All Chapters of The Edge Of You : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Asher's pov.I stepped out of the cab right in front of my house, paying the driver before rushing through the front door. Leonard's heavy suit jacket was clutched tightly in my hands, still smelling faintly of his cologne. I let out a quiet breath of relief when I saw the living room was empty. No one was downstairs to question me.I hurried up the stairs, but just as I reached the landing, the door to my sister's room swung open. Ava stepped out.We briefly locked eyes, neither of us saying anything as we went to pass each other in the narrow hallway. But then, she suddenly stopped in her tracks, her eyes dropping to my hands."I haven't seen that jacket before," Ava said, narrowing her eyes at the dark fabric."It's not mine," I said, keeping my grip tight on it."I was wondering," she murmured, leaning closer to inspect the material. "That looks way too expensive to belong to you.""It's for a friend," I muttered, shifting past her."What friend?" She asked, turning around to fo

Asher's pov.The moment the final lecture ended, I packed my bag and said goodbye to Trevor and Brady at the campus gates. Instead of heading straight to the bus stop, I decided to walk down the block to the cafe. My brain felt completely fried from the chemical engineering formulas, and I desperately needed a cold iced Americano to keep me awake for the rest of the evening.As I walked down the crowded sidewalk, my mind kept drifting right back to Leonard.The way he had looked at me under the campus trees kept replaying in my head. He had been completely expressionless, his eyes totally blank when I suggested we could be friends. The memory made the back of my neck burn with a sudden wave of embarrassment. He was just so impossible to read.I scratched my head, letting out a loud sigh as I stepped over a puddle. Maybe I shouldn't have opened my mouth at all. I definitely crossed a line.It made perfect sense when I actually thought about it. Why would a regular middle-class stu

Asher's pov.The laptop screen finally went black, and Brady closed the lid with a quiet sigh. He rubbed his eyes, letting out a long breath. For more than two hours, he had been stuck at his desk, locked in a video call with his mom. She had spent the entire time listing every single thing that had happened back home since he left for university, including the neighborhood gossip that didn't matter at all.Out of the three of us, Brady was the only one living in the campus dorms. His family lived far across the country, so he only went home during the major holiday breaks.Brady folded his arms over his chest, turning his chair around to look at Trevor and me. We were both sprawled out across his thin mattress, staring down at our phones."Why are you guys still here?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "My roommates are going to be back any minute now. You should probably be on your way."Trevor didn't even look up from his screen, his thumb scrolling lazily. "Since when do we care ab

Asher's pov.I sat at my desk with my engineering textbook open in front of me, trying to finish the assignment due the next morning. After reading the same line for what felt like the tenth time, I gave up with a quiet sigh.Reaching into my backpack for my notebook, my fingers brushed against my sketchbook instead. I pulled it out and flipped through the pages until I found the sketch of Leonard.I traced the graphite lines of his jaw with the tip of my finger. The memory of earlier that evening rushed back—the way our eyes had locked right after I called him handsome, the sudden, suffocating heat that had flared up in my neck and face.'Where does that confidence even come from?' I wondered, rubbing my temples. Whenever I was around him, my filter just completely disappeared, and I’d blurt out whatever crossed my mind. I really needed to learn how to control myself.Looking down at the paper, the shaded eyes of the drawing felt so realistic it was as if Leonard himself was starin

Leonard's pov.I took another slow sip from the white ceramic mug in my hand, keeping my eyes fixed on Asher. I was waiting for him to speak. I had intentionally ordered black coffee instead of my usual caramel macchiato purely out of curiosity to see why he ordered it every single time we met but the dark, bitter liquid left a terrible taste on my tongue.Asher’s mouth curved into a small, tentative smile. He used his fork to break off another piece of the cheesecake, popping it into his mouth before looking across the table at me. "You want to know about me? Like what?""Why do you like art?" I asked, setting the mug back onto its saucer. "And are you studying art at your university?"Asher shook his head, a faint, dry laugh escaping his throat. "No, I'm not studying art. I'm actually an engineering student." He set his fork down, his fingers lightly tracing the edge of the paper napkin. "Art is just... my passion. It's the one thing that makes me feel completely alive. But my pare