He met Becca in the hallway outside of their rooms and was delighted to see that she was wearing skinny jeans and a George Orwell Animal Farm t-shirt. It was very on-brand for her while still being the appropriate amount of casual. Ashton smiled at her and told himself to stop worrying about what people were wearing.
“You look great,” he said. “Ready to go?” He patted his back pocket to make sure that his wallet was there. The tickets were inside, along with a fair amount of cash so they could get as many stadium snacks as their hearts desired.
“Yep, ready,” Becca replied with another nod and a smile. “I’m dying for a hot dog or some popcorn.”
He laughed and took her by the hand as they walked out of the hotel. “Why not both?”
They got into his truck and he drove them to the stadium, listening to classic alt-rock songs from the early 2000s. She sang along with them, knowing every word just like he did. Ashton knew then that he’d really made a huge mistake in the past. He never should have left this girl behind. He should have found a way to stay with her and he was regretting it now more than ever before.
Chapter Ten
Okay, it was true. Becca didn’t care about football. She never watched it on TV, not even when her dad watched it when she was over at her parents’ house. She didn’t begrudge people for their interests, it just hadn’t been here thing. But now, here she was, sitting in the middle of the stands at the Broncos Stadium. She didn’t even know what their stadium was called, but she had a feeling it was some sponsor’s name by now. At least Ashton was sitting next to her, munching on a hotdog and fries and cheering much louder than she was.
She was amused to observe him enjoying the game. She wished that the stadium wasn’t so crowded, but she was having fun being there with him anyway. He was right, watching it live was different from watching it on TV. She wouldn’t say that it was better per se, but it was different. No matter how many times Ashton tried to explain how each play worked and what downs meant and the scoring system, Becca still came out of it feeling confused.
“It just looks like they run into each other every play and someone catches a ball, maybe. But it’s mostly people running into each other and standing around in anticipation of the next time they run into each other.”
He laughed and then he nodded his head, shrugging a bit along with it. “You’re not wrong. They kind of inch along a lot of the time. But each down is a few yards and every so often, they throw a really long pass and then it’s not the same. It resets.”
“Uh huh,” Becca said, her eyes glazing over a little. She thought that it was fun to be there and hear the cheering crowd and the music. The food was decent, too. But she couldn’t say that she would want to go to a football game again, and certainly not every game like his parents apparently did. That was intense.
When the game ended, she was glad to be able to head back to Meridian and what she was more used to, even though she wasn’t looking forward to having to go to work the next day. She also wasn’t looking forward to it being that much closer to Ashton leaving.
“That was fun,” she said as he drove back to Meridian. “I mean, the game was okay, but the whole trip is what really made it special. Thanks so much for taking me.”
He smiled at her. “Thanks for going with me,” he said to her sweetly. “I liked watching football sort of through your eyes. Thanks for putting up with it. And the science museum was fun, too.”
Becca smiled back at him. She couldn’t help feeling a little sad that it was all just a memory for them now. “When can I see you again?” she asked him. “Or rather, can I see you again? I’d really like to.” She was tired of beating around the bush and not asking for what she wanted. Time wasn’t going to stop for them, but maybe she could control it a little anyway.
“I’d like that, too,” Ashton said. “I fly out this Wednesday. So maybe we could get dinner or something.”
“Dinner and a movie?” she blurted. “The theatre near town plays a double feature sometimes on Tuesdays. I could check out the schedule online and let you know?”
He gave her a look that was difficult for her to decipher. He looked happy and also a bit confused. Perhaps she had simply taken him off-guard with her sudden decisiveness.
“That sounds great,” he said to her. “I can’t think of the last time I had a date like that. A cute date.”
She didn’t want to think about him dating anyone else. She knew that it wasn’t realistic, though. He’d obviously been on dates with other women. He’d probably even had a few relationships. She’d tried her best to have the same, so she didn’t want to be a hypocrite, but it did make her feel a little sick to think about him with someone else.
“What, your other girlfriends didn’t like movies?” she asked him playfully.
He smiled at her. “It’s not that. We just went to more places instead of watching things. There are a lot of places to get into trouble in New York City.”
In a weird way, Becca felt that New York City was the girlfriend that he had. He never spoke about any other women in his life, but he sure did love to talk about that city. And much like she might be curious to look up one of his exes on the internet, she made a mental note to look up NYC when she got home so she could see what sort of places they could go to ‘get into trouble.’
When he dropped her off at her building, he got her bag out of the back for her and then they gave each other a quick hug. It was only then that she realized that she’d labeled herself as his ‘girlfriend’ and he hadn’t even corrected her. She blushed a bit. “Good night, Ashton. We’ll text soon.”
“Good night, Becca,” he said. “Let me know about the movie schedule.” Then he got into his truck and drove away.
Work felt like such a slog for her the next day. Actually, the next two days. During her lunch break on Tuesday, she found out that the theatre was going to show a double feature, so she texted Ashton to let him know.
