Page 71 of Asher Black (The Five Syndicates)
“My lab, Asher.” I cross my arms and try to plaster a fierce look onto my face.
I hope it’s scary, because the pastel pink blouse I have on doesn’t exactly scream: FEAR ME. Though he should be scared, because I am pissed the fuck off right now. I can practically feel my cells humming in sheer anger.
I try not to yell, but I do anyway. “My fucking lab!”
“Oh.” His face relaxes. “You’re welcome.”
“You’re welcome? Are you fucking kidding me? That’s what you say to me after interfering with my grades?”
“Wha—” Asher’s jaw drops a little. “You’re mad about that?”
“Of course, I’m mad,” though my anger is quickly dissipating. I’m just tired now, and with that comes a newfound vulnerability. “Wilton is the only valuable thing I have in my life that’s completely mine, and it’s already tainted.
“People stare at me when I walk into class now, and I know they’re angry about all the special treatment I’m getting. They won’t say anything, because you’re you, but I know they’re thinking it. I don’t even blame them. I can’t blame them. The special treatment I’m getting is unfair for them. That’s a fact.
“The worst part is that I can’t even decline your help, because without it, I’m just a random girl that missed dozens of classes and deserves to be placed on academic suspension not to mention have her scholarship revoked.
“But this? This lab? I didn’t ask you to help me with that. I could have taken the hit to my GPA. I deserve to take the hit.”
Asher’s eyes soften. “I’m sorry. I just thought… It was my fault you overslept and failed the lab, so I fixed it.”
He still thinks I was up all night with nightmares about the shooting—not the two Steves.
I don’t correct him.
“This is my life, Asher! Mine. There’s nothing to be ‘fixed,’ especially not by you.” I sigh, forcing myself to release my residual anger, since his heart was in the right place. “Look, I know you thought you were doing the right thing, but I would appreciate it if, from now on, you don’t interfere with my life any more than necessary.”
“And the aspects that I need to interfere with?”
“There’s nothing that you ‘need’ t
o interfere with.”
“We’re engaged, Lucy. There are aspects of our life that are intertwined.”
“Consult with me first.”
He looks at me, his eyes taking in my face and then my body. I struggle to control my body’s reaction to his perusal.
Asher nods stiffly. “Fine.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.”
I roll my eyes. “I’m not doing this with you, Asher.”
A boyish smirk etches itself onto his face. “Fine.”
I don’t bother answering. I turn and leave.
But my heart is pounding, because even though I don’t want his help, he went out of his way to do something nice for me.
And damn if that doesn’t make me like him a little more.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Success is not final,
