#Chapter 39: The Girl Behind the Mockery

“Maybe we shouldn’t see each other anymore,” I’d said. Silence followed. The air cooled and grew thick with tension. Then, voice very low, Asher replied, “What?” Suddenly he was standing, and I was too. Everything felt like a dream, distant and hazy. I couldn’t think clearly. Yet even with the fog, Asher’s piercing, alarmed gaze shot through me. “Just for a while,” I amended. “Until I can get my head on straight.” “Cynthia.” He stepped closer. I held up my hand. He stopped at once. “I’m so tired, Asher. Physically and emotionally. I don’t know what to think right now.” I rubbed at my eyes, smearing my makeup. I wanted to go back home, crawl under my covers, and forget everything Joseph had said to me. “Okay, Cyn.” Asher sounded so unbelievably soft that my heart positively melted. Could he really just be pretending, like Joseph suggested? A tear slid down my cheek and Asher made a wounded noise. “My wolf doesn’t like that we caused you distress,” he said. Lower, he added,