Page 53 of The Consequence of You
Asher gently grips my chin, holding it firmly so I can’t possibly miss what he says next.
“What if, for once in your life, you don’t?”
Our eyes lock and the space between us buzzes with something tangible. Something inevitable. My breath hitches and my lips part as my pulse hammers so hard, I can feel it in my fingertips.
“Asher-”
He closes the distance between us in a single, desperate motion. Cupping my jaw in his warm hands, his fingers tangle in my hair as his mouth crashes against mine. Gasping against his lips, his tongue sweeps into my mouth and I kiss him back hungrily and without hesitation.
My stomach pitches with a slow flip and my knees buckle as our kiss deepens with a heated fervour that grows with every second that passes.
Fisting his jacket to keep myself upright, he wraps his arm around my waist, steadying me while we both take what we need.
Asher kisses me the same way he lives his life – unapologetic and unrelenting, passionate and fearless, and as he sweeps me along with him, for a blissful moment, he almost has me believing I’m capable of living the same way.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
ASHER
“I’m in love with Calliope Messina.” Grayson splutters a mouthful of beer across the table between us.
“Sorry, what now?” He looks at me with disbelief, and I can’t say I blame him. I’ve spent eight years telling him I hate her. I pass him a paper napkin.
“I am in love. With Calliope Liliana Messina.” I take a long gulp of my beer while I watch my best friend try to come to terms with my announcement.
When it finally hits him that I’m being serious, he chokes out an incredulous, “Why?”
“Have you seen her?” I ask him as if it’s fucking obvious, despite knowing her outward beauty is only one of the reasons I love this woman.
“Well, yes, she’s beautiful, but she looks the same as she’s always looked, and up until now you have always maintained your dislike for her?”
“No, I mean, have you seen her? Like truly fucking looked, and actually seen her?”
Grayson leans over the table and presses the back of his hand on my forehead.
“Are you feeling okay?” I shove his arm away as he chuckles to himself. “Never thought I’d see the day the cold prince gave his heart to someone. Wasn’t even sure you had one, bro.” He shakes his head and smiles. “And Callie? Does she feel the same way about you?”
“Yes.” I answer immediately and with certainty, because she does. “She just doesn’t know it yet.”
She’s naïve if she thinks I can’t see it all over her pretty little face when she looks at me, like I can’t feel it through every soft touch, in every frenzied fuck. I don’t need her to verbalise it to know it’s true. She’s refused to let any other man into her life since Nico. It’s not for lack of offers. It’s because none of those men were me.
It might have started out physical between us, animalistic lust, but we got that out of our system the first time we fucked. No, something keeps her coming back to me. And I’m willing to bet our two-hundred-acre estate; it’s the same thing that keeps me coming back for her.
I can admit it. She can’t. That’s the only difference. But she will. I can be patient.
Grayson and I spend another couple of hours in the bar, catching up and having a few drinks. He agrees not to share my revelation with Dahlia for now. The two of them don’t keep secrets from each other but I’m only asking for a little time.
Our friends are off to California next semester and Grayson moves on to telling me about all their plans. I won’t ever tire of seeing my best friend this happy. He tells me his father tried to appeal his sentence, but the CrownProsecution Service are confident his lawyer has no grounds, and it will be rejected before it even makes it to court. Piece of shit deserves to spend the rest of his pathetic life in jail for everything he put his son and countless others through. Apparently, the coward’s been having a hard time while he’s been in there, and I don’t feel an ounce of sympathy.
Grayson still feels some guilt about his involvement in his father’s crimes, but I remind him he had no choice, and he’s done everything within his power to make it up to the victims. Over the summer he spoke to a solicitor about handing himself in, but they thought it was unlikely the state would press charges, as he’d been a minor and was blackmailed by his father. The solicitor advised him to let it go, to get on with his life. My best friend’s doing everything within his power to build a better future for himself and Dahlia.
He lines up his cue to make another break on the pool table. Seeing him happy, genuinely happy, gives me hope that it’s possible for me too.
He takes his shot, and the red and yellow balls scatter across the table. A couple of them sink into the pockets and he shoots me a smug grin before pointing at his colour of choice. He takes his next shot and sinks another. I flick him the middle finger and pull my phone out of my pocket while he continues to play.
My finger hovers over Callie’s name. I hesitate.
She has secrets, things I’m not even sure she’s shared with her best friend. The more time I spend with her, the clearer it is that she’s used to looking after herself. Her father’s hardly in the country. Things are not on the level with her brother. Until yesterday, I hadn’t even remembered he existed. Dahlia and Grayson certainly nevermentioned him. Makes me think he’s been as absent in her life as her father.
