by C. A. Harms
“I knew I could count on you. You’ve always been that one person, ya know, no matter what, you’ve been in my corner.”
At that moment the guilt hit and I felt like a complete ass.
I needed to talk to Ashlynn.
I just needed a few minutes with her to find out if she thought we could actually be something. I wanted to know if it was worth throwing away twenty years of friendship. If she said the word, if she agreed that there was something worth building between us, then I’d do it. I’d tell him about her then deal with the consequences. I just didn’t want any of the backlash to go her way; she didn’t need any more of Beau or his father’s shit. I’d take it all.
All she had to do was say the word.
Chapter Fourteen
Ashlynn
“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” my mother asked as she walked toward the front door. “You know how awful he can be when he’s not feeling well.”
“I can hear you, ya know,” my father hollered out from his position on the couch and I laughed.
“I got him,” I assure her as she starts to hesitate. “You have a dinner meeting and if you don’t hurry you’re gonna be late.”
“I feel guilty.” She looked over my shoulder toward my father and I nudged her further. “Okay fine, I’m going.”
Once she left, I closed and locked the door, then went to check on my father. He had been hit by a stomach bug that knocked him flat on his ass. It was the second day in a row. Apparently there was nothing the doctors could give him; only advice was to let it run its course.
My father is not a patient man.
He is also a miserable, cranky person when sick; on most occasions you fight the urge to suffocate him.
“Can I get you anything?” I leaned over the back of the couch, and he gave me a look that had me hanging on the edge of laughter, that annoyed look he got when he is stuck doing something he doesn’t want to do.
“You can get me my briefcase.”
“You can forget it.” He practically growled in annoyance.
“You are just like your mother.” I ignored him as I moved toward the kitchen where I had all my work spread out on the countertop before me. There were contracts and papers that needed to be filed with the title company as well as the courthouse. With my laptop open, I began going through emails from the office, both my father’s and my own. If he couldn’t get things done, the least I could do was help him with the things I was able to handle.
My phone rang and when I saw his name on the screen I thought of sending it to voicemail. Beau was relentless, and part of me felt bad for avoiding him, but then I’d remember what it was that actually caused our breakup and I’d get pissed all over again.
I grabbed for the phone and said “Hello” in a hushed tone so my father wouldn’t hear.
“I know you hate me.” That was his opening line. I didn’t argue. “But I am truly sorry. I know I don’t deserve a minute of your time, but that’s what I’m asking for. Please.”
I hung my head, still not responding, because frankly I had no idea how things had gotten so complicated.
“At one point in time we were good together. You loved me, I’ve never stopped loving you.”
“Love isn’t defined by sleeping with someone else, Beau. If you care about someone, truly deeply care, then how can you do what you did?”
“I know it’s no excuse, but I was beyond loaded.” He was right, that was no excuse. “After you left, Kyler and I got into it.” I closed my eyes and fought the emotions that hit me when I heard Kyler’s name.
“I was pissed, I drank more, and I know I should’ve stopped. Reality hit me the moment I sobered up and Ashlynn, I swear to you, had I been sober I never would’ve gone through with it.” I could hear the emotions in his voice. “I love you, you are the only person that has even loved me for me. You didn’t need me to be more, you were happy with who I was.”
A tear escaped and rolled along my left cheek.
“Lunch, a coffee even, just fifteen minutes.”
***
I woke to an annoying tickle on my cheek and when I went to slap it away, I heard a giggle.
Very slowly I opened one eye to find my mother hovering above me, looking like she just stepped out of some fashion magazine. Perfect hair and makeup, a killer outfit, and a smile. “Good morning?”
I stretched out my legs and my feet hung over the edge of the couch. “How’s Dad?”
“He is up, showered, and ready to take on the world.”
I arched my brow at her and she shrugged. “Even if he still feels like shit you know he won’t admit it.”
“What time is it?”
“Seven.”
“I’m gonna be late.” I sagged back on the couch and groaned.
“Well, I guess it’s a good thing you know the boss. Just tell him you had to care for a very cranky old sick person and that he shouldn’t blame you.”
“I hear you.” My father’s deep voice filled the room. My mother stood tall as I lifted my head and we both stared at the handsome man standing in the threshold of the living room. “Be at the office by nine.” He lifted his brow, waiting for me to agree and when I nodded my head he smiled before moving toward the front door. “Goodbye, beautiful.”
“Goodbye, handsome,” my mother said in return. It was a gesture they’d shared often. I loved how even after all the years they’d been together they still loved one another and expressed it.
***
I hurried down the sidewalk, doing my best to rearrange the files in my briefcase after a long meeting with potential clients. My father and I had been given the task of finding the perfect location for Mr. and Mrs. Sanderson, New York tycoons looking for their next expansion in their chain of jewelry stores, top of the line jewelry that most women drooled over. I had some of their things myself and could vouch for it. Absolutely gorgeous, breathtaking even.
