Chapter 1The Long Way Home

I had been roommates with Asher Hayes for three years.

I had met several of his ex-girlfriends.

One day, he laughed and said, "Someone confessed to me today."

I wasn't surprised.

He had always been popular.

But then he added:

"It was a guy."

* * *

He was squeezing my knuckles as he said this.

My hands were smaller than his, and paler.

But they were still a man’s hands—bony knuckles, veins visibly protruding beneath thin skin.

I pulled my hand back.

Looking at my reddened fingertips, I asked softly:

"A guy?"

Asher was good-looking.

His features were sharp, with a cold, wild edge.

But not aloof.

He played hard, had tons of friends.

He attracted everyone, men and women alike.

Men hitting on him wasn't uncommon.

He usually ignored it; this was the first time he brought it up himself.

Asher leaned back, looking like he was recalling something.

The smoke he exhaled blurred his sharp profile:

"Yeah, he looked okay. His eyes... were pretty nice."

Others at the table started jeering:

"What? Did Ash finally swing the other way?"

Asher tapped the ash off his cigarette, laughing:

"How is that possible? No matter how good-looking, it's still a dude. I'm not into that."

Everyone laughed.

I forced a smile along with them.

Right.

Asher wasn't into that.

He never had been.