Chapter 239: Asher
She’s coming.
She’s finally coming.
I should be calm, I should be pacing maybe. Or getting dressed. Cleaning up the mess I made of this place the last two nights. I should be doing something other than this–sitting on the edge of my couch, elbows digging into my knees, hands clenched so tight my knuckles are white, heart hammering in a way that makes zero tactical sense.
But I can’t move.
Because she’s coming.
And it’s been too damn long.
I’ve walked through enemy fire with less adrenaline in my veins than this.
The clock ticks so loud it feels like it’s thundering in my skull. Every second stretching too slow, too sharp. It’s ridiculous. I’ve been in firefights, jumped out of planes, cleared rooms stacked with armed men, but this–waiting for her–is what’s got me falling apart.
Because Penny’s not just the best thing in my life. She is my life.
She always has been, since the first moment I saw her.
Even when I was too damn stubborn to admit it, even when I tried to push her away, even when I thought I hated her. God, I didn’t hate her. Not even for a second. I hated what she made me feel. I hated how out of control it was. How immediate. How dangerous.
I took one look at her–this bright, reckless, loud girl with stubborn fire in her eyes–and I felt like I was drowning. Like she cracked open something in me I thought had died years ago. And I did the only thing I knew how to do: shut it down. Keep it buried. Pretend she didn’t affect me.
Because love like that… the kind that steals your breath and remaps your entire existence… it’s a liability. In my world, it’s a weakness.
And Penny Vales is the strongest weakness I’ve ever known.
She doesn’t even know it, not really. That she’s undone me from the inside out. That I’ve been walking around with my heart in her hands since the second she said my name like it meant something.
I close my eyes. Try to breathe. But it just comes out shaky.
Because I can’t stop replaying that night.
I should’ve told her everything. Sat her down and explained the Vultures. The real story. What happened three years ago. Why they came for her.
But my brain wasn’t working. Not when I saw her on that floor, barely breathing, her body pinned down like she was some worthless thing they could crush without consequence.
Something in me snapped.
And all I wanted to do in that moment was grab her/ carry her away, pack a damn bag, and get the hell out. Just run. Take her somewhere they couldn’t find us, couldn’t touch her, couldn’t even speak her name.
But I don’t run. That’s not who I am.
I fix things. I confront them. I tear them apart/with my bare hands if I have to.
So I did what I had to do to protect her.
I sent her away.
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Chapter 239. Asher
Because she was shaking, barely holding herself up, and how the hell was I supposed to tell her that these monsters target women and kina a picture of my friend’s baby sister at her damn soccer practice and used it as leverage? That I made a deal to protect her because no one des enak
She couldn’t stay here while I hunted them. I couldn’t be distracted. I couldn’t risk looking over my shoulder every time I walked into a building wond il they had someone posted here. I needed her somewhere safe. Somewhere I trusted.
And Boomer… God.
Boomer’s a good guy. Solid. Loyal. A little too clean–cut, too sweet, but that’s not a crime. Hell, part of me likes him because he reminds me of the man could’ve been if life hadn’t carved me into something darker.
But I’m not stupid.
I’ve seen the way he looks at her.
Like she’s a sunrise he didn’t know he needed.
He’s subtle. He’s careful. But I see it. The softness in his eyes when she laughs. The way his whole body leans toward her without even realizing. The way he protects her like she’s fragile even though she’s one of the strongest people I’ve ever known.
And I hate that I might’ve handed him the chance to be the one she leans on.
The one she trusts when her walls are down and her heart’s bleeding.
He’s probably been the one tucking her in. Making her laugh. Cooking for her. Waking her up gently. Doing all the things I should’ve been doing. That 1 would’ve been doing if I wasn’t out there crawling through the gutter to keep her name off their lips.
I know I told him to keep her safe. I asked him. Trusted him. And I don’t regret that.
But I also know what it’s like to love Penny from the outside.
To feel like you could fall headfirst if she just looked at you the right way.
And Boomer? I think he’s already falling.
Can I blame him?
No.
Because she’s… God, she’s everything.
She’s stubborn and fierce and smarter than she knows. She gets under your skin, makes you feel like the world might not be as cold as you thought it was. She says my name like it matters. She touches me like I’m not broken. She looks at me like I’m something worth saving.
And now?
Now I’m just hoping she still wants to.
Because I gave her silence when she begged for the truth. I gave her distance when all she wanted was an explanation. I broke her heart trying to save her life.
And maybe… maybe she’s done waiting for me to come back.
I rub a hand over my face. I haven’t shaved. I haven’t eaten. I haven’t slept right. The place smells like gun oil and takeout containers. The “hts are dim. My phone’s on the table, screen blank. I’ve checked it a hundred times. Waiting for Boomer’s text.
It comes through with a buzz so sharp it startles me.
“We’re coming. 10 minutes.”
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Chapter 239: Asher
Ten minutes.
Ten minutes until I see her face.
Ten minutes until I find out if she still looks at me the way she used to. Like I was something golden, even when all I’ve ever been is rust and scars.
I stand. Pace. Run a hand through my hair. It’s longer than she likes it. She always messes it up when it gets this way, says I look like a ferai animal. Then laughs like it’s endearing.
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