“What do you want me to do? What can I do for you?” Kelton felt lost.
“Talk to me.” Kayleigh couldn’t sleep, even though she felt physically and emotionally exhausted. She needed to hear his voice.
“What do you want me to talk about?”
“Anything. Everything.”
Kelton and Kayleigh sat in silence on the end of the bed. After their earlier conversations at Michelle’s house and now talking about everything else that had been happening in Kelton’s life while she’d been away had brought them even closer together. It was emotionally draining and Kayleigh could feel herself getting tired.
Curled up in his arms, she yawned.
“You need to get some sleep.”
“I will soon.”
“You need to look after yourself.” He tentatively stroked her extended stomach, staring in wonder, knowing his child was growing in here. “You need to let me look after you both.”
Kayleigh smiled up at him, feeling perfectly content for a moment. So much had happened, but they were going to get through it. They were going to be a family and that was what she had to concentrate on.
“Come on. Get some sleep, Leigh. I’ve arranged for some time off so we don’t have to cram everything into one night. We’ve got time.”
Kayleigh tentatively reached across the bed to take his hand again. “We’ve got all the time in the world.”
Chapter Nineteen
Aisline walked down to the breakfast hall in a bit of a daze. Now that she’d had the time to think about it, she was kicking herself. She’d acted hastily and had wasted her day off without Jackson. Well, it was never really a wasted day when she was surrounded by books, but she still regretted not spending that precious time off with him.
She’d been stupid. She knew that now. She’d let Rhian get to her, which was exactly what the girl had wanted. Why had she done that? Ash trusted Jackson. It was as simple as that.
As soon as she walked in and joined the food line, Jackson caught up with her.
“What happened to you yesterday? I looked all over for you. I thought we were meant to spend the day together.” Jackson looked gutted.
Ash felt awful.
Jackson had been looking forward to spending some quality time together and had searched high and low for her, wanting to get their plans into actions. It wasn’t really like he had planned anything too extravagant, but he knew that she would have enjoyed the quiet and romantic picnic that he had planned for them in the snow that covered the grounds around the mansion. It would have been special and they would have finally been able to spend some time together, alone. As it was, he’d eaten alone in his room before he’d gone to find some of the other boys to play on the Xbox. It wasn’t the kind of day he’d expected to have at all.
Knowing that she had been the one that was in the wrong, Ash felt even worse after seeing the expression on his face. She’d ruined their day by jumping to conclusions. What a fool she’d been.
Not wanting to admit what she’d seen and what she’d thought, Ash feigned ignorance. “I came looking for you, but I couldn’t find you. I thought you might have changed your mind.” Even though she knew in her heart that there was nothing going on between Jackson and Rhian, there was still that niggling doubt in the back of her mind and by saying it this way, she was giving him the opportunity to own up in case there was something she was missing.
“But I looked everywhere for you! I couldn’t find you.”
“I was in the library.” At least that wasn’t a lie.
“No, you weren’t.”
“Believe me, I was.”
“I looked in there.” Jackson looked puzzled.
“Well, I can tell you I was in there.” Ash turned to get some food when the line moved on. She hoped that he’d drop the subject soon as she was feeling bad enough as it was.
Luckily, as they moved towards their table, Jackson didn’t say anything else about it. Balancing her breakfast on the tray, she squeezed in between Trey and Caleb. The rest of the guys were talking about what they’d been up to on their day off, leaving Aisline to eat in silence.
“Did you enjoy your day off?”
Ash jerked her head up to see Rhian and Cala standing next to the table. Cala looked rather uncomfortable, but Rhian had a look in her eye that Ash didn’t like.
“We had a lot of fun, didn’t we, Jax?” She said lowering her voice to a flirty tone and fluttering her eyelashes at Jackson.
