“Ashlyn is mine, and what’s mine I will protect until I take my last breath. I don’t care what I have to do, but I will do anything to protect her. Leave her the fuck alone.”
“You are a joke, Josh. She will come to her senses. It’s only a matter of time. She came back to me once, the second time will be the icing on the cake.”
“Fuck off. You’ve been warned.”
There was no point in sticking around. With anger seething through my body, I left the bar before I lost control. What the fuck was she doing here? Betrayal and confusion were a dangerous mix. The sunlight hit my eyes, and I pulled my sunglasses on, which helped avoid Ashlyn’s gaze. She stood beside Ky near her car, and her eyes burned into me as I crossed the parking lot.
“I’ll drive Ashlyn’s car,” I stated without any emotion.
Ashlyn broke the distance between us, but I needed to get my thoughts in check before I could even touch her.
I stepped away. “I need a minute.”
“You okay to drive?” Ky asked nervously, his brow furrowed and concern flickering over his face.
“I need to drive.”
Without fighting or complaining, Ashlyn handed over her keys. Avoiding her gaze, I headed toward the car, pushed the button for the locks, and slid into the driver’s seat. In the silence of the car, I took a couple of deep breaths and rested my head against the seat. This was beyond fucked up. The passenger door opened, and I watched Ashlyn climb in. Her eyes showed her nerves and reluctance. As I pulled out of the parking lot, quiet filled the car. This was not how I imagined today going. After not seeing her for a week, I should have been kissing the fuck out of her by now.
“Can you please say something?” Ashlyn asked in a timid voice beside me. Her hand came to rest on my thigh, and she offered a gentle squeeze.
“I’m pissed off. Just let me calm down and I’ll be fine.”
Her hand remained on my thigh, and she didn’t say another word. The apartment building appeared, and I drove into the parking garage. Neither of us said a word as we walked with Ky to the elevators.
“Are we not going to your apartment?” she asked as the elevator didn’t stop on floor eight.
“Nope, everyone is at Ky’s old place.”
When the doors opened on the tenth floor, the three of us stepped out and headed to the front door. Her hand shot out and grabbed mine before I had a chance to follow Ky into the apartment. Her fingers entwined with mine and she pulled me close to her body. Finally, I got the chance to really look at her and have her close for the first time in over a week. I was beyond pissed, but more than anything I was completely in the dark about what she could possibly be doing with Lachlan. Insecurities were a fucked up thing, and right now, mine were taunting me. I was always a confident man, maybe too confident at times, but with Ashlyn, my insecurities seemed to appear more often than I’d like.
“I really want to kiss you, but I know you are pissed off at me,” she said softly, running her thumb over the back of my hand.
“Yes, I’m pissed off, but mainly, I’m confused as to why you were with him. Have you decided that you don’t want to be with me? Is that it? I’m in too far with you to deal with this kind of bullshit, so just tell me now. Right here, right now. What the fuck were you doing with him?”
Her face stilled, then she took a step away from me and headed into the apartment. All eyes fell onto us, both seething with our own thoughts, and suddenly it felt like we were under scrutiny. Ashlyn avoided me, and that alone confused me. How was I in the wrong?
“You okay, Ash?” Eden asked sweetly, and took a step toward her.
Ashlyn offered the briefest of smiles. “I’m fine. I’m going to have a shower and start getting ready for tonight.”
She was shutting down at a fast rate, which caused my frustration to grow. Had she completely disregarded the fact that she went to see Lachlan? Was this her way of telling me that my fears were justified?
“Don’t you think we should talk about this?” I asked.
“Are you going to tell Josh why you were with Lachlan, or are you going to let it continue to eat at him? It was a bad fucking move, Ash,” Ky stated in a harsher-than-usual tone.
“Ky, I know you are happy for us, and that means so much to me. I love you, I truly do, but this is between Josh and me.” She turned to me and crossed the living room until she was standing before me. The fact that we were in a room full of people failed to register with either of us. “I’m sick of people thinking you are using me for sex and that I’m random pussy, so when Lachlan started bombarding me with texts, telling me exactly that, I knew I had to do something. So I did.”
“He is unpredictable, Ash. You should have taken someone with you.”
“You have been there for me throughout everything, Josh. You were there when Lachlan broke my heart, and it was you that put it back together. I don’t need anyone putting shit on you, and I won’t tolerate it. Yes, I called Lachlan, and yes, I met up with him. He needed to hear it from me. I needed to warn him off. Will it work? I don’t know. Does he believe me? I don’t know. But I had to try. He is nothing to me, and he will never be anything to me again. He is the darkest part of my life, and I don’t want him haunting the lightness that you bring. So be pissed off at me, pull yourself away from me, but I will not apologize. I would do it again, because, as you always say to me, you are worth fighting for.”
She didn’t say another word. She stormed out of the living room, and the sound of the front door slamming rattled through the apartment.
“Wow,” Savannah whispered, looking at me with wide eyes. “We have so much to discuss later.”
“Is it really inappropriate that I am thinking of the hot make up sex you two are going to have?”
“Tate, seriously?” Tanzi scoffed, and rolled her eyes at her twin.
“What? Everyone is thinking it,” he muttered.
I left everyone as Savannah and Tate got into a discussion about the benefits of fighting with your partner because of the amazingness of make-up sex. Stepping into the hall, I found Ashlyn standing near the elevator waiting for it to arrive. Silently, I walked up behind her, wrapped my arms around her waist, and pulled her against my chest.
“I’m still slightly pissed off,” I whispered into her ear before tenderly kissing her neck.
Her hands rested on my arms, and she turned her head to look up at me with big green eyes. “I’m not sorry, Josh. I’d do it again.”
“Do you understand why I’m pissed, though? He could have done anything. He is unpredictable, Ashlyn. I don’t even want to imagine him doing something to hurt you,” I said, trying to make her see reason. Although I couldn’t deny I admired her tenacity.
She twisted in my arms until my hands were resting on her lower back and hers lay on my chest. “You are worth the risk, Josh.”
My throat closed as I admired her. This beautiful woman put herself in potential danger for me. She was putting me before her own safety. If I hadn’t been in love with her from the very beginning, then this exact moment would have made me fall for her.
Green eyes begged for me to speak, but nothing came out. I couldn’t put into words what I wanted to say, but I could breathe it into her. My mouth fell to hers, and I kissed her with my heart, my soul, and with every inch of who I was. I kissed her with a sense of purpose, a new life plan, and a new obsession to make her feel the kind of love that only a girl like her would deserve. I kissed her to show her that she owned me forever.
I pulled away, breathless. “Fuck, I missed you.”
“I missed you too,” she whispered with a sigh against my lips, and leaned her body until she was flush against mine. I could feel her heat, and it messed with my head. “I’m sorry for making you worry.”
“I’m sure you can find a way to make it up to me later, preferably with you screaming my name.”