Matches | √

Chapter Twenty-Eight

My eyes track his movements as he messes with a small side table in the hallway. He rotates a vase and lifts a fallen picture frame before he turns his head. Suddenly all air leaves my lungs. My eyes widen and my heart stills in absolute pure shock.

I see him grab a woman's hand and tug her out of what I'm assuming is the master bedroom, but the woman with him isn't his wife. The kind woman I once met while shopping.

No, the woman he pulls into his body and wraps his arms around is my mother.

Tears spring to my eyes before I can stop them. I want to look away. I want to run far away and break something and scream and fight, but instead I stare.

I watch as he pushes her into the wall and leans in to kiss her. I watch as they melt into each other, and it would be almost romantic and sweet to someone who didn't know the truth. The truth that the man my mother is seeing, the one who's been stealing her away from me and distracting her is the father of my boyfriend. The married father of my boyfriend.

Bile rises in my throat and my entire body trembles as I hold in the sob that so desperately wants to escape. I watch from the slight opening of Asher's bedroom door as they kiss.

My mother pulls away first. "I have to go," she whispers. "For real this time," she says as she smiles up at the man like he's her world. "Mae will notice if I'm gone," she adds and pain settles deep in my bones knowing this won't end well for either of us.

Before I can watch anymore I'm yanked backwards and the bedroom door is slammed shut.

"What are you doing?" Asher's deep voice questions harshly.

I'm still in shock as I turn around to face him. Tears trail down my face and my heart races in my chest at what I just witnessed. "Did you know?" I ask on a stuttered breath as I fight to catch my breath. I feel as if I just ran for miles and I'm struggling to breathe and make sense of what I just saw.

His jaw clicks. "Know what?" he questions with a shrug as if he doesn't know what I'm talking about. But something deep in my soul stirs and I know. I know he's aware of the truth. I know he knows about his father and never told me.

My fingers run through my hair and tug slightly as my mind tries to put together the pieces of my life that just shattered within seconds. "Did you know that your father was sleeping with my mother?" I ask again, this time not beating around the bush. No bullshit. The truth. I need the truth.

Asher's eyes drop from mine. "He cheats on my mom all the time," he states casually as if this is nothing new. As if he's watched his father cheat on his mother for years.

"I don't give a shit about your dad that's my mom he's messing around with!" I exclaim. The words leave before I can stop them and a part of me does feel guilty for them. Asher has had to watch his father fool around on his mother for god knows how long. Then he watches them stay together. He watches his father continue to stay a successful businessman and buy whatever he wants. It almost makes sense, the way Asher is. But it still doesn't excuse his actions.

"Did you know?" I ask on a deep breath as I watch him intensely needing the truth in this moment.

He tongues the inside of his cheek as he sits on the edge of his bed. "I only saw her once and I didn't know who she was until..." he trails off looking at me as if he's desperate to not finish the sentence. As if he knows that what he says next will be the final nail in the coffin of our relationship. The last second of a flaming match before we burn out.

But I need him to finish. I need the truth. "Until?" I push as I wrap my arms around myself in weak attempts to find comfort in this mess.

He drops his head. "Until I saw you at the mall with her," he responds and his answer feels like a dagger to the heart. My heart has been broken, cracked, and scarred in my time with Asher. But this feeling right now is so much worse than the pain I've endured. I feel as if everything I know is a lie. I've convinced myself the past few months to cross lines, to lie, and to backstab. I've convinced myself that my actions were just because of the boy in front of me.