“You guys,” I try again, but they step closer to each other, chests puffed.Oh god.
Asher stares at Jaylen hard and lowers his voice. “I will do whatever I damn well please with your sister.”
A look of pure anger washes over Jaylen’s face, and he swings and hits Ash in the jawline hard. I shriek and Ash stumbles, taking a swing at Jaylen but missing.
“You guys! Stop!” I cry out, but neither of them seems to care. It’s like they can’t even hear me.
Jaylen swings again, this time missing. Ash shoves against him, and they break apart.
“You've got a lot of fucking nerve, you know that?” Ash grits out. “You ruined the opening! You realize how many people in there probably won’t come back?”
“How’s that my fault?” Jaylen asks, swinging again.
“Because you had a hissy fit!”
“You’re fucking my sister!” he shouts before swinging again. His rage makes it sloppy, and he misses, nearly losing his balance.
“I’m making love to your sister,” Ash retorts, and Jaylen lets out a wily laugh.
“Oh, what, so you love her now? The man who never falls in love? The man who probably can’t fall in love even if he tried?”
Ash’s expression turns lethal, and he grabs Jaylen by the shirt, slamming him into the side of the building and barring his forearm over Jaylen’s throat.
“You are way out of line,” he spits in his face.
“Asher! Asher, stop!” I demand, yanking on Ash and forcing him to let go. Ash is about to walk away when Jaylen swings at him again. His fist hits Ash square in the mouth, and he hits the ground.
“I might be out of line,” Jaylen says with a cough. “But you are dead to me,” he says, and his eyes dart to mine. “Both of you.”
I reach for him again, and he shrugs me off before stalking away.
“Jay. Jaylen. Wait,” I cry, but Ash reaches out and grabs my hand, shaking his head.
“Let him go,” he says, wiping the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. “Just let him go. We fucked up.”
And with that, I break down.
Chapter 39
Asher
Harper is still crying when we get back to my house.
I don’t blame her. That was a complete shit show; a fucking nightmare. As I flip all the lights on, I realize it’s the first time she’s been to my place, so it’s a mix of a quick tour while also trying to comfort her.
“The bathroom is here, and there’s another in the master bedroom. I have tea, coffee, whiskey, and beer. It’s not a full bar, but there’s enough there to get you drunk if that’s what you’re looking for,” I try to make a joke. When her face doesn’t change from the pout that might just be permanent, I realize she’s not in the mood.
“There’s food in the fridge if you’re hungry. I’ll get the heater going,” I add.
Harper nods and sits down on the edge of the couch.
“I’m going to get some ice for my lip,” I tell her, and she stares at her feet.
“He’s never going to forgive us,” she says so softly I almost don’t hear her.
“He’ll come around,” I tell her as I look in a mirror hanging on the living room wall and wince. Unfortunately, it looks just as bad as it feels. It’s swollen and black and blue. There’s a doozy ofa cut right down the middle of my bottom lip. Damn. He got me good.
I snag a bag of frozen peas from the freezer and pad back over to Harper.
