Chapter 12
12
Ashley
Social media was bullshit.
Even unfriending Rebecca hadn’t been enough to keep the pictures from her honeymoon off of Ashley’s feed. Then again, she hadn’t blocked Rebecca. She had some sick need to be able to keep tabs on her, even though she didn’t really want to see pictures of her dad and Rebecca on their honeymoon, she also couldn’t look away.
She was doing her best to pretend as if this was a week like any other, but it wasn’t easy.
Checking on her mom every day was made a little better by finding out she wasn’t the only one doing so. Uncle Kellar hadn’t been kidding when he said he was going to be there for her. From the sound of it, he’d been over almost every day, and there was warmth and happiness in her mom’s voice that Ashley hadn’t heard in far too long.
It sounded as though he was keeping her mom off of social media, too, though hopefully, her mom would have blocked her dad by now, but Ashley wasn’t sure.
Unfortunately, not being able to take care of her mom also left her feeling at loose ends. She was glad her mom had Uncle Kellar and hoped that didn’t blow up in their faces when her dad got back. Not that he should get a say in anything they did. Regardless, Ashley had planned to spend the week taking care of her mom. Now that it wasn’t necessary, she didn’t quite know what to do with herself.
She was best-friendless and had no duties as the dutiful daughter.
So, when one of her co-workers said they were going out to happy hour and invited her along, she went. Why not, right?
Except one drink turned into two, then three, and then four, and she was feeling pretty sloppy before she knew it. At least she wasn’t the only one. Elizabeth, the coworker who had invited her out, was keeping up with her with no problem.
“You’re so nice.” Ashley leaned against Elizabeth as they stood at the bar, waiting for the bartender to get to them. “Why are you so nice?”
“Why not?” Elizabeth laughed. “I’m just glad you came out with us this time!”
It was true. Elizabeth had invited her before, but Ashley had never gone. She got along well enough with her co-workers, but…
“I was betrayed by my best friend.” It sounded very dramatic when she said it out loud like that. “She’s on her honeymoon right now… with my dad. Whose divorce from my mom finalized right before their wedding.”
“What?” Elizabeth gasped, her eyes rounding. “How? Oh my God, no wonder you haven’t felt like going out!”
No wonder.
And no wonder she’d had trouble making new friends once she’d needed them. How was she supposed to trust someone again after that?
But Elizabeth seemed nice, and Ashley was… Ashley was lonely. Needy. The best human interaction she’d had recently was sleeping with a married man, the father of her former bestie, and what did that say about her? Nothing good, probably. Especially since she’d spent every night afterward masturbating while thinking of him before she could fall asleep.
She’d even renamed her favorite vibrator Mr. Black.
How sad was that?
“I would never sleep with your dad.” Elizabeth slung her arm around Ashley’s shoulder, and Ashley burst out laughing.
“Thank you. Back at you.”
“How is that not girl code 101?” Elizabeth shook her head. “It’s okay. We’re friends now. We’re going to make tonight awesome. You don’t need her. You need to get your mind off things. We should talk to those guys over there.” She pinkie waved at a couple guys farther down the bar. They were pretty cute. One of them winked, and Elizabeth giggled.
Maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to hook up with a bar rando. After all, she’d already hooked up with a semi-stranger at the wedding. That was way more messed up than hooking up with a guy her age who she didn’t know and wasn’t related to her, even tangentially.
Oh, wow. She hadn’t even thought about that.
Was Mr. Black like her grandfather-in-law now?
She started to giggle hysterically. Elizabeth gave her a strange look, but Ashley wasn’t drunk enough to share that thought. Especially after Elizabeth’s comment about ‘girl code.’ Did Ashley get a pass on sleeping with Rebecca’s father since Rebecca had done it first? Or was this one of those times when she was supposed to be the better person? Better not to tell Elizabeth and find out she thought it was the latter.
Ashley needed new friends.
Thankfully, the guys from down the bar had already moved closer.
They really were cute, though neither of them was doing it for her. Not the way Mr. Black had, but then they weren’t forbidden fruit. Might not be a fair comparison.
