#Chapter 86: For Pretend

I couldn’t breathe. Images flashed through my head faster than I could fully comprehend them. Asher and I holding hands. Asher opening doors for me. Asher kissing my cheek or my forehead or the back of my hand. Asher kissing me softly on the lips. Introducing me as his girlfriend. Sitting side by side at the movie theater with a single bucket of popcorn between us and his arm thrown over the back of my seat. Being Asher’s girlfriend was a fantasy I thought I’d never see bear fruit. Yet here we were, with Asher suggesting it. Granted, he’d only meant it to be make-believe. Was I strong enough to pretend it was fake, when in reality, it was what I really wanted? A fake relationship with him would be a temporary situation. Eventually, we would split like nothing ever happened and go back to being friends. Knowing what Asher was like as a boyfriend might ruin me. How would I ever want anyone else after tasting the best? If I accepted, I was destined for lifelong disappointment when A