His eyebrows shot up. “You’re seriously going to stay with him?”
I glanced away. I didn’t have it in me to give him a verbal answer. I couldn’t. I didn’t know what I was going to do yet.
“Do you love him?”
I bit my lip as words continued to fail me.
He nodded his head vigorously. “Fine. You do what you have to do. I’ll see you after work.” He spun around and walked out of my room. I flinched when the door slammed shut behind him.
What the hell was I supposed to do? I was engaged, I shouldn’t worry about Asher. So why did Asher’s feelings mean more than Preston’s? Was I that shitty of a human being?
I reached for my phone and called Preston but was met with his voice mail. Frustrated, I hung up and tossed the phone on my desk. He needed to know what I was feeling. I wasn’t being fair to Preston and I hated being that person.
Asher walked out of my life that morning. He made his feelings abundantly clear. So why was it that I still felt like a goner when he was around?
That woman made me feel things I hadn’t felt since I was a teenager. She was fucking loyal, honest, and caring. I knew why she wouldn’t give in to me. It was all because of that prick she was engaged to.
I stepped through my gym doors and began setting up volleyball equipment. I knew being engaged was a big deal. I knew she would never cheat, I knew that. I didn’t want to make her cheat on him. I just wanted her, in every sense of the word.
It wasn’t fair to get angry. I wasn’t angry at Faith. I was just pissed with the situation. I didn't expect her to just break off the engagement now that I was back. Though, I couldn’t help but hope.
“Asher?” a sultry voice called from the doors.
I turned my head and found Linda. She was something else entirely. I had heard of women like her but never actually met one; cutthroat and didn’t take no for an answer.
“What do you need? I’m a little busy.” I called back to her. I’d hoped she would just turn around and walk right back out.
But of course, the she-witch stayed. She let the doors shut behind her and she sauntered over toward me with that damn hip movement. “Can I help you with something?”
I shook my head and finished setting up the nets. “No. Don’t you have a kid to help or something?”
She giggled. “I can wait five more minutes before I pull him.”
I sighed. “You don’t want to get in trouble, do you?”
“Of course not,” she all but purred.
I reached up and scratched my head. “Listen, you’re beautiful. Don’t get me wrong, but I’m just not interested in dating right now.”
Her hand squeezed her chest, right between her breasts. I averted my gaze.
“I’m not looking to date you, per se. I just want to have a little…fun. What do you say?”
I let out an exasperated sigh. “Sorry, but I just can’t.”
Her eyes turned cold and she straightened her back. “It’s because of Faith, isn’t it? She’s engaged. She’s getting married to a sexy ass lawyer. She isn’t going to leave him for you.”
I stepped back from her. “I’m not expecting her to, but I know fooling around with you would only be a waste of my time.”
She gasped, and raised her hand to slap me. Instead, she balled it into a fist and threw it to her side. “You are not who I thought you were, Mr. Wells.”
I shook my head and walked away from her, toward my office in the back of the gym. I went and sat in my chair, grabbed my phone and dialed the principal.
“Mr. Higgins,” his gruff voice answered.
“Hey, it’s Asher. I wanted to report something concerning a colleague.”
“What happened?”
“Linda Shepherd came onto me a few times this week. I rejected her again and well, she almost slapped me. Figured it was something you needed to know. She also keeps interrupting my classes for little to no reason,” I said.
“Ah, okay. Thanks for telling me, Asher. I’ll have a word with her. This is not the first time I’ve heard something like this regarding her. I appreciate the call.”
“Thanks, Mr. Higgins. I appreciate it. Just didn’t want her to misconstrue anything. I would’ve come down to your office but I have a class in a couple of minutes.”
“That’s fine. See ya later, Asher.”
I hung up the phone and frowned. When did everything get so fucked up?
I put the lasagna in the oven, then collapsed on the couch. Asher had dropped me off with little to no words. I couldn’t help but feel guilty that maybe I’d hurt him with being engaged to Preston. I huffed. Why was I overthinking this? Asher hadn’t been around for the past seven years. I shouldn’t feel guilty about moving on. Maybe, it was time to look for an alternative form of transportation to and from work until my car was fixed.
The door opened and Preston walked in. His black shirt was disheveled and his tie was off already. He strode over to me and planted a kiss on my cheek.
“Hey beautiful.”
My eyebrows furrowed. He was acting like our argument last night never happened.
“Preston, I—”
He walked away and toward the bedroom. “I’m going out to dinner with a client to discuss a case tonight. Won’t be home until late.”
I hopped off the couch and followed him into the bedroom. Our floors were wooden and the walls were tan. I despised the color scheme but he loved it. Said it felt like home, whereas I compared it to a dentist’s office.
“I just put the lasagna in the oven. I need to talk to you about some things going on right now.” I picked at my braid.
He was standing in his underwear, giving me that look. The one where his frown
