ASHTONTwo weeks and I haven't stopped thinking about what Apollo told me. Every time I consider it, I dismiss the idea; I can't have something serious, especially not with Paige. Yet, I keep thinking about it.This has been the weekend with her, I haven't seen Owen for five days, and since I see him more often, I'm feeling better. It's good for me to see him more days a week."And... are we going out tonight?"Her sharp nails stroke the snake tattooed on my neck, managing to scratch me and hurt me, so I push her away."No.""Why?" she grumbles. "Is it because of that bitch? I've seen you two talking a lot these months."‘A lot’ must be once a week, twice at most, and only to talk about Owen. She'd be three times as angry if she knew we've met outside the campus a couple more times because apparently now we share friends, and she'd cut my balls off if she knew I think about Paige's tits when I'm fucking her.""You don't care what I do."Faye snorts and follows my gaze. Paige is talkin
PAIGE"Get ready for Christmas," Laura warns me when there's nobody in the store.Yeah, I can see that not many people usually come. It's a somewhat expensive store, and mostly people come for special occasion outfits. There are beautiful dresses, and we sell these heels that I'm in love with."Is it crowded?""Too crowded!" she assures me. "Especially on Christmas Eve, you know, last-minute shoppers."I can imagine; sometimes I'm like that.I tidy up the clothes in the stockroom a bit, and my phone starts ringing in the purse I keep in one of the lockers in the stockroom. I enter the combination on the lock of my locker, and it doesn't occur to me that it could be something bad when I see Ashton's name. He's left, and I hadn't prepared Owen; surely now he won't let him sleep because he doesn't have his blanket. Taking him away on a Tuesday? To sleep with him?"Hello, everything okay?" I ask."We're at the hospital, I'll send you the address.""What?!"My chest tightens, and it hurts.
PAIGE"But what happened to him?!" Jo screams in the morning.I slept terribly because I stayed all night curled up in the chair in his room, watching over him. Today he woke up sad, and I feel sorry for him. I can't stop hugging and cuddling him, not even during breakfast."He started climbing or opening drawers at Ashton's house and fell on one. It was weird," I explain.Jo shrugs and starts preparing the coffee."It's the first time he's fallen like this, it's normal," she reassures me."No, it's Ashton. It was... very strange to see him like that," I admit."What do you mean?" Jo asks."I mean...," I pause to think. "He seems like a confident guy, as if nothing scares him or as if he has everything under control. Last night was the opposite.""And?" Jo prompts.That I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. I saw the most human side of Ashton, and I liked it too much because he wasn't the stone-cold type that everyone sees; he let himself be touched like those needy animals.
PAIGE"So... tonight, same time?" Samuel asks me as he catches me on campus between classes.Today, I doubt it because I don't feel like I need it or want it. Sex with him is fine, but I know I'm going to compare it with Ashton, and I know that with Samuel, it's already beyond these encounters every other Friday. He wants to go out, take me to dinner and the movies, and that's not what I'm looking for. Not with him."Ummm..."My phone vibrates in the pocket of my coat, and I frantically search for it to get rid of Samuel and this moment. Ashton's name lights up the screen."I have to take this," I excuse myself. "I'll send you a message later because I might go out with a friend tonight," I lie, although it's not entirely untrue because Jo wants me to go out with her and the guys.Samuel smiles at me, and it feels incredibly awkward as he reaches out and brushes my hair away from my face. I fake a smile and stride away from him with the phone pressed to my ear."Come here," he orders.
PAIGEExams have started, and now I'm stressed out with no free time at all. Owen's check-up is scheduled for this Friday, and I take the liberty of calling Ashton to see if he wants to join us, so he can stop blaming himself for what happened."Why are you calling me?" he asks."Hmm?" I hesitate. "Because I want to tell you something?""And if you lift your head?"I do it immediately, and I don't plan on smiling when I see him next to my car. It's not something I can control; I feel like a fool. I tuck my phone into my coat pocket and sink into my clothes, closing my notebook with a snap."What are you doing here?" I ask him.He licks his lips and runs his fingers through his wind-tousled hair. He should cut it a little, although this length suits him quite well."Don't you want to talk?" he says."Yes, but I don't think you knew I wanted to talk to you before I called you. Is everything okay?"Ashton doesn't seem like the type of guy who waits for you in your car. I don't know what
PAIGE"You should give it a try," Jo says."Mmhmm," I reply."I'm sure he gets more exercise thinking about you than when he's fighting.""Oh God! Do you only come here for sexual stuff or what?"Ian and Jo laugh from the sofa, and I return to my notes to study. It's all I do, and even in my free time between classes, I stay in the library buried in notes.Girl with pretty eyes.I read Samuel's message over and over again and type:Sporty guy.I don't ignore him, and I don't think my thing with Ashton is going to go much further than what's already happened. He doesn't date girls, and I know I'm not and won't be the only one, so I can hang out with whoever I want. But Samuel... I don't want him to get the wrong idea either.I leave the phone among all my notes and adjust my reading glasses. I don't usually wear them, but I've found that if I read and concentrate so much, my vision gets tired faster and it gives me a headache. They're old glasses that I sometimes wore in high school an
PAIGEI wake up early, and Samuel is still asleep, so I take a shower and when I'm ready, I have to wake him up to take me to the mall to work. Today I only have a couple of hours off between my morning and afternoon shifts, so I go out to eat at a nearby store; while nibbling on a slice of pizza, I send a message to Ashton:How was the doctor's appointment?Today Owen has a check-up, and I can't wait for them to remove the bandage because I can't stand seeing him like this. In less than five minutes, I receive a photo. It's Owen, still with his arm bandaged, but he's happily playing with something on the floor.One more week.I don't want him to spend Christmas uncomfortable and unable to run. It breaks my heart. We're entering December, and there are a lot of things I want to show him, like the snow. But it seems like he doesn't mind wearing the arm so stretched out anymore because when I finally see him on Monday, he's running around with his friends again, still using only one arm
ASHTON"Have you thought about it?"I punch the punching bag with a closed fist."No, damn it. I don't trust you one bit.""I'm your father.""And a fucking drunk who spends money on prostitutes," I snap. "Why should I trust you with your damn business?""Hey! No phones in here," Apolo yells from the other side of the gym.What do I care about his damn rules?"Why don't you come to dinner tonight so we can talk and you can meet Lucy?""Pass. I'll think about it."I hang up the phone and toss it into my bag before Apolo comes to ruin my entire day. I punch the bag harder for fifteen minutes, until sweat sticks my hair to my forehead and I can't see.How bad can this shit go? I spend days researching it and talking to that asshole Apolo because he's the only one who knows how a business works even though the gym isn't the most "business-like" thing. It doesn't seem like complete shit to me; car dealerships make money, legal money, something that would suit me just fine; reluctantly, I a