Then, I took a deep breath and screamed. I bellowed obscenities and yelled awful threats to whoever did this to Asher and me. My fists crashed against invisible people, swinging at nothing in the air. One final wail to the heavens, and I was done.
With the rage released and my body loose from the exertion of beating up ghosts of my assailants, I was ready to rejoin my family.
When I entered the kitchen, all of them looked shaken. I knew they heard it, but it needed to happen. I was going to lose it, and I didn’t want to lose it in front of Asher.
I spoke to the group, “Sorry about that—needed to let it out. I’m better now.”
I took Asher’s hand in mine to assure him I was okay. His eyes were glassy, but he was keeping it together. He looked at me for a few moments, searching for signs of distress. When he didn’t see any, he nodded and gave me a kiss.
I needed that kiss. I needed to be reminded that loving Asher was worth whatever hell we were about to endure.
I didn’t want to know, but I needed to know. As much as I wanted to bury my head in the sand for the rest of my freaking life, I needed to know what we were up against. “Roxy and Reggie, will you look at the other sites and tell us if they’re posting it too?” My sisters were both big hockey fans, so I knew they followed all of the gossipy websites. They loved being in the know.
Well, they’re really in the know now.
Roxy looked at Asher and me, then shook her head. “Theo, that might not be a good idea.”
“Yeah, you don’t need to know right now,” Reggie added. “Go upstairs and take a nap or something. Just relax.”
Asher took a deep breath. “Please, check for us,” he pleaded. “If you don’t, then we will, and then we’ll see it all. We’ll see the comments and all of the hate. So, if you could please just tell us who’s posting about it, we’d appreciate it.”
My sisters both looked at each other briefly before turning back to Asher and me. “Okay,” Reggie replied, “but you two should go upstairs and relax while we look. We’ll come up soon and let you know, but it’ll make you both sick just sitting here waiting for us to relay all of the information.”
I looked over at Mom and Dad, both of them with ashen faces. Dad reached over and tugged on my shoulder. “It’s gonna be okay, Theo. You two will make it through this. You’re stronger than they are. I have no doubt about that.”
Mom approached and wrapped her arms around Asher and me. “I would tell you how damn stupid you two were for doing that, but you already know. I’m gonna bake a chocolate cake.”
Reggie rolled her eyes at Mom and said, “Mom, do you really think they need a chocolate cake right now?”
“Everyoneneeds chocolate cake,” Mom spat out, “and besides, I’m baking it as much for myself as I am for the rest of you. We all need something to take the edge off, and since I’m opposed to giving you kids booze, I’m gonna give you the next best thing, chocolate cake.”
“That actually sounds amazing,” Asher whispered.
“See?” Mom rolled up her sleeves and started setting ingredients on the counter.
I turned to Asher and asked, “I know this is a really dumb question, but are you okay?”
He huffed a laugh and said, “I don’t know. How about you?”
“Dunno,” I answered with a shrug.
“Gimme your phones,” Reggie barked. “You can’t look at this shit. You’ll go crazy, so give us your phones and go upstairs. Close your eyes and try not to think about all of this.”
With pleasure.Asher and I handed over our phones. “Let’s go upstairs and rest for a minute, Red.”
Asher nodded, and the two of us made our way to our bedroom.
Our bedroom.
It was our bedroom, and, despite the emotional thunderstorm raging inside me, that thought brought me comfort. We got into bed, and I pulled him close.
“You big spoon?” he asked.
“Always, baby.”
Chapter 25
Asher
