So you’re saying you’re choosing him?”

She thought for a moment. “I’m saying I’mnotchoosing you, Asher. That’s really all that matters.”

A tear cascaded down his cheek, and he wiped it with the back of his hand. “I’m not a bad person, Blythe. I’m just…I think maybe I’m broken somehow.”

She couldn’t help but feel empathy for the shell of the man standing in front of her. Maybe he was broken. Maybe he truly had an addiction that he couldn’t squash. Maybe growing up with a rich, successful family and choosing to forge your own path took more out of a person than Blythe was able to comprehend. Either way, she wasn’t his bandage. She wasn’t meant to fix him. She wasn’t going to spend her life healing him while creating new wounds in herself with each lie he told. And there would be others. That much she knew. New lies. New stories. New victims. If Asher believed he needed help, she hoped he would seek it professionally, but she’d never be able to look at him again the way she once had.

“I know you don’t think you’re a bad person, Asher. None of us want to believe that about ourselves. And I don’t wish anything bad on you—truly I don’t. What you’ve done, though, it’s too much for me to forgive. And itwasbad, not just a prank. I hope you can get the help you need…but I can’t wait around for that.”

“If you truly loved me, you would.”

She put her hand on her hip, shocked at the audacity of his words. “Silly little sayings like that might work in advertising, but real life is so much more complicated.” She held up the bag. “Thank you for bringing this by, but I need to get to work.”

He nodded, his chin quivering as he tried to maintain composure. “I’m going to get my act together, Blythe. I promise you I will.”

“I hope you do,” she said softly. “For your own sake.”

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