“I told you, I thought we could get some lunch, spend some time together.” He grins at me, but it’s muted now. “I’ve missed you. So fucking much, Babygirl.”
“Ashton. I don’t need lunch,” I say, my frustration seeping through, coloring my tone. “And I didn’t ask you to come here.”
“Right.” His smile fades a little more. “You probably already ate, huh? Yeah, I uh… I should have figured, right? But that’s cool. Maybe I could bring you something tomorrow? What can I bring?”
God, he looks so lost, so eager to please. I feel like I’m kicking a puppy.
“Ash...” I let out a long breath. “This isn’t… I told you toleave me alone.I need space right now. You’re not… You’re not giving me any. Between this, your texts, and the gifts…”
“Sorry.” He gives me anaw shuckssmile and shrugs. “Not really great at the whole giving you space thing, huh?”
“It’s not just that.” I sigh, tapping my foot. “Did you hire a social media team for my business? Formy shop?”
“Oh!” He laughs, running a hand through his hair sheepishly. “That. That was no problem. Our company has a whole social media division. They handle all my accounts, too, get buzz for my fights and everything. We figured, hey, what’s one more account for them, right?”
I shake my head, jaw tight.
“But you didn’t ask me,” I insist, wishing he would get it. “You just went ahead and did it. Behind my back. You do these things behind my back, without consulting me.”
Ashton flinches. “No, not behind your back,” he insists. “We just figured you do so much already. And this wasn’t a big deal, it took like two phone calls, max.”
“That’s not the point,” I snap. “The point is, you did it without checking with me first. You paid who knows how much money without asking me?—”
“Oh, trust me,” he interrupts with a laugh. “They get paid, like, peanuts. They’re mostly interns. It’s a joke how little we pay them.”
“That’s also not the point.” I put my head in my hands, feeling like I’m going to scream.
Think calm, happy thoughts.
By the time I calm down enough to peel my hands away from my face, it looks like Ash is finally getting it.
“You’re still… You’re stillthismad?” he asks, sounding hurt. Which only infuriates me more. He thought I would get over Alec having a wife? Him taking it upon himself to beat the shit out of Chase? In only nine days?
“Yes!” I half-yell. But mad isn’t even the right word. It’s more than that. I can’t seem to articulate how I’m feeling, the disappointment, the anger, the betrayal. “You guys don’t listen to anything I say! You just do whatever you want without anyregard to how it will affect my life. Did you ever think what it could do to my business to be embroiled with you all? I don’t even understand what your company does, because you tell menothing,but I know enough to know it comes with heavy baggage that I don’t need.”
“Oh,” Ashton says. He stares at the ground, frowning.
“You need to ask me about these things,” I tell him. “And you need to ask me before you just show up here. I’m atwork, Ash. This isn’t a game to me. This is my life.”
His shoulders slump. “Yeah,” he murmurs. “Yeah, I’m sorry, I, uh… This was a bad idea, wasn’t it? Showing up here. I thought…” He laughs, and it’s a hollow, broken sound. “I guess it doesn’t matter what I thought.”
I clench my hands at my side, fighting the urge to reach out and comfort him. A part of me wants to hug him. I want to bury my face in his neck and smell him. Let him buy me Mexican food and tell me I’m perfect. But then I remember how he put my ex in the hospital, like it was nothing. I remember all the lies, I remember how cozy he looked with Alec’s wife in that photo. And all the jealousy and rage bubbles back to the surface.
I’ll never again apologize for a mess I didn’t create.
“You should go,” I say, the words coming out harsher than I expect. “And no more flowers or gifts. Please. Just go and give me the time I asked for, okay?”
Ash nods slowly.
I can’t bring myself to watch him leave. I stand there, arms wrapped around myself for a few seconds, cycling through my therapy mantras, until I finally feel calm enough to make my way back up to the front.
The shop door opens as soon as I reach the café, and for a brief second, I think it might be Ash again, coming back and ignoring everything I just told him.
It isn’t.
“Did you guys see who that was?” Justin asks, coming through the door and letting it swing shut behind him. He looks between the two of us excitedly. “That was Ashton ‘The KO King’ Sterling! You know, the MMA fighter?” He shakes his head in disbelief. “I can’t believe it. You know I watched his debut professional fight here? And it was—why are you mouthingshut upat me?”
“The fact that you don’t understand the implication of mouthing something is astounding,” Jade snaps at him. “How are you the smart one?”