“This is kind of last minute, but they’re running a double feature,” she told him. “Want to see the latest two Marvel movies? I have a feeling you love those because you’re a man and you have a bit of nerd in you. No offense.”
“Ha ha,” he texted back. “But you’re right. I love those movies. What time is good/when is it playing?”
“Four?” she asked him. “I get off at three thirty, so it will be tight, but I’ll actually be in my scrubs this time like I’ve been threatening you with. :)”
“I’ll see you then!”
Instead of picking her up from her apartment building this time, Ashton went ahead and just picked her up from the animal hospital. Becca was a little embarrassed to be at the movies in her scrubs, but at least she had on her eggplant-colored ones so she felt like she’d fit in. It seemed like half the characters were purple and the other half were green.
“You look beautiful, Doc,” he said to her with a big, cheesy grin as she got into his truck.
Because the first movie was going to start so soon, they went straight to the theatre and watched it instead of going to the restaurant first. That was okay with her because she didn’t normally feel too hungry so early in the afternoon. But by the time the credits of the second film were rolling, Becca’s stomach was growling. She wondered if he could notice.
“Dinner now?” he asked her. “Where were you thinking going?”
“Don’t laugh,” Ashton said. “But I was thinking Red Robin. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen one let alone been to one.”
The look on his face was priceless. He might as well have said that he wanted to go to a place that served lobster on caviar. Ashton was apparently easily impressed even after all of this time. You can take the boy out of Colorado, but you can’t take Colorado out of the boy. Becca knew that Red Robin was not actually a Colorado staple or anything; it was just a chain. But still. The fact that he still had fairly simple tastes after moving and all of the time that had passed since he’d last lived there.
“I’m not goin
g to laugh at you,” she replied with a smile. “Red Robin is good. I’m relieved, actually. I thought you were going to suggest the sports bar around here. I think I’ve had my fill of sports for a while now.”
Ashton laughed. “No no, I wouldn’t do that to you. I don’t really care about whatever games might be going on today. And one sports bar is basically the same as any other. There are plenty of those in New York. I’ve yet to find a Red Robin there, though I admit I haven’t really looked.”
Becca smirked at him. “That’s a pretty random thing to be searching for in the Big Apple. Aren’t there like a million famous restaurants there?”
He nodded. “That’s true. But, you know, as a New Yorker, it’s a bit gauche for me to go to all of the places where the tourists go.”
“Well excuse me,” she said with a laugh.
Instead of driving to the restaurant, they decided to just leave the truck parked in the parking lot where it was and instead enjoy a hand-in-hand stroll to the restaurant. They sat down across from each other in a booth and looked at their menus. Becca had been to Red Robin plenty of times, so she didn’t know why she was even bothering to look. She always got the same thing there, which was funny after Ashton had told her how he’d been trying new things when he goes to familiar places.
I could never get tired of the clucks and fries though, she thought with a smile. She ordered that and a milkshake to go with it.
Ashton ordered an avocado turkey burger, which she thought sounded amazing, but she was still happy that she hadn’t deviated from her usual.
“So,” she said as soon as their waiter had left to put in their orders. “What’s your favorite restaurant in New York if you can’t go to Red Robin?”
He chuckled, shaking his head a bit. “I never said that Red Robin was my favorite restaurant. I mostly like it because it’s a rarity for me. But I like a lot of restaurants in New York, mostly Italian places or delis, I guess. I usually go to this social club for businessman, with my friends. They have great sandwiches and drinks.”
“Do they have caviar and lobster?” she asked him, eyebrows raised.
He looked at her quizzically. “What? No, not that I know of. That’s pretty random.”
“I just always imagine rich businessmen eating things like that, and smoking pipes or cigars.”
Now Ashton was raising his eyebrows. “Are you okay?” he asked with a laugh.
“Yes,” she answered. “I’m just trying to understand what your life must be like.”
Their drinks and food came, so for a bit they were too distracted to think about anything other than how delicious the food was. Becca got honey mustard sauce, as usual, and she was so glad she did. Even though she went there more often than he did, she liked the place a lot so it was a great choice. She was a fan of the fact that Ashton didn’t always want to go to fancy, expensive restaurants just because he could. It showed that he was still down-to-earth at least in some ways.
“My life isn’t that fancy, really,” he told her once they’d had some time to enjoy their food and the comfortable silence that had fallen between them as they ate. “I have a great career and I don’t want for a lot of things, but at the end of the day, I’m still just a guy who goes to work, hangs out with his friends, goes to the movies or concerts every so often… I guess, if anything, I’d say that I’m a little lonely up there in New York, away from everyone and everything that I’m used to. I’m still kind of a work in progress in some regards.”