I was excited my father had bestowed the task on me. Our meeting ended over an hour ago, yet I stuck around Nico’s, an Italian bistro, and sifted through one location after another, lining up viewings. I’d go alone and narrow them down, before taking the Sandersons through those with the most potential.
I was already late for my agreed time to meet Beau but my mind was on nothing other than the task at hand. I agreed to meet Beau outside of my office, or my father’s office I should say, for a coffee. I had no intention of it being more than allowing him the closure he needed. There was no way I could take him back, not after what he’d done. I just hoped that I’d finally be able to make him understand that.
As I stepped onto the curb just at the corner of Baker and Milford, I looked up to find Kyler standing just outside the front doors of my father’s office.
He wore a sports jacket over an unbuttoned shirt with a pair of jeans that fit him to perfection. His dark locks were tossed in that sexy roughed up look and it made my knees weak. He made my knees weak.
When he looked up and noticed me approaching, he spun on his heels and hurried toward me with purpose. “We need to talk.” The words rushed out of his mouth and a serious look covered his features.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” he breathed, “it’s just—”
He didn’t get the chance to finish the sentence. His eyes widened as he looked over my shoulder and immediately took a step back.
I reached out, placed my palm against his chest, the same place I had touched various times during our heated night by the pool and he tensed.
“What do we have here?”
I dropped my hand and spun around, only to come face to face with Beau. He wore that shade of blue I’d always loved on him. Royal blue, with a dark blazer over it. The blazer was unbuttoned and his belt, the belt I had gotten him for his birthday, was exposed. For a moment I found myself speechless as I stared back at him. Not because I’d missed him, or even still held feelings for him that weren’t settled, it was that Kyler would think this was more than it
was.
“What are you doing here?” Beau was looking directly at Kyler and my stomach began to flip.
“Just came to ask Ashlynn where I should take Hayley for her birthday.” So we were back to that. “You?”
It was his turn to hold up two coffees. “Meeting Ash for coffee,” he smiled wide, “and to talk.”
“Well, don’t let me stop the two of you.” I spun around quickly to face Kyler and saw a look of disappointment on his face. “Thanks for everything, Ashlynn.”
He started to walk away and I was unable to stop myself. I called out for him only he didn’t stop.
My shoulders sagged as I suddenly felt defeated.
“There’s something going on between the two of you, isn’t there?” I heard the realization in Beau’s voice but I didn’t turn around to face him, not yet. “There’s no him and Hayley, is there?”
“No, there’s not.” The confession felt good. It was a secret I still wasn’t sure why we were keeping in the first place.
When I felt Beau touch my lower back I turned around, and he leaned in, quickly pressing his lips to mine. For a moment I was shocked, completely blown away by the movement. Suddenly it hit me and I pushed back, causing him to let go without a fight. “What are you doing?”
He lifted his hand and roughly ran it through his hair. Still balancing the tray that held both our coffees in one hand, he grew frustrated.
“I came back for you,” he said as he gripped the back of his neck. He still wasn’t looking at me, but instead at the ground between us. “I’ve missed you, Ash, so god damn much. I spent every single night while in Charlotte thinking of you, trying to figure how I could make this right. I screwed up, I know this. I’m an idiot, because I threw away something amazing. But him?”
It was then his gaze locked on mine. He stared at me with such intensity that it gave me the chills. There we were in the middle of the sidewalk, people walking past us but in that moment there was only us.
“He’s my best friend, Ashlynn. Baby, please tell me this isn’t happening.”
“Don’t call me that.”
“So you two are together and this whole time he’s been lying to me?”
“We’re not together.” I found myself looking off in the direction Kyler walked, almost wishing I’d see him coming back, only he wasn’t.
“But you were?”
Instead of answering him, I walked back in the direction I had originally come from in search of my car. I had to get out of there, I needed to be alone.
Chapter Fifteen
Kyler
I barely had the control to hold onto my phone. What I really wanted to do was smash it against the ground after what I just witnessed. Was Ashlynn really fucking giving that asshole even a moment of her time?
I guess I got my answer. I wanted to know if she thought that what had happened between us was worth confessing to Beau and she answered it. Without me even saying the words, she assured me it was just two people letting go and giving into lust and nothing more.
So why couldn’t I just accept that?
The longer I sat in my living room mulling over the events of not just the other night, but all the way back to the first interaction we had without Beau hovering over us, I couldn’t let myself believe that there wasn’t something there.
Which was why I jumped on my bike and drove to her place. She wasn’t there, but I wasn’t leaving, so instead I sat on the ground near her front door and waited.
The sound of an approaching car gained my attention, and I got up and moved forward with purpose. Ashlynn’s car slowed to a stop just beside my bike and I barely waited for her car door to open before I moved toward her.
“What are you—”
I didn’t give her the opportunity to finish before I gripped the back of her neck and pressed her body against the side of her car. I used my own frame to hold her in place, and just before I kissed her, I saw her eyes widen in surprise.
A moan escaped her and I found it drove me. I knew she felt something.
