Undeniably Asher (The Colloway Brothers Book 2)(57)

He can’t be talking about anybody else but my Alyse.

“Really? What’d she look like?” I try to sound nonchalant, but with my jaw clamped so tight, it comes out more like a hiss. If Carey was smarter, he’d catch on and shut his big fucking mouth before he digs himself further into his own grave.

“Oh man. Gorgeous. Couple inches shorter than me. Long, dark wavy hair. Eyes the color of melted caramel. Killer curves. And she actually has a personality. She was sweet, smart, and funny. Literally the whole package wrapped up in one tight little beautiful body. And her name was just as beautiful. Alyse.” The way he draws out Alyse’s name, letting it reverently roll off his tongue as if he’d like to savor it on his taste buds first, is the final trigger.

Remember that haze that I said was clouding my vision? Well now it’s turned thick and sticky and dark.

Red.

Blood red.

The exact color of the very liquid pumping through Carey’s veins, which is just about to be spilled all over Conn’s off-white carpet, permanently staining it a dark pink, forever marking the day that I killed my friend because of the way he’s talking and thinking about my woman.

I throw my cards on the table, pushing my chair back so hard it flies across the room. Before I can even lay a hand on Carey, who now looks in fear for his life as he damn well should, a pair of strong arms wrap around me from behind, pinning mine down.

“Have you lost your fucking mind?” Conn hisses in my ear. “Sorry, guys. Asher’s off his meds today.”

Dragging me into the kitchen of his apartment, which is in the same building as Gray’s and mine, he finally lets me go with a shove, blocking my exit with his bulk.

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

Leaning against the fridge, I grab my head in my hands, pressing my skull between them hard. I have no fucking idea what’s wrong with me, other than the fact that I’ve fallen madly and deeply in love with Alyse Kingsley and it’s completely fucking me up. I don’t want to share her with another single soul. It’s selfish and controlling and completely unrealistic, but I don’t want another set of male eyes to even graze over her. Ever.

She’s mine.

Christ. I’ve completely lost my shit.

“Nothing,” I finally grate. “Bad day.”

“Like hell. It’s Alyse, isn’t it? What happened?”

Sometimes it’s great to have a twin. They think like you, they generally like the same things you do. A twin is a built-in best friend. But other times, like now, it’s fucking irritating, because they know you just as well as you know yourself. It’s almost impossible to bullshit them.

“You mean other than the fact that every single male within a five-mile radius wants to fuck her? Not a goddamn thing.”

Conn laughs. Actually has the balls to stand there and laugh at me. “Well, she is smokin’.”

I push off the fridge, intent on raining a world of pain down on my brother in the next five seconds when he throws up his hands in mock surrender, taking a couple steps backward. “Just kidding, Ash. Well, not really, but I have no interest in Alyse. She’s not my type.”

“Right, because your type is five foot seven, curvy, and redheaded.”

Conn’s playfulness suddenly evaporates and his jaw ticks with anger. It was a low blow to bring up Nora, but I’m feeling pretty fucking low at the moment. I need to drag someone down into the bowels of the gutter with me.

I think we’ve made it clear I’m a jackass sometimes.

“Sorry,” I mumble. Conn likes to hear about Nora just about as much as I like him to bring up Natalie.

He simply nods and his anger vanishes. That’s probably the thing I admire most about him. He bounces back like a rubber ball and has the biggest capacity to forgive of anyone I’ve ever known outside of our mother. That, and his ability to detach himself emotionally from a situation, evaluating it thoughtfully from all angles. I jump to the worst possible conclusion while Conn sees the best in people until proven otherwise.

“What has she done to get you so twisted? You’re acting like a goddamn lunatic.”

I sigh, taking a seat at the kitchen table. “She hasn’t done a damn thing. It’s all me. Men flock to her like flies on shit and I can’t stand it. I’m irrationally jealous, like on the verge of spending the next ten to twenty in cell block ten of the Illinois State Pen for attempted murder.”

Conn takes the chair across from me. “Jesus, you’re in love with her,” he says incredulously.

I laugh, because it feels like so much more than love. I suddenly wonder if I ever loved Natalie at all. The feelings I have for Alyse are so different, so intense, so consuming, they almost border on obsession. And the thought of losing her to someone else makes me fucking homicidal.