Ash couldn’t help it. No matter how much she clenched her jaw, the words spurred forward and she took the bait. “What did you do?” Ash bit out. She hated herself for lowering herself to Rhian’s level, which was exactly what Rhian had wanted her to do, but she couldn’t help herself.
“Rhian, don’t.” Cala warned in a low voice. Rhian glared at her briefly before turning her flirtatious eyes back on Jackson.
Rhian giggled. “Jackson was trying to teach me how to play video games. I’m afraid that I’m not very good at it.”
Aisline bristled. “I would have thought that you were very good at playing games, Rhian.” She said through gritted teeth. What Rhian was trying to achieve by doing this, she didn’t know, but if she was trying to piss her off, she was going the right way about it.
“Only because I had a very good teacher.” Rhian leant over to run a finger down Jackson’s cheek. He grinned up at her dumbly.
Aisline could feel her blood starting to boil. Couldn’t he see what Rhian was doing?
“Maybe we can play again a bit later, Jackson. What do you think?”
“Sure. Why not?”
Ash had had enough of sitting there and listening to them fawning over each other. Sure, she knew she was reading more into the situation than there was, which was just what Rhian intended, of that she was sure. Shoving her chair back noisily, Rhian had to skip out of the way to avoid being hit by it. Grabbing her tray with her barely eaten breakfast, Ash quickly strode away from the table.
“Cala? You want to get out of here?” Ash asked, trying to keep her tone even. She could tell that Cala was uncomfortable being put in this situation and wanted to give her a way out.
“She’d not going anywhere.” Rhian snapped.
“I don’t think it’s up to you. She’s her own person.”
“I say what Cala does.” Rhian narrowed her eyes threateningly, but Ash refused to back down.
“Where are you going? You haven’t finished your breakfast yet.” Jackson called as the entire table looked at her in confusion.
“I’ve just lost my appetite.” She snapped.
As she walked away to get rid of the left-over food on her plate, she heard Rhian say, “Well, if this seat’s free, do you mind if I join you?” Ash didn’t wait around to see what Jackson’s reply was. She was too angry. It was clear that Rhian was upping her game to get her claws into Jackson. Whether it was because she actually wanted him or if it was simply to make Aisline’s life a misery, she didn’t care. She just wanted to get the hell out of there. If Jackson was going to fall for her lies and games, then that was his fault. Aisline wanted no part of it.
As she got to the doorway, Ash turned back. Cala was still hovering uncertainly over near the table, looking like she wanted to follow Aisline, but not quite daring to defy Rhian. Ash felt ridiculously sorry for, but at the moment, she was in no fit state of mind to think about it.
In the training room, Ash tried to keep herself to herself. When it came down to pairing up, Ash turned to look straight at Trey. They quietly worked side by side, not speaking a single word until the entire morning session was over.
“What’s going on with you, Ash?”
“Nothing. Why?” She really didn’t want to talk about it with anyone. It was hard enough getting through the session with Rhian’s eyes constantly on Jackson, her flirty smile lighting up the room.
Usually, Ash could train no matter what was going on in her life. Pounding the hell out of the pads and exercising until she felt the burn usually helped
to calm any problems she had. Not this time. She’d been distracted and had trouble keeping up with everyone, which only infuriated her more.
“Is it about Rhian? And Jackson?”
“Why? What do you know?”
“I know that nothing’s going on. Jackson’s just being a friend to her. That’s all.”
“For him, maybe.” Ash muttered, but it wasn’t quite enough to get past Trey.
“Even if Rhian is into him, Jackson’s not interested. He likes you. You know that.”
Ash shook her head slightly. She didn’t know anything anymore. But, one thing she did know was that she didn’t want to talk about it. Changing the subject quickly, she asked, “So, where did you disappear off to again the other day?”
“Nowhere.” He shrugged, bending to quickly pick up his sports bag and walking out of the gym.
“Come on. You’ve got something going on. Tell me about it.”
“Nope. Nothing’s going on with me.”
