I knew the answer as soon as I heard his voice. “What?”
“Yep, I woke up to her crawling into my bed this morning. She was grabbing onto me for dear life, but wouldn’t talk.”
Keys clinking together and a door closing sounded, and Ky’s breathing grew harsh as he asked, “Is she still there?”
“Nope, I just woke up and she’s gone.” I rubbed my hand over my face and headed back to my room. If she wasn’t here, I hoped I’d find her in her apartment. I struggled with pulling on a T-shirt while still holding my phone. I heard Ky beep the alarm on his car, then the familiar sound of the door opening and closing.
“Fuck. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
I hung up and found myself at a complete loss. Ashlyn shouldn’t be here. She shouldn’t even be in the damn country, and I certainly wasn’t prepared to have her famous curves cuddle up against me like she had. I looked down at my phone and dialed Ashlyn’s number as I stepped out into the hall and headed toward her apartment. I cursed under my breath as her chirpy voicemail message sounded. When I reached her door, I knocked loudly and called her name, but again, there was no answer. I tried her phone once more, but still no answer.
An hour later, I was sitting on my couch flicking through channels, completely oblivious to what I was watching, when my apartment door swung open to reveal Ky and Eden, with Ashlyn in tow. I shot up from the couch, my eyes narrowed on Ashlyn, and I cleared the space between us in three strides. I couldn’t give a shit if Ky and Eden were standing there; my focus and attention was squarely on Ashlyn. A hint of red danced over her cheeks as a smile hit her lips, but it didn’t reach her eyes. That alone caused my confusion and worry to soar. Ashlyn’s smile always met her eyes.
“What the fuck was this morning?” I hissed when I reached her.
Her body jumped and she took a step back, and I instantly regretted the harshness of my words.
“You weren’t supposed to be back for another two days,” I continued in a softer tone.
She shot a nervous look at Ky before turning back to me. “It’s not a big deal. I came back early. Lachlan had a job come up, so I thought I’d head back and relax for a bit. It’s really not a big deal,” she responded lightheartedly and tried to shrug it off. Her locked gaze never broke from mine. “Honestly, it’s all good.”
I immediately called bullshit.
“Ashlyn, follow me,” I said in a low voice.
She didn’t hesitate, and that was another beacon of concern and reason why I was on alert. Stubborn Ashlyn was nowhere to be found. She had fled, and it now looked like she was running for the hills. The Ashlyn I knew would have told me to fuck off, and to stop acting like a caveman. She would never follow me willingly after I’d made those kinds of demands. Fuck, she would have rolled her eyes, pushed past me, and left. Completely opposite to the Ashlyn who was now following me like a puppy dog.
We stepped into the kitchen. I stood with my back to the kitchen island, and she stood opposite me.
“I am going to ask you again. Are you okay? And don’t give me a bullshit answer,” I stated, crossing my arms over my chest in a defensive stance. I wanted her to know that I wasn’t going to let her give me any of her ridiculous responses.
She huffed out a sigh, and the Ashlyn I knew started to slowly reappear. “I. Am. Fine,” she spat.
“The last time you crawled into my bed and cuddled up to me like that was two years and sixty-eight days ago.”
“You remember that?” she whispered, and her body swayed slightly in my direction.
“I remember everything, Ashlyn. Absolutely everything. And that’s why I won’t believe this bullshit that you’re fine.”
We remained in tense silence, glaring at one another, and putting our stubborn traits on show. Ashlyn and I had an intense friendship that started in the most unconventional way. One night led to an extraordinary bond, the likes of which I knew I’d never experience with anyone else, as well as a recurring case of blue balls, since I secretly wanted to get into her panties on more than one occasion.
I decided to be the bigger person and cease the standoff. “I know I’m not Ky, so I know you won’t talk to me, but please tell him whatever is going on with you,” I muttered softly and dropped my arms as rejection once again hit me.
“Josh, it’s not like that.” She took a step toward me and broke the distance.
“Yeah, it’s exactly like that, Ashlyn. Always has been.”
“Everything alright in here?” Ky’s voice questioned as he stepped into the kitchen and shattered the tension.
I glanced over his shoulder and my gaze met with Eden. She was standing in my living room, and nodded in acknowledgement. She knew exactly what I was thinking, and had witnessed Ky and Ashlyn’s unique friendship on more than one occasion since she arrived back in town.
“Yep, everything is great. I’m going to take Eden down to the diner. You two can talk.” I walked out of the kitchen and glanced at Eden. “Come on, pretty girl. We have a piece of chocolate cake waiting with our names all over it.” I grabbed Eden’s hand and we headed to the front door without a word. As I opened the door, I stopped and turned back at the exact moment Ky and Ashlyn started talking softly to each other.
Have you ever had one of those I-wish-that-were-me moments? A moment when you wished you could swap bodies with someone?
Yeah?
That’s exactly how I felt right at that moment.
IT HAD BEEN A week since my showdown with Josh. It had also been a week since I decided to give myself a slap across the face, a serious talking to, and a shopping trip to end all shopping trips. The horrendous trip to Australia was all but forgotten, and I had come to the decision that I would live my life as if it never happened. It was time to erase, forget, and move on.
Ridding my life and apartment of Lachlan felt like having a deep tissue massage and bringing the negative out and allowing it to disappear into nothingness. The biggest weight lifted from my shoulders, and I found myself believing that there was a new beginning within my grasp. It was all about me, and I freaking loved it.
I had never taken the opportunity to be so selfish. Maybe selfish wasn’t the right word, but everything I ever did was with someone else in mind, and now the feeling of doing something for myself was so unlike anything I could imagine. I felt like maybe I could start living the life I wanted. I could make decisions just for me. I could focus on just me.
It could possibly be life altering.
One thing that would never change was my love of books. There was no way I could say goodbye to my book boyfriends, because they would be the only men I’d be getting cock from for a very long time. For the past two hours, I had been curled up on my couch and wrapped in a blanket, with my attention firmly locked on my Kindle. My newest lover was a deliciously alpha man taking the heart of a woman who had been fighting his advances for years.
The door of my apartment swung open. My eyes shot wide and followed Josh as he stormed into my living room with a look of fury plastered on his face. Even though I had been doing everything possible to stay busy and keep my mind alert, I couldn’t deny that my body hadn’t stopped tingling from the feeling of Josh pressed against me.
Now as I watched fury come storming toward me, I had all but forgotten about his body and the way it felt against mine. The ability to breathe fled, and my mouth gaped wide. Clearly, saying I wasn’t shocked he was here would be a lie.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked when he reached the couch. His fists clenched at the side of his body, and the false calm of his voice was lost by the tightening of his jaw.
I rose to my feet to match his stance, and my defenses shot sky high. “Tell you what?”