ASHTON I pull up my sweatpants and put on my hoodie as I close the zipper of my backpack, not bothering to pick up my boxing pants from the floor. I leave the room with my phone glued to my ear and walk in the opposite direction towards the back exit door where I parked the car. It's all crowded, and as I pass between two jerks who don't know how to park their damn cars, I scratch their sides and step on the gas pedal until I hit the road. It's luck, it's fucking destiny, it was a hell of a coincidence that I found her last week, that I went to her house, and it's lucky that she remembers it. I arrive at the mall first, from there the road to her building feels endless. The phone hasn't stopped vibrating against my ear with a ton of messages, I haven't looked at them but I know who they're from because I never miss the after-party, and I don't usually kick girls out of my dressing room so soon. I didn't know I had such a good memory for quick things like I do now. I recognize the bui
PAIGE "If I'm honest, I thought you two would end up in bed," Jo confesses during lunch. "What are you talking about?!" I exclaim. Me? Getting back with Ashton? Without lying, I'd say yes, I could sleep with him if we didn't have a child together, and even with Owen, I think I'd sleep with Ashton if he didn't have a girlfriend. The fact that he's a complete jerk doesn't take away from how attractive he is and the undeniable sexual desire he exudes. It's just that I'd be very careful, too careful, much more than usual. "What? He's incredibly sexy, and it's been ages since you had any action between your legs." She's lucky Owen doesn't understand everything yet. He keeps eating from his high chair as if nothing's happening. "Yeah, well, but not with him. What about that other guy? The one from campus." "Yeah... the one who wants to sleep with you." "That one. There's a party tonight at his fraternity, he invited us in case your plan with that thug goes south." The plan is to go
ASHTON "Need more of this," Unax says. Yeah, he needs more alcohol to endure all of Paige's rejections. I know that pisses him off; I see him getting angrier and more insistent every time she dodges his attempts to get into her pants. Complimenting her eyes about ten times hasn't gotten him anywhere either. I shouldn't, I know, she can screw whoever she wants, but one of my friends? I'm glad she rejects him because I don't want any of these guys near my son or messing around with the person who takes care of him the most. "Want something?" "No, I don't drink alcohol," she replies. He laughs, so does Apolo until she looks at them dead serious. "Damn, it's not a joke." I don't know if he's doing it on purpose or if he simply doesn't realize what he's causing, but when he leans in to take his turn, Unax blatantly checks out her ass. He bites his lip pierced by a piercing and looks at me pretending to smack her. I grip the pool cue tighter. That shit just pissed me off, what's he do
PAIGE "Ten, and you?" Jo asks me. "Twenty," I reply. She raises her eyebrows and covers Owen's ears as he calmly watches the cartoons sitting on her lap. "Is he that well-endowed or did he go hard against the sink?" Remembering it sends shivers down my spine. My legs are still trembling. I raise two fingers from one hand, and she lets out a squeal that makes me laugh, and Owen laughs with us. I still ponder over it and close my eyes to make sure it happened; I hooked up with Ashton again. "And... that's it? You didn't talk or...?" "No, it was just sex." And incredible sex, I must add. At least today, I'm glad to see that she didn't have such a bad time either. After she and Ian accompanied me to the car, it seems they had enough at the apartment he shares with Ashton's friends. She arrived an hour ago, and that was at eleven, by which time I had already gone to pick up Owen and settled down. Since then, she hasn't stopped asking questions and chattering. She spends the whole da
PAIGE Friday arrives quickly, Samuel reminds me of our outing when we meet on campus, and it makes me uneasy. It's the first time in months that I've hung out with a guy alone like this. We agreed he'd pick me up at ten-thirty because I managed to swap shifts with a coworker, and today I have a change of clothes in my bag so I don't have to wear my work uniform. Plus, I already put on makeup before heading to the daycare to spend the little time I have left with Owen until Monday. "You look beautiful," he says with his soft voice, running his fingers through my slightly curled hair. "Thank you, darling," I whisper. "Look," he says, taking a few steps back so I can see him attempt a somersault. He makes me laugh, and I lie down on the ground next to him to play. Nothing will ever be better than making Owen laugh. When Ashton arrives, he catches me lying on the floor with Owen lying on my stomach. He stands with his arms crossed by the door, and I can read the teasing in his eyes. I
PAIGEThe night with Samuel is fine, but when I wake up, I know it will be sporadic things. We keep running into each other on campus, and I consider us friends because we occasionally grab coffee together in the cafeteria. He's hinted a couple of times that he'd like to repeat, but I've also hinted that I won't be able to until two weekends from now. It's a small and fiery routine we've started to maintain: every other Friday, we go to the motel."I'm going to Ian's place this afternoon to watch the soccer game."I lift my head from my cereal. I slept poorly because Owen decided to wake up at four in the morning and try to climb out of his crib. Luckily, I still have the baby monitor."Okay.""They've invited you too; they want you to come with me. They really liked you.""I'll go with Owen to show him the Halloween decorations on the streets.""Please," he pleads, making a puppy-dog face with clasped hands. "It'll only be a couple of hours, and they already know Owen. It'll be fine,
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.