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“I picked it up.” Asher plucked my cell out of one of the cup holders, then handed it to me. “It’s dead, but I have a charger here.” He pointed to a cord and then turned back to face the road as the light turned green.
I moved my arm forward, hating how much my hands were shaking. I was trying to ignore the windows surrounding us and the fact we were about to drive past my high school. It was Wednesday morning, so everyone would be in class, but it didn’t matter to my nerves. If I saw Knox hanging around—
I frowned, trying to remember what the police had last told me. Knox had been taken to the hospital and wasn’t conscious. Was he still in the hospital? Was he—
“I can hear your mind spinning over there.”
“What?” I blinked several times and plugged the cord into the bottom of my cell.
“You’re thinkin’ about something.” Asher glanced at me, then back at the road as we whizzed right by my school. “You’re thinking about him, aren’t you?”
“I…” The breath caught in my throat, and I wasn’t sure what to say. I didn’t care if Knox ever woke up again, but I knew that wouldn’t be good for Asher. I wasn’t even sure what was happening with his case. Had they charged him? Would what happened to me help his case? Or would it not matter? “What happens now?” I clasped my hands on my lap, staring down at them. “With my case? With…your case?”
There was a beat of silence, and then he said, “I’m not sure, sweetheart.”
I heard him shuffling in his seat, and I glanced up. The city-type roads had turned into country roads, trees surrounding us on both sides, and just being on a road I’d never been on before relaxed me a little. I was finding my strength again. At least, that was how it felt.
“Dad said they’d arrest Knox once he was awake and interview him. He reckons they’ll charge him because of the amount of evidence, and then it’ll go from there.”
“Will he go to jail?” I asked, my voice small. Maybe if he was in jail, it would be easier to come to terms with what happened. Maybe I wouldn’t have to stay away as long. Maybe I could go home and—
“I doubt it,” Asher ground out, his entire tone changing. “You know his dad is a judge, right?”
My stomach bottomed out. I did know that. I also knew there was no way he’d let his son spend a night in jail, which meant he’d be free, at least for a while. How could that happen in this day and age? How could a person who had been so violent be allowed back out on to the streets as if he’d never done anything? But when you had connections, you didn’t have to pay like everyone else did.
“So, he’ll be out, then? Back at school?”
“Not for a while.” I moved my attention to Asher’s face, seeing the smirk pull at his lips. “I made sure of that.”
Violence wasn?
?t the answer. It was never the answer. But I couldn’t help feeling grateful for what Asher had done. “So, what about you?” I swallowed at the lump forming in my throat. The thought of Asher not being here was unthinkable. “What happens to you?”
“I’ve got court in six months.” He moved his arm across the center console and gripped both of my hands in his. “You don’t need to worry about that, though. I have a secure call with my lawyer next week. Until then”—he turned to face me, his brown eyes glowing—“let’s forget about the future. Let’s just enjoy the lake house and each other.”
“Okay,” I whispered. “I can pretend—”
“No.” He gripped my hands harder, drumming his point home. “Not pretend. We’re not going to act like nothing happened to you. I know what it’s like to push things so far back. It pops up when you least expect it. It haunts you.” He shook his head as he slowed down to take a long corner on the country road. “We’re going to deal with it one day at a time. We’re going to get stronger.”
“Stronger,” I echoed, feeling the nerves in my stomach start to lessen. “I like the sound of that.”
“Good.” Asher slowed down as a few shops came into view. “We’re nearly there.”
“Already?” I frowned and darted my gaze to the time on his dash. “How did two hours go by so fast?”
He shrugged and winked. “Time flies when you’re with me.”
I shook my head, feeling my lips lifting for the first time in days. Maybe being alone with Asher would be good for me. Maybe working through what happened instead of pretending it didn’t would be even better for me.
“Here it is,” Asher announced, taking a turn up a long driveway. The sound of gravel crunched under the tires, and the heavy trees made way for a wooden house—a large wooden house. I’d only ever seen places like this on the TV.
“This is the lake house?” I asked, my eyes wide. “It looks more like a mansion.”
Asher turned the engine off. “Yep.” He pushed out of the car and walked around to my door, then pulled it open. “Let me give you the tour.”
I didn’t hesitate to put my hand in his and let him lead me inside. The front door opened up into a wide hallway with a set of stairs right in front of us. He opened a door on the right and told me it was the living room. The dark oak wood gave character to the house, but it was the wall of glass doors that I drifted toward. You could see the lake from them, the pristine calm water calling to part of my soul. A boat was attached to a wooden dock, and I wondered if we’d go out on it. I’d never been on a lake before.
“It’s…beautiful.”
