Page 85 of The Love Penalty
Another surge of vomit lurches out of me, and I spit into the toilet before leaning my forehead against my arm and starting to cry in earnest.
The faucet comes on and I hear shuffling and drips, and then a cool washcloth is being pressed against my cheek.
“C’mere,” Caroline murmurs, helping me sit up so she can wash the rest of my face. She wipes away my snot and tears while I whimper and tremble beneath her touch.
Once she’s done, she holds my face, her tender gaze causing more tears to leak out of my eyes.
“What happened?”
I open my mouth, wondering if I can even find the words to explain this nightmare. Caroline takes a seat beside me, pulling Casey’s T-shirt around her hips while he stands there shirtless, his arms crossed and a worried frown crinkling his expression.
Gazing across the room, I find a spot on the shower door and stare at it.
Caroline’s patiently waiting for an explanation, lightly running her fingers through my hair until I can manage to mumble, “It’s him.”
“Who’s him?” She perks up, obviously relieved that I’ve found my voice. Her blue gaze is so expectant, like if I tell her, she can help me. But she can’t. No one can make this situation better.
No one.
I lick my lips, my jaw shaking when I whisper, “I just met Asher’s cousin.”
“Okay.” Caroline nods.
Casey’s bare feet shuffle on the bathroom floor. I watch them for a second, his broad soles taking up two whole bathroom tiles.
“Um… Lani, what’s up with Asher’s cousin?” Caroline prompts me.
I let out a shuddering breath. “He’s the guy from the party. The one who?—”
Caroline gasps, slapping a hand over her mouth while Casey gapes at me. “Harvey raped you?”
I nod, and then my stomach starts heaving again. Lurching to my knees, I choke into the toilet, my empty stomach hurting as my body jerks up a small mouthful of bile. I cry into the bowl, shuddering as Caroline’s hand lightly rubs my back.
“I can’t believe this,” Casey mutters. “That little fucker! Asher’s gonna kill him.”
“No!” I jolt back, wiping my mouth with trembling fingers and staring up at Casey. “He can’t know.”
“What?” Casey balks at me. “He needs to know.”
I shake my head. “This will kill him. Harvey’s like a brother to him.”
“Yeah, but he?—”
“I have to break up with him.” I can barely choke out the words. “It’s over. It has to be over.”
“No,” Caroline whispers, sounding just as heartbroken as I feel. “Lani, you can’t. You love him.”
“You love each other,” Casey clarifies with a pointed look.
“Which is why I have to end it.” My voice starts to pitch and squeak again. “It won’t work anymore.” I slash the tears off my cheeks. “I can’t make him choose between me and his own flesh and blood. It’s over.”
CHAPTER 39
ASHER
Lunch with Harvey was pretty good, although he kept getting distracted by girls walking past the table, and then when a brunette with blue eyes and rosebud lips took a seat beside me, he just outright ignored me. In the end, I left him to it. As much as I wanted to call Lani and check in, I had a class to get to, so I settled for a text.
She didn’t respond.