Chapter 79

“You can do this, Asher!” I screamed as loud as I could. “I believe in you!”

I wasn’t sure he’d be able to hear me over the jeers and shouts of the crowd. Yet his body seemed to perk at my support.

He stood straighter and sturdier.

Joseph’s face paled. His eyes widened in surprise.

Then Asher pulled his arm back, and in a great show of strength, shot forward one strong punch. His fist connected perfectly with Joseph’s nose.

Joseph flopped down onto the floor, unconscious.

One solid punch was all it had taken.

The referee checked on Joseph, then turned to Asher. He took Asher’s arm and lifted it high, declaring him the victory.

The crowd shifted again, back onto Asher’s side, and roared its approval.

“I knew he could do it the whole time,” said the same person near me, who had earlier been disparaging Asher. “He only wanted to put on a good show for us by pretending he didn’t have the whole thing under control.”

Others agreed.

Only I knew the truth.

I rushed down the bleachers as Asher left the ring, shuffling toward the locker room. When I met him at the door, he wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

To any onlookers, it would seem like he was happy to see me.

In truth, he’d placed some of his unsteady weight onto me. His whole body was trembling.

“Inside,” he grumbled. Eyes shut, he looked to be in terrible pain. Bruises covered his battered body.

I opened the door to the locker room, and together we shuffled through it. The instant it closed behind us, he collapsed into my arms.

His full weight was much heavier than I could manage, but I caught him enough to help guide him down onto the floor without further hurting him.

“I’m calling an ambulance,” I said, grabbing my phone from my purse.

“No,” he said, muttering. He could barely keep his eyes open. “I’ll be fine… when the drug… wears off.”

I shook my head. “I’m not just leaving you here.”

“Call… my team…” His breaths were hard and uneven. “They’ll help…”

His eyes closed.

“Asher?” Panic struck through me, but his pulse was strong under my fingers when I clutched his wrist to check. His labored breaths evened out, like he was merely asleep.

Overwhelmed, I slumped down onto the ground.

Asher had won the fight, which was a tremendous relief, but… I couldn’t stand seeing him like this, so… helpless. This was the antithesis of Asher’s true character.

I couldn’t let others see him like this. Only the few that he trusted.

Over my weeks of spending time with Asher, I had met a few of his hockey teammates. They seemed trustworthy enough, at least to Asher, who treated them like his family.

At Asher’s insistence, I had even added a few of their numbers into my phone.

“If ever I can’t be there quickly enough,” he had said then, “They will protect you in my stead.”

Now, clutching my phone, I dialed one of their numbers.

Ten minutes later, the entire hockey team stood in the locker room, checking on Asher and making plans.

“He’s alright,” one of them said to me, when I wouldn’t let go of Asher’s hand. “He just needs some rest.”

“We have to get him back to his room. He’ll be safe and comfortable there.”

“We can’t let anyone see.”

“Leave him to us, okay?” said the kindest one, to me.

“I won’t leave him,” I said.

“I’m not asking you to, I swear. Let us carry him to his room for you, okay? Then you can tend to him properly.” He added a wink with the last sentence.

His calm teasing unwound some of the tightness gripping my chest. These guys loved Asher. If they acted this relaxed, then Asher must really be alright.

“Come with me to Asher’s room,” he said. “We’ll wait there for the boys to bring the Captain.”

I nodded.

“Okay.” He smiled softly. “You have to let go of his hand now, Cynthia.”

Was I…? Oh. I was.

With great reluctance, I released my hold on Asher’s hand.

With the greatest secrecy, the team carried out their plans, and successfully brought Asher to his room without anyone else catching on.

After they lowered his body onto his bed, they started to file out of the room. As they walked past me, they glanced at me with differing looks. Some concerned, some knowing, a few with teasing smiles.

The kind one who hadn’t left my side, squeezed my shoulder. “We’re leaving him in your care now. I know you’ll do an excellent job nursing our Captain back to health.”

“Tender, loving care,” said one of the others, out in the hall. “Can’t beat it.”

“Our Captain sure is a lucky guy.”

“Man, he’s earned it.”

I nodded at the kind man, and he took his leave, closing the door behind him.

Alone now with Asher, I tended his wounds as best I could. Then I dragged a blanket warm and snug around him.

I pulled his desk chair to the side of his bed to hold vigil. I wouldn’t leave him like this, not until I knew he was well.

I watched for an hour or two, taking comfort in each steady rise and fall of his chest.

Then his eyes fluttered, and he looked blearily up at the ceiling.

“Asher?” I leaned closer.

He turned his head, looking past me for a moment before focusing on me. The drugs were still running rampant through his system.

“Cynthia.” Suddenly, the brightest smile I had ever seen lit up his entire face. He was so unabashedly happy, with none of his usual restraint, and so handsome. He stole my breath away.

“God, you’re beautiful,” he said, and I nearly fell off my chair. “I could look at you forever.”

I froze. I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. Only my heart hammered on, pounding hard and fast.

He’s drugged, I reminded myself.

“You’re delirious, Asher,” I said. “You don’t know what you’re saying…”

“Maybe,” he said. “But that doesn’t change how I feel.”

“We’re friends.”

He shook his head.

“Asher, at the café,” I said gently. If he could remember some of his actions, maybe he’d realize that we’re only friends. “You said you didn’t care if I dated other guys.”

At once, he glowered. His eyes flashed with dangerous heat. “I lied. Hate it, the thought of you with someone else. But can’t… won’t…”

He drifted. I waited but he seemed to have lost his train of thought.

“You’re so beautiful,” he said again, and I melted. “If I asked you to, would you kiss me?”

There wasn’t much I wouldn’t do if Asher asked me. Except trample over established boundaries when he was not in his right mind. He could say he’d be jealous. He could say I was beautiful.

But I didn’t have to believe him.

Still, when he looked at me with wide eyes, hope sparkling within them, I felt my resolve crumble.

“Please?” he asked.

Any moment now, I’d become actual goo and congeal into a puddle on the floor.

As it was, I was weak to him. So I leaned down and placed a gentle, soft kiss on his forehead.

A forehead kiss could be platonic. When he remembered this in the morning, he wouldn’t be too horrified with that, I hoped.

He closed his eyes and hummed in satisfaction. “Your lips are soft.”

I cleared my throat, forcing back my blush. “Asher, maybe you should get some rest now. You’ll regret saying these things in the morning.”

“Why would I? I’m only saying what I think. Don’t you know… how I really feel…?”

“We’re friends,” I said again.

“No,” he said, petulant. He inhaled a deep breath, then sighed. “I care about you… I…”

On the edge of my seat, I attuned each of my senses and every nerve in his direction. I knew I should stop him before he revealed too much, but I couldn’t help desperately wanting to know.

He said we weren’t friends. But he said he cared about me.

Did he mean…? Could he care about me as more than friends?

“Cynthia, I…”