Page 184 of The Sidekick

“You are,” he insists and begins to plate the food. “Maybe not with your fists, but you are a fighter angel. You’re brave in a way I’ve never been, and your strength is on the inside. You just have to exercise that muscle to give it a little more oomph.”

“You are such a gym teacher,” I tease.

He turns to give me a smirk. “If an analogy works, it works.”

“Is it ok if I tease you like this? I’m not sure if it’s ok or annoying.”

“I’ll tell you if you go too far. I like it when you tease me. It makes me laugh. I don’t think I’ve had enough of that in my life.”

“I have a lot to make up for,” I give him wide eyes and bat my lashes. “How will I handle the pressure?”

He gives me a wicked grin and hands me the plate. “You’re brave. You can take it.”

I glance at the stove and frown, “Where’s your plate?”

“You do better when you eat alone. No pressure to try and finish as fast or as slow as anyone else. Just eating for the pleasure of it.”

I look at the scrambled eggs, toast, and melon. “The pleasure of it.” The words are bitter, and my lips tighten.

“Let me show you,” he drops to his knees and pulls me closer to the edge of the chair, spreading my knees wide as I gape down at him.

“What are you doing?” I ask with a squeak.

“Enjoying my breakfast,” he gives me a wicked grin and nods to the plate. “I want to see that plate empty. I’m willing to motivate you to get what I want. Let’s see how many orgasms I can give you before you finish. Take your time.”

Chapter Fifty-Four

Tera

I’m in the bedroom with weak legs when Asher walks in.

“I thought you left?” I ask in confusion.

He smiles at my unstable stance and licks his lips before shaking his head and holding out a letter to me.

“This was taped to the door.”

“Huh?” I take the envelope and freeze. I recognize this writing. It makes my stomach twist. The front has my name on it but nothing else.

“Angel?”

I drop to sit on the bed heavily and let the letter fall to my lap. It lands softly, but it feels like an anchor. I can already feel panic beating through my lungs and heart as I grip my throat.

Asher’s duffle bag drops to the floor. Without hesitating, he gets on the bed behind me to hold me from behind. He knocks the letter off my lap and presses a kiss to my temple as I sit in silence.

“Talk to me, angel,” he says softly. I nod, but no words come out.

We sit there for a minute before I realize he’s going to be late for work. I need to get my crazy under some kind of control. I start doing my breathing technique. He joins me until I’m relaxed back against him.

“The handwriting. It’s Trevor’s.” I manage to get out.

“We don’t know if it’s bad,” Asher says calmly, and my head starts shaking.

“It’s always bad,” I choke back and turn to press my cheek to his chest.

He makes a thoughtful hum of sound and rubs a hand up and down my back in comfort.

“He doesn’t want me to come back. He wants to make sure that Max and I are separated-”

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