Page 19 of Nothing to Fear
“Damn, that’s a sight I’d like to see,” Asher says as he laughs. My smile fades quickly, replaced by heat instantly flaming my cheeks. “I don’t mean it like that, man, I just meant the prank.”
“Yeah, totally. I know,” I stutter, playing it off. Even though the idea of Asher wanting to see me buck-ass naked makes me feel hot and bothered.
“What about you?”
“What about me?” he asks for clarification.
“Any good stories you want to share?”
“Nah, I’m pretty boring. I’ve always been a bookworm, constantly studying and working hard.”
“Do you leave any time for fun?”
“Yeah, I mean, I have a good time. But overall, I try to keep my focus on getting my degree and returning to Boston with my family.”
“You all are close?”
“We are. I miss them. I go home every few weeks, but we’re all so close, so not seeing them every week is always a bummer.”
“I don’t know what that’s like. My parents shipped me off to boarding school as soon as they could. I’ve always had to be independent. Never really had anyone I’m too close to,” I tell him honestly. Talking to Asher comes so easily when I’m relaxed. It’s everything else that is overly complicated for me. My mind starts to drift, remembering the encompassing feeling of loneliness that engulfed me while away for the first time, how I begged my parents to let me come home.
Soft warmth surrounds my hand, pulling me from the unwanted memories plaguing me. The spot heats immediately, and I have to work hard to steady my breathing.
“You with me?” Asher’s voice is calming, sweet, and smooth like melted butter. I study his eyes, dark chocolate brown, so severe against his features that they should be terrifying. They pull me in like a storm, claiming everything in its wake. “Where’d you just go?”
I shake my head, clearing it of the past and focusing on the spot where Asher’s hand rests over mine.
“Anything you want to do before we graduate?” I ask out of nowhere. Just pure curiosity.
He promptly releases my hand as he answers, and I miss his touch immediately.
“Explore the cemetery.”
That shouldn’t surprise me, considering the things Asher studies, but I don’t know anyone who’s brave enough to attempt to get into the Corvus Cemetery. The burial ground hasn’t been used in over two centuries, its gate having no entrance. It’s without a doubt haunted, and the rumor is that the gate is protected with old magic, but we don’t know if it’sto keep us out or something else in. I’m sure it’s all myths and legends that have been passed down and twisted to keep curious students in line and prevent them from disturbing history.
“That tracks. Have you gotten close?”
“Heard there was a tunnel below the school that leads to a mausoleum in the center of the cemetery, but I haven’t found it yet.”
I don’t know why I say it, but the words are out of my mouth before I realize I’ve even thought them. “You interested in trying again? I bet we could find it together.”
Asher’s eyes squint, the near-onyx pupils burning into me as he studies my face.
“Yeah. Yeah, I want to do that.”
I card my fingers through my hair, nodding and trying to hold back a cheesy-ass smile.
“Okay, yeah. Let’s do it then. Tell me everything you know, and we’ll go from there.”
“This should be right up your alley with your major. I should be letting you lead this hunt. After all, you found the archives,” he says with utmost confidence and not a shred of doubt. I don’t know where it comes from since he is fully aware of my grade situation. “You had to have retained some shit over the last three years in that jock brain of yours, right?”
“I mean, yeah. I love this kind of stuff. Where do you want to start?”
Asher stands, lightly grabbing my elbow and pulling me up to follow. Tingles shoot through my body as I meet those obsidian eyes looking over my face. He ponders something for a moment, his head clearly swirling, thinking something through before nodding, a half-smile on his face that makes my heart light up like a goddamn star.
My eyes trace along Asher’s side profile, hisstrong, chiseled jaw, the hard lines of his chin that juts out slightly, the ridge of his nose. My hands twitch at my sides, and I quickly shove them in my pockets before I do something stupid. Like reach out and touch him.
Instead of spending the next few hours studying like we should be, Asher and I dig into the archives, pulling out books and maps, looking for any detail or clue that would get us into the Corvus Cemetery. We work together well, like two people who have moved around each other and known each other their entire lives. The world is hustling and moving forward above us, but Asher and I are able to exist in a little world where I’m just me and he’s just him. It’s how I imagined things would be between us if I hadn’t shoved my head so far up my own ass freshman year. Comfortable silence stretches between us, and I feel more myself than I have in a long, long time.
