Page 99 of The Love Penalty

“Asher?” I want to touch his hand, curl my fingers around his arm… something! But I’m scared that any physical connection will be my undoing.

That was the first thing I succumbed to—his sexy arms and lips and… that one kiss after the quiz night was something I couldn’t control. And let’s not even think about the elevator sex.

Curling my fingers, I take it a step further and sit on my hands.

He rests his elbow on the table and stares at me. He’s wrecked, shaky breaths punching out of him. His eyes are glistening like he’s about to start crying.

I’ve never seen him like this before.

“What is it?” My voice is a gentle coo, because I will do anything to find out what the hell is bothering him so much.

He shakes his head, swallows, then lets out a shuddering sigh.

“Asher, come on. You can’t just walk in here and not say anything. It’s freaking me out.”

What happened to him? Was it one specific thing, or has he been like this all week?

Is his torment still over the breakup? Is he here to try and win me back?

Has he been hurting as deeply as I have?

Shit. Am I strong enough to withstand it if he starts begging?

He opens his mouth, his lips trembling before he manages to choke out, “Please forgive me.”

“What?” My voice is barely above a whisper as confusion shimmers through me. “What do you mean?”

He swallows. “I made you doubt yourself.” His breath hitches. “I didn’t want to believe the truth, so I bought into his fucking lies, and I made you think you were wrong. And I’m so sorry.”

It takes me a second to catch up, but when he finally looks me in the eye with nothing but pure agony, I get it.

“It was Harvey.”

Asher clenches his jaw and nods.

“How do you know?”

His chin bunches, and then he lets out a breath and spills it. Every detail of his horrible family function, from the moment Harvey tried to get him drunk to Halsey’s secret in the pool house to his uncle’s ugly threats.

He’s slashing tears off his cheeks by the time he’s done, and my heart is hurting in new ways I’ve never experienced before.

I bulge my eyes, trying to process all of this and think of the right thing to say.

It’s impossible. There is no right thing to say because… holy shit!

Glancing around, I struggle to breathe evenly, grateful that we’re in a quiet pocket of the library. No one else is around, and that realization helps me find my voice.

“Do you think your uncle knows what Harvey’s like… or does he just suspect it?”

“I don’t know.” Asher shrugs and sniffs. Swiping his finger under his nose, his eyes spark with a dark look of anger… and hurt.

This is killing him.

His nostrils flare as he bunches his fists. “I want to fucking kill Harvey. How could he lie so easily? He looked so innocent, but that ass-fuck is probably guilty of multiple rapes. Fuck!” he whisper-barks, his hair flopping over his forehead.

Thrusting his fingers through it, he lets out another string of whispered swear words.

I let him go for it because he obviously needs to let this all out.