My hands were shaking as I slammed the door behind me, my chest rising and falling with ragged, uneven breaths. The silence of my apartment was suffocating, pressing in on me like a weight I couldn’t escape.
My mind was a war zone—flashes of Dottie’s smile, the way she held his hand like he was hers, the way Asher had looked at me across that café table, completely unbothered while I sat there, drowning.
I had barely made it two steps inside before there was a loud knock at my door.
I knew who it was.
I didn’t have to check.
Didn’t have to ask.
Because of course he followed me.
Of course.
I yanked the door open so hard I nearly wrenched it off its hinges.
Asher stood on the other side, hands stuffed into his pockets, dark eyes locked onto mine.
He looked calm.
Like he hadn’t jus
