Steal His Innocence - Completed

CHAPTER 32: Her Protective Brothers

ASHER POV

My phone vibrated just as I stepped out of the engineering building. The late afternoon sun hit the pavement hard, reflecting against parked cars and glass windows. I was tired—mentally drained more than physically—but when I saw her name on my screen, everything else faded into background noise.

Viana: Hoy, nerd. Matutulog muna ako dito sa condo mo. Okay na tayo wag ka ng maarte

I stopped walking.

Okay na tayo,

There was something careless about the way she phrased it. Casual. Light. But I could hear the undercurrent beneath it—the silent truce she was offering. Or maybe asking for.

How can I resist her?

I remembered how she looked earlier that week, asleep on my bed. No sarcasm. No sharp tongue. Just soft breathing and slightly parted lips, her hair scattered across my pillow like she owned it. She looks invincible when she's awake. But when she sleeps... she looks fragile.

Angel was an overused word. But in that moment, she had looked like one.

I didn't realize I was smiling until someone bumped into my shoulder in the hallway.

Me: Okay. Sleep well. :)

Simple. Controlled. Because if I added anything else—anything honest—it would ruin me.

"Asher."

I froze.

That voice didn't belong to the campus noise.

Sean Mendoza leaned against the concrete wall near the school gate, cigarette between his fingers, dark sunglasses shielding his eyes even though the sun had already begun to lower. Metal rings wrapped around his knuckles. He looked exactly like the kind of guy who wouldn't hesitate to throw a punch.

I walked toward him slowly.

"Why?" I asked. My voice almost betrayed me, but I steadied it. "What do you need?"

He smirked and exhaled smoke to the side. "Kasama mo ba si Viana?"

The way he said her name wasn't casual. It wasn't curious. It was territorial.

I shook my head. "No."

He flicked the cigarette to the ground and crushed it beneath his boot. For a moment, I thought that was it—that he'd leave. But he started walking toward the side street instead.

I knew better.

"I know you want to talk," I said, more firmly this time.

He paused without turning around. "Sundan mo na lang ako."

My heart picked up its pace, but not because I was afraid of being hit. I've been underestimated my entire life. That doesn't scare me.

What scares me... is disappointing her.

The alley he led me to was empty. No frat boys. No audience. Just concrete walls and the distant hum of traffic.

He lit another cigarette and looked at me directly.

"Didiretsuhin kita," he said flatly. "Ayoko sa'yo para kay Viana."

I nodded once. I expected that.

"Fair," I replied calmly. "I was expecting that."

He circled me slowly, inspecting me like I was some lab experiment. "Nerd. Mapayat.  Bookworm. It all describes a pathetic man." He stopped in front of me. "Paano mo mapoprotektahan si Viana?"