I was so lost in our kiss, the way her hands circled my waist as she held me tighter that I didn’t get the opportunity to see it coming.
Something impacted the side of my head and I stumbled sideways, bracing myself on the side of Ashlynn’s car.
I faintly heard my name as I shook my head to clear the haze.
“You couldn’t fucking wait to swoop in and play hero, could you?” I looked up to see Beau standing between me and Ashlynn, seething with anger. “You were always trying to play the martyr when it came to me and Ashlynn. Looking for every chance you could take to jump in and be the good guy.”
“Well, someone had to be the good guy.” I stood tall and stepped toward him, closing the distance between us. “Because we all know you don’t have the ability to be the good guy. Too busy focused on every other girl besides the one who should have truly mattered.”
My words only seemed to infuriate him further, but at this point I no longer cared. It was out, he’d seen me kissing her. So even if she didn’t want this to go any further than it had, the damage was already done.
Beau gripped my shirt and I didn’t even flinch. Instead I chuckled.
“You wanna hit me?”
“Yeah,” he sneered.
“Then do it, but it isn’t gonna change the fact that you fucked up and I moved in.”
“You planned this.” He gripped my shirt tighter and I heard the fabric tear.
“Yeah, Beau, I planned you fucking some girl when you had a gorgeous one at home waiting.”
I should have known it was coming, but it all happened so fast. His fist collided with my jaw and instantly I tasted blood. But this time I didn’t just shrug it off.
Together in a mess of punches we fell to the ground and he rolled me, pinning me to the ground.
“Stop it!” Ashlynn and the desperation in her voice had me looking around for her. “Please, just stop.”
Beau didn’t even acknowledge her, only continued to throw one swing after another. The majority of his punches were blocked but even those that connected did nothing to faze me.
The first opportunity I had I pushed him off me and he rolled to his back. I practically crawled toward her then I saw the tears.
“Ashlynn.” I reached out for her and she looked past me, her eyes widening. When I followed her gaze, I saw Beau coming at me.
I stood just in time to grab him by his neck and slam him against Ash’s car. “Enough.” The words were more of a growl. “Do you not fucking see what we’re doing to her?”
He looked over at her in the best way he could, considering I still had a death grip on his neck. I expected to see remorse or even the slightest bit of hesitation, but there was nothing. The bastard couldn’t see past his hate for me to notice the pain we were causing Ashlynn.
It pissed me off so fucking much, because he never saw her. Never truly. Beau had always been so blinded by his own needs that he never once put her before himself. She deserved more than that.
“Look at her.” I gripped harder and he let out a pained groan.
When he did as I told him, I slowly saw the anger fade and recognition take over. “Ash.” I let go of him and he instantly turned toward her. When he wrapped his arms around her I’ll admit it hurt. The last thing I ever wanted to see again was her in his arms. The worst part about it was that she didn’t fight him; she accepted his comfort.
Her eyes were squeezed together tightly and her lips pressed firmly into a straight line, like she was fighting off her emotions.
The longer he held her the more my hands shook. I wanted to be that guy, the one she needed. I wanted to hold her and comfort her.
Slowly I watched as she stood taller and took a step back from Beau.
“I need the both of you to leave.” She wouldn’t look at either one of us. “The two of you think this is some type of game, but it’s not. Each of you thinks that you’re more worthy than the next, but I can assure you that at
this point, I don’t want either of you. I just want you to go, both of you.”
When she slowly began walking toward her house, in one last attempt to salvage the us I thought we could be I reached out and touched her hip. She paused for only a moment and in that moment I had a small ray of hope. But that hope faded when she moved away and left me and Beau standing in the middle of her driveway.
“You think you’ve won?”
I chuckled to myself, wondering how I ever could have been friends with this dumb ass for so long. “No.” I pulled my keys from my pocket. “We both definitely lost.” I moved toward my bike and climbed over it, kicking the stand out.
“This isn’t over.”
Putting the key in the ignition I looked up at him.
“You and I, we’re over, because quite frankly I don’t give two shits about us. The only thing I care about is that woman in there.” I point toward her house. “She may be mad right now, hurt even, but for me there is hope. I didn’t break her heart and then stomp on it. You did that.”
“Stay away from her.”
I wanted to laugh at his intended threat.
“That I won’t do.” I turned the key and ignored the way he stepped toward me. I was over caring what he thought; it no longer mattered.
The only thing that mattered to me now was finding a way to get back to that place where Ashlynn and I once were, before Beau came back to town and flipped it all upside down.
***
“Are you going to do it?”
I dropped the fry I’d been toying with for the last five minutes onto the plate and leaned back in the chair. Quinton sat across from me devouring his second burger.
“They’re gonna let you keep the bike, man, for nothing. It could also be your chance to make it big.”
“I don’t want to make it big.”
Since the fallout with Beau in front of Ashlynn last week, I hadn’t been able to think of anything else. The look on her face and the tears in her eyes were eating at me.