“Fine. Be like that.” She grinned at him to show she felt no hard feelings. Obviously, he didn’t want to talk, either. That was fine by her. Everyone seemed to have secrets at the moment.
She wanted some time alone to process her thoughts. She needed some time to think about the developments between Jackson and Rhian. Was it truly one-sided? Rhian was very attractive. It wasn’t impossible to think that Jackson wouldn’t be attracted to her.
Running up to her room for a shower, Ash knew that she was going to have to stop over thinking this. She knew Jackson and knew that he wouldn’t mess her around like that. She needed to give herself a good talking to. Nothing was going to happen between Rhian and Jackson.
Was it?
She was finally starting to feel better about things. Ash had purposely kept to herself for the last few days, getting her head clear. It hadn’t really helped. The more she went over and over it in her mind, the more confused she got by the whole thing.
Ash had come to the conclusion that no matter what was going on with Jackson and Rhian, it didn’t have to negatively affect her. She was there at the academy to train to be a warrior, which was a position of great importance. That was what she was going to have to focus on. If there was nothing going on between Jackson and Rhian, then that was fine. The two of them would be able to get on with things and forget all about that little witch. If there was something growing between them, then she was going to let them get on with it. If Jackson wanted to throw away what they had, then that was his problem.
Honestly, she thought more of him than to believe that he would fall for someone like Rhian, but it wasn’t impossible.
But, no matter how much she tried to tell herself that she’d be alright if it happened, she knew that it would break her. Sure, in the grand scheme of things, they hadn’t really had the time to get their relationship fully off the ground, but what she felt for Jackson was much deeper than anything she’d ever felt before. If he threw away what they had, and what they could have, for something like Rhian, her heart would shatter.
It was a no win situation.
You know what people say? About if you love someone enough, you’d let them go? What a crock of shit.
“Aisline!”
She spun around to see one of the Master Warriors jogging to catch up with her as she made her way down to the sparring room. She’d been grabbing a bite to eat in her room for the last few days, effectively avoiding everyone and everything as best as she could. Unfortunately, she had to see everyone during training, but made it very clear that she didn’t want to talk. Ash attended training, worked her heart out and then hid in her room.
Pausing to straighten her ponytail while he caught up with her, she looked over at Master Warrior Dixon. He had been taking their training class for the last week or so and she expected him to be there already, not running late. That wasn’t his style.
“Yes, sir?”
“You’re wanted in Master Warrior Kelton’s office.”
“Is anything wrong?” Her immediate thought was that something had happened with her family.
“Not that I know of. I’ve just been asked to come and find you.”
Ash couldn’t think for the life of her what she’d done wrong. It wasn’t often that the trainees were summoned to his office, but it usually wasn’t for any pleasant reason.
“Go down now and come straight back when you’re through.”
“Yes, sir.”
Ash turned and jogged down the corridor, moving through the groups of trainees that were making their way to their classes. If Kelton wanted her, it wasn’t the best idea to stroll and leave him waiting. If she’d done something wrong, making him wait around for her was only going to make things worse.
Taking a deep breath of courage, she knocked on the door. Aisline had been very lucky when she’d first come to the academy. She’d seen a much softer side to Kelton than most of the other trainees, but that didn’t mean that she feared him any less. He was a formidable character, the most respected warrior of all time.
“Come in.”
Ash pushed open the door and tentatively walked into the office. “I was told you wanted to see me.”
“Yes. Come in, Aisline.”
Pausing at the door, she hesitated. “Is something wrong?”
Kelton smiled at her, “Just come in, will you?”
She moved in further and her jaw dropped to the floor. “Kayleigh?” she said, dumbstruck, unable to believe what she was seeing.
“I wanted to let you know that I was back. I wanted to tell you first.” Kayleigh smiled through the tears in her eyes. It was a lot more emotional than she thought it was going to be, seeing Aisline again. But, Kayleigh had felt terrible when she’d left the girl at a time when she knew she still needed her. After all that the girl had been through, including the horrific attack that she had been subjected to and was still recovering from, Kayleigh felt awful for leaving her.
