“Lachlan is a motherfucker,” I growled, and narrowed my eyes at just the thought of him. “He was balls deep in some random chick when she turned up in Australia. She walked in on that shit happening.”
“When did you find out?” he asked through gritted teeth.
“Two days after we learned she was home. Lachlan emailed me asking if I’d seen her. It didn’t seem legit, so I confronted her and she told me.”
“And you chose not to tell me?”
“It wasn’t my story to tell. I handled it.”
“She is my fucking best friend, Josh,” he scoffed.
He did not just use the best friend fucking card. “Yeah, and I took care of it.”
“This is fucked up. You should have told me. I could have done something.”
“What could you have done, Ky? A reason she didn’t admit what happened was because she was afraid of your reaction. She knew you didn’t accept that she went back to him. She was embarrassed and ashamed. She had people telling her what a bad idea it was, you included, and she didn’t want to face that, so she didn’t fucking tell you.”
Ky paced the kitchen, swigging his whiskey as a shadow covered his face. He was pissed off. Actually, that was an understatement, but I would not apologize for anything when it came to Ashlyn Hart.
Something grabbed my attention out of the corner of my eye, and I swung around to find Ashlyn standing just outside the kitchen. Her face was completely unreadable, but by her rigid body language I knew she had been standing there for a while. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and, when she averted her gaze from mine to Ky, I knew my time here was done.
“Well, I’ll leave you two to chat. I need some fresh air.”
“Josh.” Ashlyn’s soft voice halted my escape. I dropped my head and looked at the ground before turning to face her. She moved into the kitchen and stood before me, then offered me the slightest of smiles. “Thank you for tonight.”
“You never have to thank me for fighting for you, Ash,” I said so softly that only she and I would hear. Her eyes darted from mine and I took that as my cue to leave.
I WILL ALWAYS FIGHT for you, Ash.
Josh’s words were on repeat in my head, and I felt like I was floating in a daze. His ability to surprise me seemed to have gone up a notch, and I wasn’t sure how much more I could take. As I watched him leave the kitchen, all I wanted to do was grab onto him and tell him how much I needed him to help me endure the conversation I was about to have with Ky. But I let him go. Knowing that Josh had to defend himself for something that wasn’t his fault pained me, and I hated myself for putting him in that position. It was my decision not to speak with Ky, and I was the only one that should deal with the consequences.
“You need to get back out there and enjoy your party,” I said, breaking the silence and offering Ky a half-assed smile. I stepped across the kitchen and grabbed his hands, squeezing them tightly in silent plea. “We can talk about this tomorrow. Not tonight. Not on your special night.”
His gaze dropped and took in our joined hands before looking back at me. “Just tell me why you felt like you couldn’t discuss this with me.”
I sucked in a breath. “I couldn’t have you looking at me like I’d made the worst decision of my life, like I had disappointed you . . . like you are looking at me now. I needed to handle it myself. If Lachlan hadn’t contacted Josh, no one would have known. Not until I was ready.”
Time stood still as his eyes bounced over my face, then his hands tightened their grip. Ky was showing all the signs that he was going to accept my response, that this, that we, were going to be okay.
“I don’t want you to think you ever have to hide anything from me again. It fucks with my head that you had to go through this on your own.”
“I wasn’t on my own; I had Josh.”
The sound of the backdoor opening halted our conversation, and a timid Eden appeared. “Sorry to interrupt, but Aunt Carole is leaving and wants to say goodbye.”
Ky kissed my cheek and let go of my hands. “No matter what, don’t feel you have to hide anything from me.”
I took a moment after Ky and Eden left the kitchen to compose myself. My hands were still shaking, and I felt like a rubber band ready to snap. Seeing Lachlan had affected me more than I wanted to admit. I didn’t like the girl I became when all my insecurities came to the surface. That Ashlyn was timid, untrusting, and lacked self-confidence. It immediately pushed me back to a place I chose to ignore and didn’t want to believe existed. Nobody deserved to have that control; not my parents, and definitely not Lachlan.
With a deep breath, I put a smile on my face and stepped out of the house to rejoin the party. The Lachlan fiasco seemed to have been forgotten, and now guests were dancing, chatting, and enjoying all things Ky and Eden. Maybe the night wasn’t completely wrecked.
“How are you, sweetheart?”
I jumped at the sound of Sue’s concerned voice and turned in her direction. Her face held comfort and sincerity, and it caused my heart to swell. All I needed was a motherly hug and a promise that everything would be okay, and I knew Sue would provide me exactly that. I moved closer, and she engulfed me in the tightest hug I’d ever experienced.
“You know I already consider you a daughter, Ash, so if you ever need to talk, you call me or come over. I am so proud of my boy, and I always thought you two would be perfect together. Tonight proved that,” she revealed wistfully.
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
She moved until she was standing in front of me, and her eyes glistened with something that I adored seeing from her: love.
“You and Josh. You two are meant to be together, and you are and will continue to be the best thing to ever happen to him.”
“There is nothing between Josh and me,” I whispered as the ability to breathe fled my body.
“Keep telling yourself that, sweetheart,” she offered with a knowing smile that I recognized, and her resemblance to Josh was two-fold. “I’ve set up Josh’s room for the two of you. You don’t mind sharing with him, do you?”
“Um, that should be fine. I don’t know where he has gone, so he might not be back.”
“He’ll be back.”
Two hours later, I was lying in Josh’s childhood bed, wide awake, while the rest of the house slept. There had been no sign of Josh since he left, and he wasn’t responding to calls or texts. I had officially stepped into worried territory.
Footsteps in the hall grabbed my attention. I waited with baited breath for the next move, then a shadow appeared from under the door.
“Josh?” I whispered into the still air as the room was momentarily flooded with light from the hall.
“Yeah, it’s me, Ashy.”
I pulled myself up onto my elbows and watched him step into the room. “Where have you been? I’ve been calling and texting you.”
“I just needed to go for a walk and sort my head out.”
I dropped back to the bed in defeat. “Oh, okay.”
He walked around the room in silence, and my eyes followed his every move. He opened the bag that was sitting on the chair, then pulled out a pair of sweatpants and placed them on the edge of the bed. The moment he turned around, his eyes found mine and I couldn’t stop myself from staring in fascination as he began to loosen his tie.
“I’m about to crawl into bed beside you.”
Warning sirens started screaming in my head. “You do realize we are at your parents’ house?”
“Right at this moment, I don’t give a fuck where we are. I need you any way I can have you tonight, so I’m climbing in beside you and taking whatever I can get.”