Chapter 237

Chase stood in the center of the dorm room, looking first at Asher and then at me.

“They failed you over one subjective essay question?” he said, scoffing in disbelief. “And they expected you to just get over it and move on?”

His outrage helped fuel my own, replacing my depression and complacency with anger.

“I wouldn’t have even known why I failed if Asher hadn’t used his resources to find out,” I said.

“They depended on your ignorance, then. They never expected you to learn the truth.”

“That was my thought as well,” Asher chimed in. “They depend on their reputation to keep people from looking too closely.”

“It’s arrogance.” Chase clapped his hands. “Now I’m getting fired up. Okay. In the article, we can expose their unfair scoring system and then immediately follow it up with a call for change. They should be embracing young mothers and diverse values, not keeping themselves in a sterile little bubble.”

“I knew the answer they wanted me to give, but I just couldn’t… do it. It’s like they wanted to chance who I am,” I said.

“They did,” Asher said. “They expected you to conform. And when you didn’t, now we’re seeing the result.”

“Well, let’s show them that the power of unique thinking,” Chase said. He crossed the room to Asher’s computer and turned it on. “Mind if I jot down a few ideas while I’m here. I need to get some of these down while the iron’s hot, so to speak.”

Asher and I followed him to peer over his shoulder. When the computer loaded up, he opened an email account and composed an email to himself. His notes were scattered, fractured in a way that was hard to follow for anyone but him. But the undertones were understood.

“Surrounding themselves with individuals of only a specific focus limits overall growth,” Chase said aloud as he typed. “Being faced with differing opinions helps individuals generate their own growth. Humans, by nature, are all different, with their own values. No one should be punished for being themselves.”

“I like it,” I said, my confidence growing. Maybe, with Chase’s help, we could do something to stop the Academy’s reign of cruel elitism. What they did to me surely had been done to others as well. If we could stop them from being so closed-minded, the entire Academy would benefit.

And the world might be better off for young mothers and others who might not otherwise reach the standard impossible criteria for the Academy.

Chase’s words had power. We’d seen it before with uncovering Joseph’s disgusting group and having the Vice President of the Academy arrested. I truly believed with his gift of words, we could achieve anything.

Besides, it wasn’t like I had much else to lose.

Asher did, however. He was only a few months out from graduation. If the Academy turned their sights on him, he might not academically survive the fallout. Since Chase was his brother, it wasn’t like he could pretend ignorance.

I couldn’t help glance at him as I worried my bottom lip between my teeth.

He noticed and gave me a returning look, one with a lifted brow.

“Are you sure about this?” I asked softly, while Chase was muttering to himself and rewriting some of his notes.

“Aren’t you?” Asher asked.

“I have nothing to lose, but you…” I waved around his expansive dorm room. “You could lose everything.”

Asher looked at me for a moment, then reached out and took my hand. He laced out fingers together. “We share everything now. Our successes. Our failures. I will not shy from this because I’ve personally been fortunate. I will always be in your corner.”

A sense of calm washed over me, erasing my doubts. Of course, I still wanted Asher to have the best life possible, but I knew better than to doubt his resolve. He’d stood by my side through thick and thin, through the worst of the worst. He wasn’t likely to back off now.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

He shook his head. “You don’t need to thank me for this.”

His adoration was so simple, so easily given. All I had to do to earn it was be myself.

I rubbed my thumb against his, hoping he could feel my returned affection.

Chase sent the email to himself and then leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms high above him. Then, after groaning, he jumped to his feet.

“Give me a few days to work my magic,” he said. He gave me a quick side-hug, and shook his brother’s hand. We both saw him out to the door.

When Chase was gone, and the door closed behind him, Asher pulled me into a hug and kissed my forehead.

“Are you sure it’s okay that I stay here? The Academy won’t like it…” I said.

“To hell with the Academy,” Asher said. “Anyone who comes here expecting you to leave will have to go through me.”

Asher was an immovable object, an unwavering force when his mind was set. If he said no one would be able to make me leave, he meant it and I believed him.

I relaxed into his arms. So many things had happened in the past span of a few hours. For the first time in a while, I could let myself fall apart a little.

“Thank you for coming after me,” I said, my face buried into his chest. I remembered how scared I was, tucked into the backseat of the SUV with that goon. “If you hadn’t, I’d be locked inside that horrible research facility.”

Asher’s arms tighten around me. “You wouldn’t have been there long. I would have busted through the walls to get to you.”

“They had silver bullets…” I said, my heart clenching at the mere mention.

Asher’s voice lowered to a growl. “They would have had to use them.”

“Asher…” I hated the thought of him putting himself in danger for me.

“Breaking through walls… Raiding research facilities… Putting myself in front of bullets… These things are only the start of what I would do for you.”

He pulled away slightly, enough to look down at my face. His blue eyes were warm as a summer’s sky, but piercing, like he could see deep down inside of me. It heated me from the inside out, and I melted.

“You are my true soulmate, Cynthia. In every way. And while there is breath in my lungs, we will never be parted. I’ll make certain of it.”

Butterflies took flight in my chest. My heart pounded, and I felt his, under my palm, beating in the same rhythm. I traced my palm up the front of his chest then lifted it to his cheek. Slowly, I urged his face lower until our lips pressed together for a tender kiss.

Being true soulmates was not a love confession, at least not a romantic one, but when we touched like this, with Asher’s words like honey, I couldn’t help but let myself believe he did love me in the way I wanted – the way I needed.

We’d been through so much together. We’ve stayed at each other’s side through ever trial. Now, we even kissed.

All that was left, other than the words I love you themselves, was to become one with him body and soul.

I was ready now. I might have been for a while, but here with him now, there was nothing else I wanted in the world.

“Asher,” I whispered when we parted for air. His breath was warm on my lips. “Will you make love to me?”