“You’re back? I can’t believe it.” Ash was speechless.
Kayleigh couldn’t hold it back a second longer. She crossed the room and took the girl into her arms. She had missed Aisline. As her mentor, she was supposed to be there for her. Well, she was back now and she would whole-heartedly take that responsibility back on, if the girl would allow her to.
“Come here” She took the young girl in her arms, soothing her.
Feeling the girls shoulder start to jerk, she realised that Aisline was crying. “Shhh. Don’t cry. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you. I’m back now. I’m here now. Don’t cry.”
It took a couple of minutes for Aisline to get herself back under control. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to do that. I just missed you so much.” And she had. More than she realised. Now that Kayleigh was back in front of her, she realised just how alone she’d been feeling all this time.
It was strange. She knew now that if Kayleigh had been there while everything she was dealing with, especially with Rhian and Jackson, she would have had someone she trusted to speak to about it. Ash knew that was part of the reason why she was struggling with the situation. She didn’t have anyone to talk to about it.
Hopefully, that was going to change now that Kayleigh was back. Not that she was going to dump all of her emotional baggage on her in that very moment, she knew that, but it was good to know that her rock had returned.
“I’ve missed you, too. Like crazy.” Kayleigh smiled through her tears, her eyes locking with Kelton’s over Aisline’s head. The words were meant for both of them. Kelton nodded in understanding while sharing a secret smile before he sat back down behind his desk.
“The warriors have been informed of Kayleigh’s return, but we wanted you to be the first of the trainees to know about it.” Kelton explained. He didn’t want to go into it too much because he knew that Kayleigh didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, but it was a big deal to him. Sure, they had a hell of a long way to go to get their relationship back on track, but he wanted to shout it from the rooftops that she wa
s back.
Ash released her hold on Kayleigh and self-consciously wiped at her eyes to rid herself of those pesky tears. She hated to cry. She never cried. Ash wasn’t one to let go of her emotions like that. Plus, it made her look all red and blotchy, which she hated.
“Thank you. I really do appreciate that.” Ash turned back to beam at Kayleigh. “I’m so glad you’re back.” And then as she really looked at her and took her in, Aisline’s mouth dropped wide open once again.
Kayleigh was pregnant.
“What? When? How?” She stuttered and then realised what she had said and blushed furiously. “I meant, I can’t believe it! You’re having a baby!”
Kayleigh smiled shyly and proudly, “We are.”
“Congratulations!” She grinned at Kayleigh before turning to Kelton, “To both of you. You must be so pleased.”
“We are. Thank you.” Kelton cleared his throat. “We’d better let you get back to your training. We just wanted to let you know she was back.”
“Thank you.” Ash turned to Kayleigh. “I’m so glad you’re back.”
“We’ll catch up soon, I promise.” Kayleigh took her in for another hug before releasing her.
Ash smiled again and waved as she backed out of the office. She’d missed Kayleigh, of course she had, but she hadn’t realised quite how much until she’d seen her again. Kayleigh was more than just her mentor. She was her friend.
Wow! She couldn’t believe it. It was like a missing puzzle piece had just been returned to her. It was amazing to see the change in Master Warrior Kelton. He’d been a shell of a man without her and it was good to see him getting back to his old self. They’d all wondered what had been going on when he hadn’t shown up for their training sessions. Now it all made sense.
Aisline walked back down to the training room with a new spring in her step. Now that Kayleigh was back, things were feeling complete again. And pregnant! It was going to be awesome to have a baby around the place and she couldn’t wait for the day to come.
As the door shut behind Aisline, Kelton’s phone rang on his desk. “Yes?” he answered.
Changing Fates: A Sons of Satrina Novel (The Sons of Satrina Book 3) Page 22