The Space Between Us(10)
When his arms came around my shoulders and pulled me into him, I breathed a sigh of relief. A peace and a calm that I had been seeking all day in his absence flooded my system. I took a few steadying breaths and couldn't help but notice that he smelled amazing. I might have taken a few extra breaths just to make sure I got my fill of his new and enticing scent.
“I was worried about you,” I mumbled into his chest. I felt him pull away, but not far enough that he had to let go of me. I looked up at him.
“You're not mad at me?” I didn't understand why he thought I would be angry and I took a step back in confusion.
“Why would I be mad at you?”
“Cause I totally lost my cool on that guy.” He sounded so angry with himself and I just wanted to make him feel better.
“He was a jerk.” He looked down at his feet now, hands in his pockets. “What he said wasn't cool and I'm glad someone was there to stick up for me.”
“I saw your face. When I turned around, I saw it. You were scared of me.”
What was I supposed to say to that? Was I scared? Yes, a little. But not really of him. I was afraid of the situation, that it was going to get out of hand, that perhaps Asher was going to get hurt.
“I wasn't afraid of you. I was caught off guard is all.” His eyes snapped up to mine, the grey in them was darker, alluding to his distress.
“I'd never hurt you, Charlie. Not ever. Not physically, not emotionally, not in any way.”
“Asher, stop. I know that.”
“I never want to see you look at me like that again.”
“What happened, anyway?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, he said something stupid and you kind of just lost your mind. What happened?” He shook his head slightly then shrugged his shoulders.
“I heard what he said and, I don't know, something inside of me snapped. The idea that he was thinking about you like that. The image of what he said made a picture in my head. I just couldn't take it. Before I knew what was happening, I had him up against the wall.”
“What did you say to him?” He looked at me and I saw a moment of panic in his eyes, but it was gone in an instant.
“I didn't say anything to him.” I cocked my head to the side and gave him a glare.
“I heard you say something to him, Asher. What did you say?”
“Honestly, if I said something, I don't remember. Maybe you just heard the sound of my arms crushing his throat.” He sounded disgusted with himself. I felt terrible for him, but I also felt a tiny bit responsible. Obviously I can't control what some random guy says about me, but I couldn't help the feeling it gave me when I thought about the fact that all this happened because Asher was trying to protect me.
“Well, I can guarantee you he won’t be talking to me for the foreseeable future.”
“Good.” He said harshly.
“Where were you all day?”
“I left and went home. I was too angry at first to be there, then I just decided to scrap the whole day and start over tomorrow.”
“You didn't have to come back for me,” I said, trying to hide the fact that I secretly loved that he was here to walk me home. He gave me one of the most beautiful smiles I'd ever seen.
“I'll always come back for you, Bit.”
Chapter Four
It had been a few months since school started and things between Asher and I were back to normal – almost. There weren't many more uncomfortable situations between us. No more instances of touching longer than usual or breathing him in just to keep his scent within me. Guys at school were keeping their distance, although it was hard to tell if it was just because of Asher's outburst the first day of school, there still being some residual fear that if any of them spoke to me he might go all caveman on them again, or if they had just gone back to not noticing me like any other day. Either way, I didn't mind. It didn't seem like my dad did either.
“Charlie Bear, how are the boys treating you at school?” He asked me one night over dinner. I finished chewing the bite I had just taken while shrugging my shoulders.
“They don't really pay me any attention,” I said while still looking down at my plate. I didn't want to talk to my dad about boys.
He raised his eyebrows at me. “I don't believe that for a moment,” he scoffed.
“It's true. One boy said something terrible to me the very first day and Asher nearly killed him.” The fork that had been on its way to my father's mouth was stopped mid-air, and his jaw hung open. After a second or two he closed his mouth and put his fork back down.
“Is that so? What did this boy say to you?”
I rolled my eyes while poking the food on my plate, supremely uncomfortable with the direction of this conversation. “You don't want to know, Dad.”
“Yes, I do. Answer the question.”
I let out an exasperated sigh, still not brave enough to look him in the eye.
“He might have mentioned how I filled out over the summer and then added something about the back seat of his car,” I mumbled as quickly as I could. I peeked my eyes up at him only to see the red flush spread from his neck all the way up to his hairline. His hands gripped in solid white fists on the table and I could hear loud breaths whistling through his nose. “Dad, it's not a big deal. Like I said, Asher made it known that it was not ok.” It took a little while but my dad finally calmed down a little and managed a drink of his water. It looked like he was trying to formulate his next statement. I felt it was going to be important.