Page 32 of From Asher, With Love

“No.” He threads his fingers through mine, holding my hand. “I said it right the first time. New York will look better once you’re in it. It won’t know what it’s been missing until you’re there.”

I lean forward and rest my elbow on my leg and my head in my hand as I stare at Asher. I can’t help smiling at him. My cheeks ache with my unrelenting happiness. “And you say you aren’t good with words.”

“I’m not. Usually.” He chuckles and runs his thumb along the back of my hand. “But I’m falling for you, Charleigh. I’ve never felt this way for anyone, and I’m afraid if I tell you the depth of my feelings, you’ll come to your senses.”

“Can you stay for a while?” I ask, not wanting him to leave, especially after sharing our first kiss. I’m afraid I won’t be able to sleep if I’m left alone with just my thoughts. “Just until I fall asleep?”

Asher pulls his cracked phone from his pocket.

It’s nearly one in the morning.

“My mom is probably still passed out, so I can stay for a while.” He slips the phone back into his pocket.

I slide under the covers of my bed and hold them up for Asher to slide in beside me. I don’t expect to sleep with him. I’m still a virgin, and the thought of giving it to Asher tonight doesn’t feel like the right time. Even though I already know it’s him I would want to lose it to over anyone else in the world.

It appears Asher isn’t thinking about sleeping with me, either, when he lifts his arm up to pull me to his side. After sidling up to his ribs as close as possible, I drape my leg over his and rest my hand on his chest, directly over his heart, feeling its rhythmic beat against my palm.

My eyes grow heavier by the second, and I try to fight it.

I don’t want Asher to leave, but I know the moment I slip away, Asher will slide his arm out from under me and sneak back out of my window.

I worry about Asher’s mother and how she’ll take the news of him leaving. I think about my own parents and how my mother will never leave my father. I try to picture what they’re life will look like when I’m finally gone or if I’ll actually care.

Soon, though, everything fades to black, and our hushed breaths are the last sounds I hear before I finally drift off.

I wake up the next morning and crack my eyes open to the bright morning sun. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I sit up and look through my bedroom window. The trees are no longer swaying. It’s a calm, bright, sunny morning. Every moment of last night comes flooding back to me: Asher’s confession of his feelings for me, our kiss, his acceptance letter. I can’t stop grinning and am anxious to get to school so I can see him again.

I spring to my feet and move toward my closet but stop dead in my tracks.

Taped to my window is a small heart cut out of paper.

Excitement courses through my veins when I hold my breath and cross my room. I peel it from the glass and ghost my finger along the front of the ink-stainedpaper heart.

From Asher, With Love

My cheeks grow sore from smiling, when I turn the heart over in my hand to read the message on the back.

Remember… you’ll look good on New York.

My heart is still pounding as I carry Asher’s paper heart across my room. My knees press into the carpet when I bend down in front of the foot of my bed and reach beneath for a shoebox my mother left under my bed after she bought me a pair of heels last summer.

I remove the lid and drop Asher’s heart inside. Pinching myself, I tell myself this isn’t a dream. Asherkissedme, and it isn’t until I close the lid on his first paper heart do I realize it was his way of telling me he was falling in love with me, too.

TEN

ASHER

I spent most of my early college days just scraping by in all my classes. For the most part, it was because they were all the basic classes you’re required to take before settling down and deciding on a major. I’d always had my heart and mind set on real estate. I should have mixed in a few business classes with the basic ones to keep up my interest, but against my better judgment, I didn’t, mostly because I knew life can change when you least expect it. Commitment was no longer in my blood.

It wasn’t until my third year of college that I finally got up off my ass and worked to earn the degree I’d always dreamed of.

Charleigh’s tardiness reminds me of the first few years I spent in college, after I left her. Back when we were together, she was always the more organized one between the two of us. Everything she did was meticulously planned down to the slightest detail. At times, it was a trait I admired. Other times, it would drive me insane.

Today, she is driving me insane.

She’s obviously changed over the years. Maybe Charleigh isn’t the same woman she once was, just as she claims I’m not the same man I used to be, either.

Which I’m not.

---