ASHER:
"—I love you, Asher."
The words hit me like a fist to the gut, knocking the breath clean out of me. I stood there, frozen, my lips parting slightly, but nothing came out. Did he really just say that? Did those words truly leave his mouth after ten years of silence, after years of walking past each other like ghosts, pretending we had never existed, that what we had never existed? And now, here he was, in this godforsaken shed, looking at me like I still meant something, telling me he still loved me?
I swallowed hard, my throat dry as sandpaper. Slowly, I lifted my gaze to meet his, releasing a shaky breath that quivered in the thick, suffocating air between us. A bitter laugh clawed its way out of my throat, sharp and broken — not because any of this was funny, but because I was drowning, and laughter was the only thing keeping me from falling apart.