“Hey there, ladies. Having a good time?” The darker-haired one smiled at Elizabeth. He might be as hot as Mr. Black, given a few years, but right now, he looked kind of… unfinished. Like a bourbon that needed a few more years in the barrel.
“Fantastic.”
“Can we buy you a couple drinks?” The other one wasn’t blond, but he wasn’t a brunette, either. He was somewhere in between, with startling blue eyes that were focused on Ashley.
She smiled at him.
“Sure.”
A drink didn’t mean anything. When not-blond raised his hand, the bartender hurried over, much faster service than she and Elizabeth had been getting on their own.
Everyone put in their orders.
“I’m Theo,” Not-Blond said, holding out his hand.
“Ashley.” She shook his hand, but then he didn’t let go, and she laughed a little as she tugged it away. “We’re not at the hand-holding stage yet, Theo.”
“Yet.” He winked at her. He was very winky, which wasn’t entirely unappealing.
Ashley let herself relax. Theo and his dark-haired friend, Roger, came back to their table with them. Only a few of their co-workers were left. One of them, Paul, who definitely had a crush on Elizabeth, didn’t seem too happy to have newcomers joining them. Elizabeth, who was blissfully unaware of Paul’s crush, was in full flirt mode.
Poor Paul.
She tried to divert the conversation to make things a little easier for him, but he left after a few minutes.
“Wanna dance?” Theo asked.
“Sure.” She liked to dance. The floor didn’t look too crowded, and it would take away some of the guilt she felt about not being able to make Paul’s life a little easier. There was nothing she could do about Elizabeth being oblivious, though. It wasn’t like Paul had made a move or anything.
The dance floor might not be too crowded, but Theo was a very close dancer. Ashley swayed, rolling her hips and trying not to feel too uncomfortable with how his body lined up with hers. He was trying a little too hard. When she stepped away or turned to get some space between them, he followed right along with her, unable to take the hint.
“Phew!” She accidentally elbowed him when he came a little too close, making him wince. “Oops, sorry.”
Maybe that was the answer. Let her arms flail a bit more.
Except that backfired when he caught her wrist and pulled her in, wrapping one arm around her back.
“Here, this way,” he said, pressing his lower body up against hers. She could feel that he was hard, and every part of her wanted to rebel. Stiffening, she tried to step back, putting her hands on his chest and pushing gently.
“Actually, I think I need to stop and get some air.”
“Aw, come on, Ashley, just relax. We’re going to have fun.” He rolled his hips against her, rubbing his erection against her, and she pushed him a little harder.
“I need some air, Theo.”
“I believe the lady said she needs some air.”
Even though she couldn’t see him, Ashley immediately recognized the dark growl of the man standing behind her. Theo’s eyes widened.
Strong hands gripped her arms, pulling her back against a muscled chest, and she nearly sagged in relief.
Mr. Black to the rescue.
What was he doing here? It had been long enough since her last drink, so she wasn’t really drunk anymore, just tipsy, and her brain was quick on the uptake with that question. This didn’t really seem like his scene.
“Are you her dad or something?”
“Or something.”
Swinging her around, Mr. Black put his arm around her and tucked her into his side, hand splayed possessively over her hip. Ashley stumbled, not because she was drunk but because she was in shock from his sudden appearance. He easily kept her moving.
“What are you doing here?” She asked.
“Keeping you from making more mistakes, apparently.”
His dry tone rubbed her the wrong way, and she glared up at him just in time to see him giving someone a nod. She tried to spot who he’d just nodded to, but the place was too crowded.
“Come on. You’re going home.”
“But Elizabeth?—”
“We’ll let her know you’re leaving on our way out.”
True to his word, they found Elizabeth, and Ashley told her that she had to go. Elizabeth looked at Mr. Black with wide-eyed curiosity but didn’t ask any questions. Just gave Ashley a hug and told her to ‘have fun.’
Yeah, probably not.
But she was kind of curious as to why Mr. Black had suddenly appeared in her life again.
Part of her wondered whether she was in for a repeat performance of the wedding reception… and that part of her really hoped so.