“We weren’t together,” I say, my voice low.
“Ash said the same exact thing when I asked him about it.” She giggles, her gaze meeting mine. “I confronted him about you.”
She confronted him about me? That seems like a strong choice of words.
“He said he’s never liked you like that,” she continues, her lips tilted upward in a closed-mouth smile. “ He reassured me I was just seeing things.”
Her words are like a direct stab to the heart. Did he actually say that and mean it? I’m sure he did.
The asshole.
“I was surprised when you broke up with Ben,” Rylie continues, one delicate eyebrow arching.
Not wanting to ruminate over my past relationships, I rise to my feet and change the subject. “Are you going to be okay?”
“Oh. Yes. Of course.” Rylie stands as well, then spontaneously pulls me into a hug. She clings tight, leaving me no choice but to hug her back before I pull myself out of her sticky grip. “Thank you again, Autumn. It means so much, that you told me he’s okay. I’ve been worried sick.”
I forget about what Ash said. I forget everything but this poor girl, and I squeeze her again before releasing her. “You’re welcome. I’m sure he’ll text you soon.”
“I hope so. Maybe I could even…” Her voice drifts and her eyes light up. “Come over to your house sometime soon? So I can see him? I need to see him.” She sounds almost…
Desperate.
And besides, that is the absolute last thing I want to happen. Seeing them together, her fussing over him while he’s hurt, will make their relationship one hundred percent real.
And maybe I don’t want to witness that. Not yet.
“We’ll see,” I tell her, because I can’t answer for Ash, or my parents. “Bye Rylie.”
“Bye.”
Later that night, I’m in my room watching some boring-ass movie on Netflix when I receive a text from Ash.
We should talk.
My heart starts to race. I only got home not even an hour ago because of practice, and then Kaya and I went to dinner. I know she wanted to pick my brain over Ash, though she never brought him up. Meaning I didn’t either. She’s probably mad at me, or at the very least irritated that I won’t talk about it.
Too bad. She’ll find out when I can actually tell the story.
Since I’ve only been home for a little while, I haven’t seen Ash. Or Dad, for that matter. Mom told me they were together in his office when I got home, and I wasn’t about to disturb them.
Deciding I need to answer Ash, I send him a reply. Why?
He immediately starts typing, the gray bubble appearing.
Meet me outside? By the pool?
Sighing out loud, I answer. Sure.
I run a brush through my hair and make sure I look presentable. I don’t even want to talk to him. We have nothing to say to each other. Talking to Rylie, seeing how upset she was over what happened to Ash and how he was ignoring her, confirmed that I needed to leave him alone. Let the past stay in the past. We never amounted to much back then, and we’re certainly not going to amount to much now.
He even said so. He never liked me that way. Rylie was just seeing things.
I hate that her words bothered me, but they did. They still do. It’s almost worse that she said it versus hearing it come from Ash’s mouth. All this time I thought he felt the same way I did about us. That our timing was never right. That’s what I always believed.
But no. He doesn’t like me that way. He never did. Proving that everything he said to me was a lie. He’s still an unfeeling asshole. Considering his circumstances, I shouldn’t be surprised. He’s trouble.
Or troubled, as Mom puts it. And who needs that?
Not me.
Realizing I don’t really care what I look like when I go talk to Ash, I toss the brush onto my vanity and leave my room, making my way down the stairs and to the door that leads from the kitchen to the backyard. The pathway lights are on—they always are, they’re powered by solar—and I can see Ash stretched out on one of the lounge chairs, looking very comfortable. As if he belongs here.
Well, he doesn’t. I need to talk to my parents and find out when he’s going to leave. I already know Jake doesn’t like having him here. He said as much on our drive to school this morning. He’s afraid Dad’s going to forget all about him and focus on Ash. I can’t imagine our father doing that, but who knows? Stranger things have happened.
“Took you long enough,” Ash calls when he spots me.
I remain quiet until I’m standing at the foot of his lounge chair. I rest my hands on my hips, glaring at him. “You can’t yell like that. You might wake someone up.”
He raises his brows. “Like who? Your parents’ bedroom is in the front of the house. I’m sure they can’t hear us. And I doubt your sister or brother care.”
Ava would totally care, the little sneak. Jake would just be pissed. For some reason, he views Ash as the enemy. I think he’s just jealous of him. “My little brother is sleeping.”
Beck can sleep through anything. Not that Ash needs to know that.
“Oh. He won’t hear us.” He waves a hand at the lounge chair next to me. “You should sit down.”
“Why?” I cross my arms “I have homework to finish.”
“Fine, let’s get right to it.” He leans back, giving me a chance to really check him out, and I swear he looks worse than he did this morning. All the bruises have become darker, and the cut above his eye is now stitched versus bandaged. “You promised you wouldn’t tell anyone what happened to me, or where I was.”
“I didn’t,” I start, but he cuts me off.
“You told Rylie.”
I clamp my lips shut, staring at him. He looks…pissed. “She’s your girlfriend, Ash. She came to me crying, she was so worried about you. I thought you would want her to know.”
“I wanted no one to know. What part of that did you not understand?” His voice is cold. Like ice. His expression is like stone. “You promised. I thought I could trust you. And you blab your mouth to the first person who asks.”
“I didn’t blab my mouth, you asshole. I told your sobbing girlfriend, who was going out of her mind with worry over where you were by the way, so she would calm down. All she wanted was to know you were all right, and you didn’t have the decency to answer her texts. Which is some straight-up bullshit, if you ask me,” I tell him, swallowing hard. Blood is pounding in my head, in my ears, I’m so pissed. I can’t believe he’s calling me out for this when he’s the dick who couldn’t bother to tell his poor girlfriend he’s alive.
“A promise is a promise,” he says solemnly. “And you broke it.”
I gape at him, my mind scrambling to come up with something to say. He’s being ridiculous. Can he not see I did the right thing?
“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised,” he goes on, looking away from me. “Everyone breaks their promises eventually, right?”
“I thought…” I start, but he whirls around to face me, rising to his feet, positioning himself so he looms over me, making me feel smaller than I already am.
“You made a fucking promise, Callahan. You said you wouldn’t tell anyone, yet you told Rylie, who now won’t stop texting me. She wants to see me, she wants to take care of me, she wants to come over, and honestly? I don’t need her shit right now. I don’t need anyone’s shit. I’m trying to figure this out, and I’m in fucking hiding. Did you know my mom’s asshole boyfriend claims he wants to press charges against me? Isn’t that funny? If Don finds out I’m here, the cops will show up and cart me away to jail. He already turned in the drugs he found in my room to the police. I’m fucked.”
Drugs? What sort of drugs? I can’t ask that right now.
“Rylie would never tell him…”