It Was Always You

C H A P T E R 12

Kate
Roller skating became like Asher and my thing. We went to the center a lot the past weeks and we got really close.

He helps me a lot with the Carter situation and I help him with family stress.

Asher told me his sister got pregnant a few years ago and that their home situation changed a lot since then.

I knew it wasn't something he liked talking about, so we didn't. We just spent time to distract each other. Only appropriate distraction.

However, there's a big basketball game on Friday and Asher has been training every day last week, so we barely saw each other.

That quickly changed when he and Lewis approached Layla, Ivory and me at the coffee shop.

"Lady's," Lewis starts as he sits down next to Layla. "You're coming to party, right?"

"You have to, it's an important win," Asher, who sits down next to me, says.

Layla rolls her eyes, "Of course we'll come. We don't have any choice."

"That's settled, then."

"Sooo," Ivory begins, "You two are really convinced you'll win."

Lewis gasps, "Don't you believe in me? You're supposed to be my biggest fan!"

We all look at each other and burst out laughing. "You're such a drama queen."

"It's obvious we're gonna win," Asher says, leaning back in his seat.

"Well, Miami Heat is pretty good," Ivory raises her eyebrows, making Asher scoff. "We're better."

"Are you sure?"

He tenses next to me. "Yeah, I'm sure. What's your problem?"

"I'm just saying that you guys shouldn't be so sure about winning. Someday you'll loose because of it," Ivory says calmly and I know she means no harm but I also know that Asher is raging right now.

"I'm sure about winning because I train every fucking day," he growls at her.

He looks at me when I take the hand, he made to a fist, "Calm down," I whisper.

His expression softens but he's still tense when Ivory speaks up again, "I was just trying-" but Asher interrupts her, "I don't care what you were trying."

Now Lewis tenses up as well, "Dude, calm down."

Asher scoffs one more time before he stands up and leaves.

"I'll look after him," I say and quickly follow him.

"Asher, wait!" I shout but he keeps walking. I pick up my pace and grab his wrist, once I reached him.

He's still angry when he turns around, "WHAT?"

I back off, "Wow, no need to scream at me."

Asher sighs and runs a hand over his face, "I'm sorry."

"What's wrong? You never act like that."

"It's a lot of pressure, okay? As the captain of the team and I- God, I really try my best and do as much as possible for the boys. And Ivy just comes and tells me it's not enough, even though she doesn't know anything," he breathes out, "I love her to death but she always does this and it's freaking me out."

Without any hesitation, I wrap my arms around his neck. "I'm here for you."

His grip around my waist tightens, "Thank you."

• • •

After what happened at the coffee shop, Asher and I talked for a bit before he brought me home.

I'm waiting for Layla, I want to explain her what happened. While I wait, I continue working on a painting I started a while ago.

"Hey!" Layla greets as she opens the door. "I see, you're finally finishing your painting?"

"I'm far from finishing it, but I'm trying my best," I tell her while she makes herself comfortable on my bed.

I chuckle, "You know, you could just lay in your own bed, right?"

"But yours is so much better!" She groans.

We're silent for a while but I feel her eyes glued on me. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Do you want to explain, what the hell was wrong with Asher earlier?"

"I actually wanted to, yeah," I sigh, "He has a lot of stress because of the game already and Ivory just made it worse."

"And you're there for him, during the hard time, huh?" She says with a dramatic voice.

"Why are you saying it like that?"

"Because you two have been each other's psychologists for the past weeks."

I scoff, "You know what I had to go through, he just helped me and now I help him."

She sits up, "I know and I'm not saying this is a bad thing. I'm just saying that you two are hanging out a lot and I miss spending time with you. I thought we are each other's psychologists."

I soften, "You could've just told me, you know? You don't have to be mad at Asher or our friendship."

She laughs, "I know, but I don't want to interrupt your new blooming relationship."

My head shoots up immediately, "What do you mean?"

"Just that you two seem like more than friends. Especially Asher, he flirts with you all the time."

"Oh come on, you said he was flirting with me when we still hated each other."

The expression on her face gets serious, "I know. But I can tell that he was teasing you back then and that he's now actually flirting."

"I think you're still wrong. We're friends, that's it."

"If you say so," she murmurs and I give all my concentration to my painting.

• • •
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
this is definitely one of my favorite chapters🥺