#Chapter 2: Caught In the Act

Two months prior, my brother Dylan had introduced me to Asher. Dylan had been about to leave for his semester abroad. “Asher’s my best friend,” Dylan had told me. Turning to Asher, he said, “I need you to take care of Cynthia for me while I’m gone.” I bristled with annoyance. Dylan was so overprotective, he always treated me like a little kid. “Dylan, I’m an adult now. I can take care of myself.” Dylan gave me a soft smile. “Maybe, but you’ll always be my little sister. You can’t blame me for worrying about you.” “You don’t need to worry about me.” Dylan opened his mouth to speak, but Asher cut him off. “I will take care of her,” Asher said like a vow. The tension in Dylan’s shoulders eased. “Good. That’s a relief. Thank you.” Neither man seemed eager to listen to me. Asher had only barely glanced at me the whole time. I’d heard of Asher even before meeting him. His cold, standoffish reputation preceded him. I had no idea how he and Dylan, always warm and smiling, came to be such good friends. Regardless, I purposefully avoided Asher since that moment, and he’d seemed content to keep his own distance. But now, standing in the hallway, I was snared in his attention. And his off-brand kindness. I couldn’t help but be surprised by his jacket and his invitation to the party. I had always assumed he would take care of me only out of obligation. The jacket could have been that. But the party? Too strange! “Thank you for that,” I said. “But I have a few things of my own to take care of. Perhaps… later?” He made a soft humming sound. “Do you need help with whatever you are doing?” “No,” I said quickly. The last thing I needed was Asher to shadow me outside Joseph’s door. He nodded, accepting my refusal, though didn’t seem particularly happy about it. A small line split his brow. Was he… worried? Was that possible? “I’ll stop by the party afterwards.” I didn’t want him to worry, if that was what was happening. Some of his tension slipped away. “Good.” He looked at me again, holding my gaze long enough for my breath to catch. He was undeniably handsome. His blue-eyed gaze was icy and intense. His features, chiseled and masculine. As Captain of the hockey team, he was a muscled mass of wide shoulders and strong torso that tapered into a narrow waist. He looked like he walked straight out of a men’s fitness magazine. Though I’d avoided him these past few months, I had heard what the girls said about him behind his back. He was popular and powerful. Outwardly he appeared cold and arrogant… But his behavior to me made me wonder if that assessment was unfair. “I should go now,” I said, struggling to want to pull myself away from him. Maybe because of his connection to Dylan, or maybe because of his unexpected kindness, but I felt safer standing near him. Like he was my shield, ready to protect me from the rest of the world. How odd, to think that about someone I only just met. Still, I came here for a purpose, and that purpose was sitting in his dorm room two floors up. Asher didn’t say goodbye, he just nodded. I supposed that was dismissal enough, though I would have preferred to hear his voice again. As I walked to a familiar stairwell through an unfamiliar hall, I felt the weight of his gaze follow me. When I disappeared from his line of sight, I sighed. From here, I knew the way to Joseph’s room by heart. Up two flights of stairs, and three doors down. I lifted my hand to knock, but stopped the instant I heard noises from inside. Noises like Joseph’s rhythmic grunting and a female moan. The blood drained from my face. This couldn’t be what it sounded like. Maybe he was just watching porn or something – “Oh, Joseph!” cried the same moaning voice. The air punched from my lungs. No, this couldn’t be right. Joseph had a solid reputation as a popular, future Alpha. He was a center forward on the soccer team, and never missed a practice. He held doors open for women, and everyone said how much of a gentleman he was. With me, he had always whispered soft sweet words in my ear when we were together. He’d complimented my looks, and my body, and sometimes he’d say how much he wanted to keep me wrapped up like a present just for him. Until today, he’d returned all my messages, usually including lots of text hearts. There was no way he could be doing the same with other women. That he could be sleeping with them. I knew Joseph didn’t lock his door, so I went for the handle and pushed it open. A dim table light illuminated the large space bright enough for me to see the tangled sheets of the bed – and the two figures entwined under them. Joseph had his mouth against the neck of another woman. His hips pushed between her open thighs. Her face scrunched up in pleasure. My stomach dropped to the floor. “Joseph?” It couldn’t be him. It had to be some other guy who looked just like him, who had borrowed his room. Joseph wouldn’t do this to me. The couple stilled. The girl, gasping, snatched at the sheet to hide her exposed breasts. Joseph rolled away from her and up onto his feet beside the bed. Grabbing the comforter, he wrapped it around his waist. Joseph ran a hand over his face, wiping sweat from his brow. “You can’t just be walking in here –“ “Joseph?” I whispered again, chest aching. There had to be some explanation for this. Joseph’s hand dropped. He looked at me as if noticing me for the first time, and with that recognition, anger followed. His brow lowered. “Cynthia? What are you doing here?” That was Joseph’s voice. His face. His body, walking toward us. I couldn’t deny what I was seeing any longer. While I was dealing with discovering my pregnancy, Joseph had been here, sleeping with another woman. He had seen my text. He had known I needed to talk to him. And still he chose to do this here, now, like I didn’t matter at all. “Is this why you didn’t reply to me?” I asked. As the initial shock wore off, white hot anger replaced it. Joseph rolled his eyes. “Don’t try to ruin my fun, Cynthia.” “Fun?” The word filled me with fury. While I was stressing and struggling, thinking about the future, he was here, having his fun. Without a care in the world for me. How naïve I’d been, to think he cared. When we first started dating, I had thought that with a person like Joseph beside me, I wouldn’t need the protection and care of my family anymore. That I could finally concentrate on making myself feel happy, instead of focusing on everyone else. Now I knew the truth. I’d met a scumbag who only wanted to take. He never cared about my happiness. “Go home, Cynthia,” he said, voice cruel. “I’m so sick of clingy girls like you, watching me every second. Do you think you own me? You think you can tell me what I can and can’t do?” This vile snake. How dare he be so flippant? How dare he say these things to me? Maybe it was the pregnancy hormones. Maybe it was my blinding anger. Either way, I reared back and spat at him. He blinked, too surprised to move. I took advantage of the moment, to peer around him to the girl half-hiding in his room. “Careful to get checked for STD’s,” I called to her. “And check the condoms for holes. You never know with someone like him.” Joseph was slowly recovering. He wiped the spit from his cheek. “Cynthia…” “Whatever you want to say, save it,” I told him. “I’ve had enough of you. We’re through!”