Becca gazed at him, surprised to hear him describe things that way. “So it’s not exactly the magical Oz that you were hoping to find when you went away?” she asked him. “Because I want to be honest with you. When you left, it really hurt me. I guess I was a little selfish back then, as most teenagers are, right? But I thought that what we had was special and important. When you threw that all away like it was nothing, I had a hard time getting back up and dusting myself off. And when I saw you in the animal hospital, I kind of braced myself inside because I didn’t want to let myself be hurt again.”
Ashton looked at her in surprise and concern. She didn’t know how he could even think that she wouldn’t have been hurt by him leaving her. He hadn’t just broken up with her; he’d completely left town so she hadn’t even had the proper amount of closure that she needed.
“I never meant to hurt you by leaving,” he said.
“Well, you did,” she replied. She didn’t want to sound accusatory and ruin their date after they’d been having such a nice time together, reminiscing and getting reacquainted, but she didn’t want to keep her feelings from him either. They’d been bottled up the entire time he’d been in Meridian to take care of his dog.
“As soon as I learned that you were working at the animal hospital, I thought, thank God,” Ashton told her. “At least then I knew that I’d have someone who cared about me there for support so I didn’t have to go through it alone. And look how it turned out. I’m sorry that I left you the way I did. I wasn’t thinking about who it might hurt. I was only thinking about the opportunity that I’d been given, to go to school in New York and achieve my dreams there.”
Becca wished that it didn’t still hurt so much, just like she wished that his apology could be enough for her. “I wish that a lot of things were different,” she said. “You have no idea how much I envied you. I was never mad that you’d left town as much as I was mad that you didn’t take me with you. We could’ve made it work. I would have wanted nothing more than to go off with you to New York. You think Meridian is the only place with vet schools?”
Ashton looked at her, seemingly surprised again. Then he laughed softly. “I didn’t know that you’d want to come with me.”
“That’s because you never asked me,” she pointed out. “You were too busy thinking about yourself. But… now you know. I resent you for leaving me in the dust. Literally.”
“Is there any way that I might be able to make it up to you?” he asked.
“I’ll think about it,” Becca said. Then she smiled at him to let him know that she wasn’t there to punish him for his past failings. She really hoped that they might be able to move on from everything and have a much better future than they might have had before anyway.
The waiter came once they had finished their meals and asked if they were interested in any dessert. Becca didn’t know where Ashton stood at this point. Had things become too awkward between them? She thought that he might be wanting to hit the road.
“Sure, let’s look at the dessert menu. We’ll take just a moment. Thank you.” Ashton grabbed the small, thin binder of dessert and drink options that was there on the table the whole time. She’d been too preoccupied to notice.
As soon as the waiter was gone again, Ashton opened up the menu on the table so they could both peruse the choices. “I definitely want some coffee,” she said. “That goes with every dessert.”
He looked at her like she was a bit crazy and then he shook his head, smiling at her. “How do you fall asleep at night? I’d be way too wired.”
She smiled a pretty smile and shrugged a shoulder. “My work makes me sleepy enough, I guess. Coffee can’t fight it off. Ooh, this cookie sounds good.”
The restaurant had this baked chocolate chip cookie that was served in a cast iron skillet. It wasn’t as fancy as a slice of decadent chocolate cake or anything, but sometimes the simplest things caught her eye.
Ashton looked at where she pointed on the menu and nodded. “Sure, that does sound good. I’m not about to argue with you after what you said earlier. If I had a tail, it would be between my legs.”
“I wasn’t trying to make you feel bad,” she said. “And I don’t want you to head back to New York tomorrow thinking that I don’t like you anymore. Honestly, I love you. I never stopped loving you.” She reached across the tabletop and took his hand. “I can’t stand the thought of you going back without you knowing that.”
He gazed at her, a touched sort of look in his eyes. Gently, he t
ightened his hold on her hand. She had the feeling that he felt the same way, though he didn’t want to say it because saying it ran the risk of hurting her. At least, she wanted to think that was why he didn’t say it back. He’s going to be so emotional on the flight tomorrow, she thought. And that kind of serves him right.
“You’ve given me a lot to think about,” he said at last, right before their waiter returned to ask what they wanted for dessert.
Becca ordered her coffee and Ashton ordered the cookie for them to share. The waiter came back pretty quickly that time, with both their desserts and the check, which Ashton took before she could even try to see how much the dinner had cost. At least he was a gentleman about such things.
Once their dinner was coming to a close, she felt quite sad. She knew that the following day, Ashton was going to be heading back to New York and she had no idea when she was going to see him again. It was some comfort to know that he was already planning to visit more often, but did that mean that he would want to see her again? What was to become of the budding renewal of their relationship?
She tried not to think of it in such terms, but it was hard not to already be sad about what might have been.
At least I was finally able to be honest with him about how he’d made me feel, she thought as he drove her back to her apartment building. She never would have been able to forgive herself if he’d gone back to NYC with no idea that she’d been so lost when he left all those years ago. He deserved to know what had happened to her. And he still only knew the beginning of her story.
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