Ashley shrugged. “I mean, no, but I’m sure I could get him to see things my way. If you catch my drift.” I glanced down at her outfit, suddenly annoyed at her tendency to always wear the tightest shirts possible. I’d never seen a woman with so many form-fitting tops. Did she go around to the sorority houses borrowing every chest hugging blouse she could find?
She turned to me. “Just put the idea in his head for me. I mean, hello? How cute would that be? Ashton and Ashley Dupree.”
Not cute at all. More like vomitous. Repugnant. Disgusterous. But mostly…flat out, Over My Dead Body, Not Happening.
“We could be Ash squared.” She pleaded with her big blue eyes. Gah. Even their eyes were the same color. Ashley’s weren’t as light. But they were a solid, steady blue. “Please, for me, the very best study buddy of all time.” Her brows flicked up. “The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.”
I almost swallowed my vocal cords at her Oscar Wilde quote.
We had been study partners for the past year and a half. But the best study buddy? Hardly. That was Ashton. Though, I guess it helped when your study buddy had a PhD in English lit.
Being her study partner for as long as I had, I knew a few things about Ashley. Mostly I knew that she slept around. A lot. Even on the first date. Sometimes even when she knew the date was a dud. Honestly, I’d kind of been in awe. To bethat unashamed about your body was something I’d never known.
But if Ashton went out with her…
The thought of it made my chest tighten and my heart pound so hard it felt like it was going to burst out of my ribcage. I couldn’t let that happen.
Deep breaths.Think, Tally, think.It took less than five seconds to see that there was really only one clear path.
Lock. Him. Down.
If I really was The Girl, as Ashton said, then I didn’t need to panic. I had this in the bag. But another look at Ashley’s snug shirt and her greedy eyes and panic was all I felt.
I gave Ashley a small smile. “I just think I shouldn’t get involved.”
She studied me. “Is there a reason you don’t want to get involved?”
“No.” I fought the urge to squirm. “Just what I said. Besides, you don’t need my help. Trust me.” The words felt like acid on my tongue.
Her eyes returned to their normal size. “Ok.” Her brows flicked up. “Thirty-two days. I’m going to make a countdown timer.”
With her attention on the lecture, I pulled out my phone and turned in the other direction, careful not to let Ashton see. I didn’t need him taking my phone away and seeing what I was about to write.
Me: My therapist thinks I should go out with Ashton a few times. See if there’s something there. Do you think you and Blue could double with us?
Anna’s texting bubbles wiggled immediately.
Anna: Screeeeech. I literally just tripped over my own feet. YES. Let’s do this thing! What about the day after graduation?
I glanced up at Ashton who was currently sparring with Garrett over Ferrante’s use of deep POV. Then I looked at Ashley, who was eying him like he was a basket of fresh-out-of-the-oven Texas Roadhouse rolls.
Me: No, I’m almost done. Let’s go ahead and do it. Are you free this weekend? I thought we could come to Blacksburg so there’s no chance we’ll be seen here in Sweet Grass.
I knew the NFL draft was the next weekend. Blue and Anna would be occupied celebrating with family after Blue was picked. We could go the weekend after but I didn’t want to wait that long. I needed to set things in motion ASAP.
Anna: Yeah, I don’t think we have anything going on. It’s the calm before the (hopeful) storm. It would be good to get out of these scrubs. There’s an international street fair here on Saturday. We could go to that.
Anna: Does Ashton know yet?
Me: I’m going to ask him as soon as class ends. Wish me luck.
Anna: All the prayers, good vibes, and juju, coming your way.
I was going to need it.
When class ended, Ashley took off so fast I was convinced she was going straight home to make that countdown timer. Itook my time, packing my books into my bag, as I kept Ashton, who was erasing the white board, in my periphery.
When the auditorium was mostly empty, my heart thundering in my chest, I meandered over to him. A feeling of impending doom tried to chase me from the room, but I’d learned long ago that I couldn’t always trust that feeling. At least not when it talked me out of good people. Which Ash definitely was.
