Spiked by Love (Bellevue Bullies #6) - Toni Aleo Page 0,112

at her sister. “Please, don’t hold back our brother’s business.”

“She isn’t going to say anything. Look at her. She’s almost as bad as he is, and the thing is,” she says, looking back at me, “you guys are being stupid. He does love you. He’s tired of people telling him how he feels, and he wants to feel it himself. Believe me.”

Stella clears her throat, stealing my attention. “Sometimes, actions are more important than words. If a guy did half the stuff for me Asher has done for you, I wouldn’t care one bit if he said the words or not because I wouldn’t need them.”

I blink. “It’s more complicated than that.”

They both nod. “Maybe so,” Stella says, looking uncomfortable. “But we hate seeing two people we love, who we know love each other, suffering.”

“Asher is suffering?” Fallon asks, and my mom pipes up.

“Well, obviously, since Ally is. They’re meant for each other.”

I bite my lip as I exhale through my nose. Fallon is pissed. Join the club. “I’m gonna call my boy,” Fallon says, in full mother-bear mode, but Emery stops her.

“Leave him be. No one can talk this out with him except him…and her,” she says, pointing to me.

She may drive her siblings crazy, but Emery would die for all of them.

All the eyes fall back on me, and I take that as my cue to leave. “I have a game tonight. I’ll see y’all later.”

“Allison,” my mom says, but I ignore her, kissing Posey’s temple.

Posey stops me, though. “Call him.”

I shake my head. “No. I need more time.”

Before I can make it out of the door, though, Fallon takes my arm, stopping me. I meet her heated gaze, and I’m not sure if she’s gonna tear my arm off and beat me with it. I’m sorta scared. Emery has to get her crazy from somewhere. “The girls are right. I’d rather be with someone who made me feel loved than who just said the words.”

I bite the inside of my cheek as my mom says, “Allison, you’ve wanted this.”

“Please let it be,” I say a little louder than I intended. I exhale hard and head out, holding back my tears. I’m almost down the hall, but then Stella and Emery are beside me. “Guys, I apprecia—”

“Have you heard ‘Falling in Love’ by Kurt Hugo Schneider?” Stella asks, cutting me off.

I press my lips together, unable to answer without letting out a sob. “He picked that song for you,” Emery says when I don’t say anything. “We spent an hour finding the song, and then he said he didn’t want to tell you in a song. He wanted to tell you in his own words.”

My lip starts to quiver as I look at the floor. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Don’t say anything. Just listen to the song. And then when you’re ready, ask him what song we picked out for you two. He got all in his feelings about it when we checked on him.”

I wipe away a tear. This is too much. “I’ll see y’all around.”

I start for the stairs since I know I can get down them quickly just as Stella says, “Yeah. Hopefully with our brother.”

“Who is in love with you!” Emery yells, but even if I want nothing more than for that to be true, I’m more confused than ever.

His actions do speak louder than his words, and no one has ever been this good to me. No one. But I’m not talking to him because I want three words.

It’s quite possible I’m as stupid as he is.

Chapter Thirty

Asher

Hour One: I realized what I had done. I realized what I was feeling, and I was in denial about the whole thing. I tried to chase after her. Didn’t work. I tried to call her. She didn’t answer. I’m so fucked.

Day One:

Pissed Ally wouldn’t answer me.

Day Two: More anger, but also a lot of hurt. It isn’t like her to block my calls, but she has.

Day Three:

I cried. For hours.

Day Four:

I missed her like no other. I called, left voice mails. I even walked by her dorm after I finished at work, hoping to see her. But Angie said she was with her mom. She really doesn’t want to see me.

Day Five:

I’m lost. Is she breaking up with me? I don’t know what to do. Stella and Emery force me to shower.

Day Six:

This is some bullshit. She better not be breaking up with me. I gotta do something.

That’s how the six, long, miserable, soul-searching,