It took all of a minute to get back to my building. I punched the button to the gate and whipped my car into my reserved parking spot. I hadn’t even gotten it into park when Aster tossed open the door and fumbled out, slamming the door shut behind her.
I killed the engine and jumped out.
She was a fiery flame that flew across the garage.
“Aster.” I shouted it over the top of the car.
She kept going.
“Aster. Come on. Talk to me.”
She spun around, her bag clutched to her chest like it were a shield. “Come on? Come on? Screw you, Logan Lawson.” Agony convulsed in her throat. “You want to hurt me? Is that what all of this is about? Payback? Fine, you hurt me. You embarrassed me. You made me feel like a whore. The way all ofthemhave always done. You win.”
She whirled back around and ran for the elevator. Her heels clacked frantically against the concrete.
“Aster.” I scrambled to catch up to her. “Would you wait?”
“No. Just leave me alone. I’ll get my things and go. I’ll figure this out on my own because I can’t do this. I can’t do this and clearly, you can’t, either.”
It was a rambled cry that hitched helplessly from her throat as she whirled back around.
It was right before her heel slipped on a patch of ice that had formed three feet in front of the elevator door.
My heart seized. “Aster!”
She yelped and tried to right herself, but she only sent herself hurtling the other direction, her arms flailing as her feet fully slipped out from underneath her.
She toppled backward.
I was running but I was too far away. I wasn’t even close to getting there before she landed hard on her left side. The air knocked from her lungs on a huge oomph when she slammed against the concrete.
When I made it to her, I dropped to my knees. “Aster, oh my god, Aster.”
I was over her, searching her face that was as pale as the concrete beneath her.
Every cell in her body was locked.
Her breaths and her blood and her tongue.
“Aster. Are you hurt? Tell me where you’re hurt, baby.”
Then a jagged, pained cry erupted from her chest. Her mouth split open, and her eyes pressed tight as tears streamed down her face.
“Aster. Fuck, are you okay?”
Another cry burst from her. She curled onto her side like she could protect herself from it all.
“Aster.”
“Leave me alone. Please.” She wept it, folding in on herself where she lay on the frozen, freezing concrete.
Carefully, I scooped her up. “I can’t.”
“Please,” she gasped and choked. “Leave me alone.”
I held her against my chest. “I already told you I take good care of what’s mine.”
“I’m not yours. I’m not. I’m not.” Each word was obliterated pain. Her mouth was open with a sob when she buried her face in my shirt. “I’m not.”