“Ash, your face just lost all color.” Eden’s voice penetrated the air, and I immediately turned my attention to Ashlyn, who was focused on her phone. Her head shot up, her eyes wide, and she looked at Eden before briefly turning her attention to me. Eden walked over to her and grabbed her hand. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Everything is good.” She smiled, and immediately I knew everything was not good, because her smile didn’t reach her eyes.
“Are you sure?” Eden pressed, and I waited for Ashlyn to answer.
“Let’s go and dance. That’s why we’re here, right?” Ashlyn announced, completely redirecting the attention from moments ago. “Josh, you are on bag-minding duty.”
Three bags were thrust into my hands, and the girls disappeared through the crowd. I took a seat so I had a view of them, and my gaze centered on Ashlyn. Something was going on, and whatever she had seen on her phone caused her to immediately shut down. I had no doubt that whatever it was had to do with Lachlan.
Ky slid in bedside me and handed me a whiskey. We both moved our focus to the girls as we sat in silence. Every single man in the bar watched them with eager eyes, and Ky switched into protective beast mode. One wrong move and it wouldn’t take long for him to cross the bar and show every man exactly who Eden belonged to, and I knew I’d do the same, without question.
“Are you taking Tori home tonight?” he asked during the down time between songs.
“I’ll see how the night plays out,” I answered halfheartedly. “I kind of wanted a quiet night to get organized for Ashlyn moving in tomorrow.”
The shock on his face was immediately evident. “Are you telling me you are refusing the promise of pussy to get ready for your friend to come stay with you?”
“Just concentrate on your own cock and don’t concern yourself with mine. I get plenty.” I smirked and lifted my glass to my lips, then turned my focus back to the girls.
The next song started, and a low, sultry number played through the bar. Ashlyn’s hips moved against Eden’s, and they wrapped their arms around each other, completely oblivious to the pain that they would be causing all of the men that were watching them. They had absolutely no idea the effect they had. Ashlyn looked over Eden’s shoulder, and our eyes met. We fell into an intense stare. I lifted the whiskey to my mouth and watched her over my glass as she swung her hips and got lost in the music. I didn’t bother hiding the fact that I was watching her, since I’d watched her the exact same way since I met her; with intrigue, need, and the craving to wrap her in my arms and steal her away. Lust was the temptress that constantly made me question every decision I’d ever made when it came to Ashlyn. Temptation, though, was the seductive whore who made me lose the ability to see the difference between reality and fantasy.
When the song changed, Ky stood and made his way to Eden. His hands fell to her hips, and I knew that was my sign to look away. I glanced around the bar, taking in the other patrons and allowing myself to be absorbed by the atmosphere. There was a whisper of promise in the air that made the hair on my arms stand at attention. It was the kind of place that made you want to own up to every sinful thought taunting your mind, and every sinful thought I had revolved around a blond bombshell that would be moving into my apartment in less than twenty-four hours. I shifted in my seat and rested my head against the booth as I began to swim into dangerously tempting waters.
“I love them to death, but they are sickeningly in love.” Ashlyn laughed and collapsed into the booth beside me. “They are practically fucking out there.”
I turned to look at Ky and Eden and, sure enough, they were putting on a show for everyone. Immediately, I diverted my eyes back to Ashlyn. She grabbed the glass of whiskey clean from my hand and finished it in one go. Her face scrunched up as the straight liquor hit her throat, then she thrust the glass back into my hand with force.
“How do you drink this shit?” she asked through a cough.
“The question should be why you are drinking it?”
“I have a need to get drunk tonight, and whiskey will do that.”
“Does your need to get drunk have anything to do with what happened earlier?” I dove straight in.
“Maybe, but I’m not talking about it,” she stated quickly, then turned her attention back to the dance floor.
I grabbed her legs and twisted her back around until she had no choice but to look at me. “When are you telling Ky and Eden?”
The fact that people believed Ashlyn was still with him infuriated me. Just today, during a phone call with Mom, she mentioned Lachlan and Ashlyn, and it took everything I was not to tell her. He didn’t deserve to have his name mentioned with someone like Ashlyn, and until she told Ky and Eden, it would continue to happen.
“Can we not let my asshole ex ruin tonight? I’m having a good time getting drunk, and I’m the girl sitting with the guy every girl in the bar wants. Don’t let him taint that.” Her smile begged for me to agree. “I just want to forget everything other than right now.”
“I’m the guy every girl wants, huh?”
“Tori wants you. She is making that fact very well known.”
Both of us turned back to the dance floor that was now swarming with drunk people trying desperately to hook up for the night. Tori’s gaze found mine, and her heated stare was a clear indication of her intentions. As if I’d invited her, she moved through the crowd toward the sanctuary Ashlyn and I had found, and I cursed under my breath.
“What do you want?” I asked quietly, knowing that our solitude was about to be stolen.
“It doesn’t matter what I want, Josh, because I’ve got all I need.”
Tori slid in beside me, and Ashlyn immediately moved to the vacant chair across from me. Tori’s hand rested on my thigh, but all of my attention was on Ashlyn and her admission. It confused me and intrigued me, and I was desperate to find out exactly what she meant.
“I hear you are moving to London. That is incredible,” Tori said loudly. “I’ve always wanted to visit.”
Just hearing the mention of London caused my fist to ball. To be honest, I had chosen to eradicate the thought from my recent memory, and now Tori decided to bring it crashing back. There was no way Ashlyn would be moving to London, and it would be a priority of mine to make her stay. I had to. The thought of her being thousands of miles away was something I refused to deal with.
“Yeah, that’s the plan. I’ll be here for a couple more months, and then I’ll be packing up my life and heading to the UK.”
I couldn’t deal with this conversation. “I’m heading to the bar.”
I didn’t look back, but I felt eyes burning into me. Standing at the bar, I tapped my fingers on the mahogany top and waited to be served. My mind was a mass of confusion, and I knew I had to get control of it. After I ordered a fresh whiskey, I headed back to the booth to find it empty. I got lost in my thoughts, and swished around the whiskey. As alcohol swam through my veins, I began to forget about everything, and thankfully the cute girl behind the bar decided to keep supplying me.
“I bet you twenty dollars that you take Tori home tonight,” Ashlyn announced as she fell on the seat beside me with a thump and a drunken giggle. “She wont stop until you two fuck again. I’ve never seen a girl so obvious before.”
“I’m not betting you about who I may or may not fuck.”
“Why not? I don’t see anything wrong with a bet between friends; consider me one of the guys. I have bigger balls then some of your friends anyway.”
“No fucking way. I am not doing this with you, and please never say you have balls.”
She twisted her body until our knees were touching. “Why not? I am no different from any of your other friends. Come on, bet me.”